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My brother wants his '00 lifted - help me out

G

gone postal

NAXJA Forum User
Location
St. Augustine, FL
My 17yr old brother wants to lift his '00 4.5" and run 33 A/T for his DD. The XJ has 189k on it.

I lifted my '91 3" and am about to lift my '97 3" too, but with this being a '00 and LP30 and a 17 yr old's DD, I'm just a lil more worried. His plans are 4.5" RC lift - full pack, control arms, longer brake lines, etc. He doesn't want to do a SYE b/c of funds right now. So, with that being said, a 1" TC drop is obvious and what shims should he go with? I tried searching and I know it's pretty vehicle specific, but would 2.5* be sufficient or would 4* be better?

He is also planning on regearing, but it'll probably be the first of the year before he has enough money saved up for that. We're going to install a tranny cooler to help cope w/ the 33's.

Anything else I should know about or talk him into before we tackle this?
 
gone postal said:
My 17yr old brother wants to lift his '00 4.5" and run 33 A/T for his DD. The XJ has 189k on it.

I lifted my '91 3" and am about to lift my '97 3" too, but with this being a '00 and LP30 and a 17 yr old's DD, I'm just a lil more worried. His plans are 4.5" RC lift - full pack, control arms, longer brake lines, etc. He doesn't want to do a SYE b/c of funds right now. So, with that being said, a 1" TC drop is obvious and what shims should he go with? I tried searching and I know it's pretty vehicle specific, but would 2.5* be sufficient or would 4* be better?

He is also planning on regearing, but it'll probably be the first of the year before he has enough money saved up for that. We're going to install a tranny cooler to help cope w/ the 33's.

Anything else I should know about or talk him into before we tackle this?
Click to expand...

Tell him to save money, lift it with the RE 3.5" with leaf-packs and 31's. I have a 2000 and ran that set-up for over a year and went almost everywhere "I" wanted to go. I did not need a t-case drop nor a SYE at 3.5". I did run a 4 degree shim though. I did not regear and it was fine with the 31's, when I upgraded the lif andw ent to 33's, there was a lot more work to be done... SYE, Gears, lockers, adj upper & lower control arms, drop brackets, HD trac bar.... (all by choice)

He can always get teh 3.5" kit, spacers and shackles and get plenty of lift...

BUT, I know he is 17 and wants to do it a certain way. The absolute best way is to do it right the first time, which in my opinion is a complete lift, gears, tires, shocks, SYE, driveshafts, adj trac bars, control arms, and ARMOR.

Regardless of what he chooses, be sure to spray the bolts with some PB Blaster....

GOOD LUCK!
 
I have a 91 with the RC 4.5/full leafs and 32/11.5's, there is no way my 33/12.5's are fitting on it with the current setup
 
99XJeeper said:
Its called trimming the fenders, and its necessary to fit 33's
Click to expand...

All the trimming in the world won't get my tire from hitting the inner wall of the well (did a test fit)
 
Well, that's the next thing....tires. He originally wanted 33x12.50's, but I talked him into 33x10.50's. He could get the 10.50's on the stock rims which would save him some $$, but should also help to keep the trimming to a minimal. This XJ is 90% asphault and 10% beach, so none of this is even necessary - it's just for looks. The only wheeling to be done in FL is mud anyway, and we've both done that w/ our XJ's and it sucks. I hate fighting through 38" + tire ruts that the fullsize guys run and it's just too much hassle to properly clean the vehicle, fluids, etc after playing. Just not worth it in our opinion.
 
i'm 17 and i went 3.5" with 31's and it has taken me everywhere i;ve wanted to go so far, tell him to go with 31's and get a bit of experience before going that big, it will allow him to learn about offroading better if it is a challenge. it's also alot cheaper.
 
Serveck said:
i'm 17 and i went 3.5" with 31's and it has taken me everywhere i;ve wanted to go so far, tell him to go with 31's and get a bit of experience before going that big, it will allow him to learn about offroading better if it is a challenge. it's also alot cheaper.
Click to expand...

