Rebuild Info

Howdy,
Thank you in advance for your input.
I want to rebuild my 2000 XJ 4.0/ Sport 4x4. I have been guided toward a 2" lift (probably Rubicon or Old Man Emu) with 30" tires. Could anyone tell me exactly what parts I need to replace all of the front end components to be tough and street legal? Also any ideas on wheels and tires? I want to drive on the road as well as have fun on the weekends.

Thank you for your input and information.

Ron
:wierd:

mine drove great when it was sitting on three inch lift with 31 inch tires

your lift should come with coils, sway bar extensions, shocks, rear leaf springs and shocks, you might need longer brake lines,

if you change wheels plan on being a bit wider. stock back spacing on most wheels is 5.25" most after market wheels are 4" thats 1.25 inches wider each side. i like the look some people dont.

on tires you cant go wrong with a all terrain my favorite is the BFG AT its available in both 30/9.50r15 and 31/10.50r15 its a tough tire that has a history that stands for itself!

thats my .02
Chad

Thanks Chad,

Do you have pics of yours?

Ron

I have pictures of how it sits Currently Its sitting on 33's with 5.5" of lift. When I get home I will scan A couple of when it was at 3" with 31's.
Chad

3" with 31's is a popular and highly capable sized rig and you can do this level of modification to an xj with very little trouble.

I believe all of the 2" lifts are merely spacers. 3" gives you a longer coil and control arms. Check out the lift kits, they will show you the exact components.

Consider adding sway bar disconnects "Disco's" as disconnecting will greatly increase your travel allowing your tires to stay on the ground and maintain traction.

Depends on where you live and if your gonna hit the mud, I would reccomend all terrains for a well rounded DD with off road capability.

The rest of the mods are all optional,

Enjoy building it!

Search the forums for budget boost, there's been much coverage of the smaller lifts and what you can do to accomplish it. You can do spacers, ZJ springs and small spacers, Thunderbird springs, rebuild the leafs using extra stock leafs or S10/Dakota leafs in the stock pack, shackles, etc. ZJ control arms are a little longer and would be good most likely for a smaller lift, but at 2" you would be fine with stock arms unless you want to upgrade the strength. As far as fitting 30s, you won't know til you try it. Mine wouldn't run 30s stock, but fit them great at 3" up front and 1.5" out back - until I disconnected the sway bars, then the tires were all over the front fenders.

Boy, talk about a wide-open subject, with lots of opinions!

For my 2-cents worth, I did a 3" lift (skyjacker) with new rear leafs. Put 31's on it...then 33's with a little fender flare trimming. With front sway bar discos, it was a VERY capable rig (even with the 31's). I kept the stock wheels, and only had to adjust the steering stops to keep from rubbing the lower control arm. Highway manners were like stock with the 31's and gearing issues were virtually non-existant. With 33's, gearing became an issue for highway driving (don't even think about using overdrive), but still wheeled very nicely.

I agree with BFG AT's for all-around highway/off-road use. Not the best in the mud, but I like 'em for winter (snow) highway and in-town driving.

Good luck with the build and remember, the first lift/tires mod just leads to more down the road!! It's addictive!

I went to a 4x4 shop in Little Rock (I work here Mon-Fri and drive back to Texas on the weekends). (I don't drive the XJ, I have a 545i for the drive)They gave me a price of $250 for a 3" lift. I also looked at steel wheels and 31" Big Horn tires. They gave me a price of $1500 installed.

They are going to give me a list of everything tomorrow so I can post it here but I believe they are going to charge about $350.00 labor for the whole thing.

What do you guys think?

:roflmao:

rjstiles said:

I went to a 4x4 shop in Little Rock (I work here Mon-Fri and drive back to Texas on the weekends). (I don't drive the XJ, I have a 545i for the drive)They gave me a price of $250 for a 3" lift. I also looked at steel wheels and 31" Big Horn tires. They gave me a price of $1500 installed.

They are going to give me a list of everything tomorrow so I can post it here but I believe they are going to charge about $350.00 labor for the whole thing.

What do you guys think?

:roflmao:

Click to expand...

BTW, The $1500 is for everything, lift, labor, wheels and tires.

rjstiles said:

Thanks Chad,

Do you have pics of yours?

Ron

Click to expand...

the first three are on 3inch with 31's the last one my jeep is on 5.5 deavers with 33's the orange xj is on 31's with 3inch lift just for comparison.

I think if you have access to tools or any members in the area, it'd be pretty easy and much cheaper to install the lift yourself. I'm far from being a great mechanic, but with the help of my fellow folk, my Jeep has been through four different lift iterations and not once has a professional shop touched it. First was the budget boost, 3" of spacers and a 1.5" lift shackle. Then the spacers came off and were replaced by 4.5" RE coils. Then an RE 3.5" Super flex kit, minus the coils (I kept my 4.5s in) with one set of 1.5" spacers back in. And now it sits with a Rock Krawler 3 link swapped in place of the RE short arms. Soon (today or tomorrow) I will be swapping the 4.5" coils for 5.5" coils and pulling the spacers. Lifts aren't hard to install, especially if you have friends helping. Best part? members usually work for pizza and beer/Pepsi!

Thanks for the info, I may try that. As soon as I get my parts together I will post and I would really enjoy getting to meet some like minded XJ folks. I would be glad to provide pizza and beverages and my wife is one heck of a great baker. I'm sure she could whip up some sweet goodies to give us all a sugar rush!
Again, Thank you for the input.

Safe Motoring

Ron
atriot:

Thanks for the pix.
Nice!