Which Rubicon Lift Kit to get?

Thanks in advance for any information. I've got a 1988, 4 door, 4.0, 5 speed Cherokee that I want to lift. Looking at either a 3.5" or 4.5" Rubicon lift, with full replacement spring packs in the rear.

My question is - I've seen a 3.5" Rubicon lift put on without having to go to a SYE and not having any vibrations. I was wondering if anyone has put on the 4.5" lift and still not need a SYE and not have any problems with vibrations.

This jeep is my daily driver and really can't afford to go any higher or go with a SYE at this point. Need to be able to trail it and still run the freeway.

Anyone have close to the same Cherokee (year/transmission), with the Rubicon 4.5" lift. Have you had any problems with it, or any vibration problems?

Currently running 31's, looking for a little lift, maybe a little fender trimming and fitting 33's under it with the lift kit.

Thanks Again
Boomer

both lifts are excellent quality. no need for an SYE (but recommended anyways) just make sure you get a YJ slipyoke. a YJ yoke has a deeper "U" shaped throat area than the "squared" XJ on that is pretty shallow. RE sells an "extended" slip yoke that is a carbon copy of the YJ yoke and they want waaay too much $$ for it. theres alot of YJ shafts laying around in garages. easy to find for cheap.

boomer1 said:

This jeep is my daily driver and really can't afford to go any higher or go with a SYE at this point.

Currently running 31's, looking for a little lift, maybe a little fender trimming and fitting 33's under it with the lift kit.

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If you can't afford the SYE, you probably can't afford the regear you'll need for 32s and 33s either, right? Trust me, you really don't want to run stock gears on those larger tires.

3.5" will be enough for you to run 31s, and I'd say that's the largest you really want to go with stock gearing.

Jim www.yuccaman.com

ahh good point, i didnt catch that he has a 5 spd with 3.07 gears. i'd still grab a YJ yoke as part of the plan though.

I've got the 4-1/2" lift.

Love the lift, but was more pricy than expected for me, since I wanted a good highway drive. In order to get good caster and camber, I ended up getting the drop brackets, and as well, I found I need the relocation brackets for the sway bar.

Of course, a slip yoke eliminator was a must.

I put in a D44 in the rear using 4° shims, and ended up using a stock front drive shaft for the rear. Fit perfectly.

Still on stock 3.56 gears (auto) w/ 32" tires. Going to 4.56 when funds allow.

Suspension-wise, the setup I have rocks now. Feels very stable on the road, and nice and flexy offroad w/ plenty of clearance. I think I'd feel too tippy if I were any taller with stock axle widths.

Another good point, Sparky - while the 3.5" is drivable on stock control arms, the ride really suffers by 4.5" and Drop Brackets http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/re_db.html are a huge benefit to the ride.

You'll really like the 4.56 regear...and your tranny will thank you as well.

Jim

Yucca-Man said:

Another good point, Sparky - while the 3.5" is drivable on stock control arms, the ride really suffers by 4.5" and Drop Brackets http://www.yuccaman.com/jeep/re_db.html are a huge benefit to the ride.

You'll really like the 4.56 regear...and your tranny will thank you as well.

Jim

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Yup, you are probably o.k. at 3 to 3.5", but after that it's drop brackets and new adj track bar time. The lower control arms especially get quite a angle to them at 4.5" and a rough ride is in your forecast. Also without doing a adj track bar, your axle will be very noticably uncentered under your Jeep. Some people drill a hole and move it over, but it's better of cource to get a adj track bar and do it right to center your axle under the Jeep with that lift height. Don't be afraid to cut the fenders. The fronts are very much cosmetic so have at it. The rears have pinch welds and the outer and inner sheet metal will come apart which is a major pain so be careful back there. 32's are the max on a 3" lift, but with a good deal of cutting you can fit a 33" tire on a 3" lift, it will not flex like crazy offroad and you will probably need to bump stop it quite a bit, but for a mall crawler you would be cruusing in sweetness!! ;-)

Thanks for the reply. Reading the new posts it appears that the 4.5 will require other parts. I thought about the gearing and will probably stick with 31's or maybe 32-33's after I cut the fender wells.

I guess I'm a little confused? Everyone recommends the YJ slip yoke. I'm assuming that you mean just to drop the rear drive shaft and replace the factory slip yoke on the transmission with one from a YJ. Do I still use my factory drive shaft? will it match up with the YJ slip yoke? Or do I need the YJ drive shaft also?

It seems like it wouldn't be very hard to replace the slip yoke, and I'm assuming I still use the same U-joint and drive shaft that I have. It sounds like the YJ slip yoke is deeper and more U shaped than the factory yoke and will help with the lift.

Since the other comments are leading me to believe the 4.5 lift will involve other parts, I'm leaning towards the 3.5. Thanks for the help, would rather depend on others knowledge then to just guess at it. If all I need is the YJ slip yoke, I will jump on the wanted section and see if anyone has one they want to sell.

Thanks Again
Boomer

Oh by the way, I already have JKS sway bar disconnects, so adjusting the sway bar is not a problem. Also already have new control arms for a 3" lift and the 1" transmission drop brackets. My cherokee has a 3" pro "crap" lift on it, but the rear springs and front coils have completely sagged. It's now at just about stock height. I'm looking at replacing the front coils and going with a full spring pack for the rear, but this time Rubicon Express.

Sounds like the 3.5" would not be a problem, does anyone think the 4.5" would cause problems, other than re-gearing? I understand bigger tires mean different gears, plan on it some day, but right now it's got 31's under it.

Answer to your first question (last post), is you can use your current rear drive shaft and replace the front yoke with the YJ yoke. What this allows is for you to get by without an SYE mod; however, depending on the lift, you may need a longer drive shaft going that route. Using the SYE, and a double-Cardin drive shaft requires you to point the rear diff pinion at the transfer case output yoke, resulting in a shorter drive shaft. Without the SYE, and d-Cardin shaft, the rear pinion angle should equal the transfer case output shaft angle; this results in a longer shaft.
Going to a 4.5 lift (if that's what the RE springs actually give you), probably won't cause significant issues, if everything was working well with your old 3 inch lift (again, assuming you really had 3 inches of lift to start with). As I recall, the slip yoke for a YJ is also a little longer than the XJ's, compensating slightly for the need of a longer drive shaft.
Lifting your jeep doesn't require new gears. It may look a little goofy running arround with 31's and a 4.5 lift, but that will give you incentive to save for the new gears and tires:cheers: .
I should add, lifts greater than ~4" start resulting in excessive u-joint angles; hence the need to change over to the double-Cardin type shaft, and the need for the SYE.

with your 88, you shouldn't have slipyoke issues with either the 3.5 or 4.5" Rubicon Express kits. the older the XJ, the fewer lift issues, usually. keep in mind, that their height ratings are geared for loaded vehicles. an empty rig (just fuel and seats) will get 1-1.5" more lift than advertised. even with a 31" spare on a steel wheel and skid plates, my RE 3.5" kit is still riding at 4.5" lift in the front, and 5" in the back. 6 months on the leafs, 18 months on the coils (bought them used). I needed a 1" tcase drop to remove the vibes for me.