Hello to everyone that reads this and thanks in advance for your input. My name is Chris and I have owned 2 Jeep Grand Cherokee's (2010 and 2011 both 2wd) prior to my recent purchase of an 1999 XJ. Specs of vehicle listed below...-1999 Black Jeep Cherokee w/ 121,000 miles-AW4 / NP242-Dana front and pretty sure it has the Chrysler 8.25 rear end based on the more round shape of it but I know it has 3.55 gears as I saw it stamped on the rear end the other day when changing diff fluid.-Bone stock original suspension-Recently did a harness and H4 headlight upgrade as I almost got in several wrecks driving it home the night I picked it up and man, what a difference! Let me start off by saying that I have been reading and browsing these and other XJ forums for the past month and have already picked up a ton of information thanks to people like you for sharing. I cant imagine how much more difficult and costly this would be for me without being able to come on here and learn so thank you. My delima is trying to achieve the look / performance Im after in 1 try. That sounds fairly easy but as always, cost is an issue so... narrowing my choices down to the Rough Country 3" Series 2 with full leaf pack, or the Rough Country X Series 4.5" lift (leaning more towards the 3"). To give you an idea of what Im after, I really like the look of an XJ with about 3" of lift, Bushwacker flats, and 33's similar to the ones that Bushwacker shows on there pictures advertising for their flat flares plus for my geographical area (North Florida and South Georgia), that is realistically all I will ever need. I know based on reading on there that all I can really get away with for tires on stock 3.55's is a 31" tire. I have also read that some 4cyl / manuals came with 4.10's I think. Im not sure how easy these are to find... Could I get 33's and just have a shop install some new gears to the rear axle only for the time being? If I were to go off road once, would it damage the t-case to operate with a different gear ratio between the front and rear? Maybe I should just go ahead and get the 4.5", but then I definetly obligate myself to a SYE, and I was hoping for now, to just be able to do the 3" and t-case drop for a while. I have a bout 1300.00 to spend so really, all I can purchase is the lift and tires. Any suggestions you guys have will be greatly appreciated. I think I have just been thinking to hard about my purchase and Im hoping that someone will have some input that will "lock in" my final decision on how to proceed..