Advice lift size??

Been searching and reading however wanted to hear from guys who had 4.56/31"s or porc springs etc. Most of the posts say that stock gears are good to 31"s, and to use RE only, etc.
Wanted advice from real road/off road use such as had the lift or a set up close to it. I have a 03 TJ(auto) with 4.56 f&r lockers, 33"s. Wished I had lower gears so will be doing 4.56 in the XJ w/31-32"s. Undecided on the lift as I'm spending more on my gears/locker.
Heres what I have planed so far. In fact allmost ordered today but will wait to monday.

OEM aluminum 15x7 with 31x10.5. 4.56 with detroit rear, locrite front. SYE. And a porc 3" coil, shocks and a bastard pack for the rear. Also thinking of a RC drop bracket w/4" springs or cheap kit. Looking for a decent ride and the drop bracket based lift seems to make the most sense since the arms are flat/oem. Do I need sway bar, pitman arm drop, etc? Brake lines. Also tires must stay in the fenders so im limited to stock or stock offset rims.

Need advice on the lift and speedometer gear.

99XJ sport AW4, 8.25, stock for two more week$......

Thank you and Aloha

Welcome to the board!

My setup is pretty similar to what you are considering, I have a 3" Rough Country lift on 31x10.5s with 15x8 black steelies. I'm running stock gears (3.55s) at the moment but I have a set of 4.56s in the garage and I'm scheduled to have them installed the weekend of the 17th. I have the front axle locked with an Aussie locker, the rear is open. I also put in an SYE, adjustable trackbar, and heavy-duty adjustable LCAs. I was getting minor driveline vibes, so I went ahead with the SYE, the adjustable LCAs are only because I trashed the stock arms on the trail. I got an adjustable trackbar because the stock trackbar, at 3", puts the driver's side tire out of the flare just enough to sling mud through the driver's window.

I've heard many good things about RE lifts, I was on a budget when I bought my lift so I went with Rough Country. The only thing I regret is getting the AAL rather than a full leaf pack, it flexes pretty nice offroad but it's pretty stiff on road.

Even though my rig has been the smallest one of the trail on all the runs I've been on, the locked front gives me a huge advantage over open/open rigs, even big ones with 5" lift and 33s. I had a local fabricator weld me up some armor, and I'm good to go just about anywhere, and my rig is low enough that my mother can still get in and out of it without difficulty.

There are a few pictures of my rig flexing out here:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=243759796&postcount=43

Good luck with your build, this board is a great source of information, both searching the old messages, and plenty of helpful and knowledgeable folks to answer your questions.

Yea, another Hawaii resident! Im in Hauula on Oahu East side by PCC. Im running 4.5" lift with my current 33's but am upgrading to a set of 35's. I am keep the stock 3.55's for now but Ill see if I change that once I drive it with the np435/205. I did lots of trimming and "some" custom work to get my rig where I want it. Im almost ready to hit the trails. to pass recon you can add flare extenders, but with only 31-32's I doubt youll need recon anyway.
Im having a few freinds over if sunday to get a few things done on the Heep and your more then welcome to come over and look at my build. I think the local Jeep club is doing a "flats" run in a couple weeks, I know there will be an extra seat if your interested. If your not on Oahu Super Ferry makes it alot easier nowadays.
Jeremy

Just bought a set of 31"s on oem rims today.

Also is a TJ D30 axle shaft the same as a XJ?

not sure on the shaft.
you pick those up at the jeep house in Ewa? If so Im heading out there tomorrow to help him work on one of the Jeeps.
Jeremy

TJ D30 is low pinion - same axle that was used on 00-01 XJs

you have a High Pinion D30 on your 1999 - thats the good axle

JNickel101 said:

TJ D30 is low pinion - same axle that was used on 00-01 XJs

you have a High Pinion D30 on your 1999 - thats the good axle

Click to expand...

I was hoping to use my chromoly heavy duty shafts from a 03 TJ on the XJ.
They had a 10 year warranty. I thought the the shafts were the same from the low or high pinion? Oh well saves me a lot of time and headache.

Going to start hunting for my donor leaf springs today.

the shafts are the same

Daammm!!

They want $80 for used leaf springs!! Anyone know if they can be sent ups, etc? Lucky live Hawaii shipping is going to kill me!!

yes they can be sent ups. hell i've sent complete outboard motors with ups.

I guess now I have to get add a leafs. Is it that bad? What brand seems to be good? Should I piece together a kit, RC drop brackets, 4" springs, aal, shackle, shocks? Would that be good?

Talk to Grimmus on here, he's a RC rep, I'm sure he could work out a great package deal for you with the brackets, AAL and everything else.