X2
 
I wheeled with a guy that has the same setup with an LSD in the rear his jeep goes everywhere. You'll still probably need new wheels with more backspacing to make your tires not rub.
 
I just did a Rough Country 3" lift, and I must have netted much more than that. 31x10.50's on some new el-cheapo rims, and I'm quite pleased with it. I don't know why (some of) you guys say the RC is rough, my ride quality actually improved after the lift. The 4x4 shop that installed it for me said the quality of the RC kit has been very much improved in the past few years, and from my experience I tend to agree. So X2 to the previous few posters.

Gearing has been a bear for me on a rear Chryco 8.25 and Dana 30 in front with auto and 3.55 gears, I'm desperately trying to decide between 4.11's or 4.56's. For tires he's contemplating, I think regearing would be an immediate need if I'm having so much trouble with my rig.


I'm doing some interesting towing with mine, I plan on writing a small writeup when it's done, since all of the good ideas came from this forum.

Some pics, before and after.



P1010001.jpg



P1010032.jpg
 
i have the RC 4.5 and it love it. im running 31's and once they are done with i will be going to 33's. i have already trimmed the front and rear so it should be good. i say go for it.
 
Yeah, I'm really pushing for him to go 31's so that he doesn't stress 189k old components too much. I'd also prefer it b/c of the lower rotational weight so that the vehicle doesn't take too long to stop, etc. We'll be upgrading the brake pads at the same time - EBC or something along those lines.

I know what it's like to be 16-17 and especially in the south where there are several hundred lifted fullsize trucks in town on 35-44" tires. A stock XJ just looks like a station wagon around here. :laugh:

Hell, I can't even leave my two alone, but I've never owned a vehicle that I could leave stock - such a vehicle just doesn't exist for me...there's always improvement.
 
Stubbs said:
I just did a Rough Country 3" lift, and I must have netted much more than that. 31x10.50's on some new el-cheapo rims, and I'm quite pleased with it. I don't know why (some of) you guys say the RC is rough, my ride quality actually improved after the lift. The 4x4 shop that installed it for me said the quality of the RC kit has been very much improved in the past few years, and from my experience I tend to agree. So X2 to the previous few posters.

Gearing has been a bear for me on a rear Chryco 8.25 and Dana 30 in front with auto and 3.55 gears, I'm desperately trying to decide between 4.11's or 4.56's. For tires he's contemplating, I think regearing would be an immediate need if I'm having so much trouble with my rig.


I'm doing some interesting towing with mine, I plan on writing a small writeup when it's done, since all of the good ideas came from this forum.

Some pics, before and after.
Click to expand...

I'd gear deep incase you want to trim and step up, that looks pretty good. I think part of RC's bad rep was from bad AAL sold from companies like JC Whitney and probably not from RC themselves jason (the rc vendor)has really good feedback.
 
gone postal said:
My 17yr old brother wants to lift his '00 4.5" and run 33 A/T for his DD. The XJ has 189k on it.

I lifted my '91 3" and am about to lift my '97 3" too, but with this being a '00 and LP30 and a 17 yr old's DD, I'm just a lil more worried. His plans are 4.5" RC lift - full pack, control arms, longer brake lines, etc. He doesn't want to do a SYE b/c of funds right now. So, with that being said, a 1" TC drop is obvious and what shims should he go with? I tried searching and I know it's pretty vehicle specific, but would 2.5* be sufficient or would 4* be better?

He is also planning on regearing, but it'll probably be the first of the year before he has enough money saved up for that. We're going to install a tranny cooler to help cope w/ the 33's.

Anything else I should know about or talk him into before we tackle this?
Click to expand...

Going to 4.5 you could still get the vibes even with a 1" tc drop and 4* shim.
If one has to drive it, be prepared to hackntap or fix your yoke, and get a new drive shaft.
 
I have an 00' with almost 6" and 33" BFG. Once I hit the 5+" mark I need to do an SYE and I shimmed with 2.5. I did the front\rear drive shaft conversion which has worked out well. For a 17 year old, I would stick wit 31's and invest in a beefy tie rod and skid plates instead of a higher lift. He will likely beat his Jeep to crap and stock parts don't last too long.
 
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