DutchVDub
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Milliken, CO
Re: The Colorado BS thread
Welcome Mike.
You have a lot of different options as far as build route goes, but the jump from 35's to 37's is a lot bigger than it might seem. If you check out my build thread ( http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1143013 ) you will see how I went about 35's on my latest XJ. It has a trussed HP D30 front axle with 4.88's and a selectable locker. The rear axle is an 8.25 with 4.88's and factory limited slip. For suspension it has a 4.5" long arm kit and I bump stopped it enough that I didn't have to do a crazy amount of trimming to run 35x12.5r15 KM2's on 15x10 steel beadlocks.
The lift you've chosen is a good one. My friend had the BDS long arm kit on his XJ and it worked very well. His rode pretty nice too and that was with just the basic white body shocks. Keep in mind however that with your XJ having a NP242 T-Case you're options are limited for SYE's. Its a great T-case and very strong but you're going to either spend more money on a Tom Wood's SYE (plus down time as they need your output shaft to machine) or you're going to have to go with a hack-n-tap style. Me personally, I'm not a fan of those. On my previous 2000 XJ (NP242 equipped) I went with the Tom Wood's kit. You could also swap in a NP231.
As Kittrell already stated, you currently have a LP front Dana 30. I wouldn't put any money into it and like he also said, the TJ/LJ front D44 was low pinion as well and not worth what people want for them.
With 35's a HP D30 and 8.25 will hold up fine with a bit of reinforcement and careful driving. That is what I'm currently running in my XJ and have ran in previous XJ's. The Explorer 8.8 is a good option and has its advantages, however IMHO its not worth the money to swap it in. Its advantages over the 8.25 aren't enough to justify it up to 35's, and its narrow width and 5x4.5 bolt pattern make it a hassle when you try to match it with a bigger front axle.
As I said earlier, 37's are a lot bigger jump than you would think. The other issue there is if you spend the money building a D44 front to run the 37's you are right back to being at the upper limit of the axle just like you are with the D30 and 35's. If you then decide to go even bigger you'll need/want to go 1 ton axles. Of course at that point the 8.8 rear axle would need to get replaced as well because its also at it upper limit running 37's. That means in order to go up 2" of tire (over 35's) you'll need to dump a lot of money building up 2 axles that will still be at or near their limit, and if you try to go bigger in tire you're going to turn around and have to start the process over again to build even bigger axles. That of course isn't getting into what all it takes for the XJ's chassis to handle having such big tires and axles under it.
Since you're new to the Jeep world (and I'm assuming wheeling in general) I would recommend you find yourself a high pinion Dana 30 for the front and either keep the 8.25 or go with the Explorer 8.8 rear axle. I would also recommend you start on 31's or 33's instead of jumping straight to 35's. Learn on the easier trails with the smaller tires, you're a lot less likely to break or get yourself into trouble that way. Keeping with stock gearing you can find Dana 30's, 8.25's, and the 8.8 all with 4.10's from the factory. On the Jeep axles 4.10's came in the 4cyl equipped models. Your 8.25 might already have a factory limited slip and if not they can be found for pretty cheap. Jeep Liberty disc brakes are an easy swap onto the 8.25 and with those there isn't much difference vs. the Explorer 8.8 rear axle. At least not enough (IMHO) to spend the money swapping one in. The 8.25 will hold up to 35's just fine and with 37's there are better options than the narrow Explorer model 8.8 rear axle, like a Ford 9" rear that will perfectly match (width and bolt pattern) a high pinion Dana 44. FWIW I had an XJ with a Waggy D44 front and Explorer 8.8 rear running 37's. It wasn't worth the expense or effort to make those axles work together for 37's, that rig wasn't any more capable than my last two XJ's on 35's. While the bigger tires might have allowed it to do some harder trails the full body would have been destroyed in the process and I'd probably have been fighting a lot of axle issues too.
Lastly I'll just say that an XJ on 35's will handle almost any trail in CO, and the trails it won't be able to do are the same trails that most people aren't going to try to take their full bodied JK through either.
Welcome Mike.
You have a lot of different options as far as build route goes, but the jump from 35's to 37's is a lot bigger than it might seem. If you check out my build thread ( http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1143013 ) you will see how I went about 35's on my latest XJ. It has a trussed HP D30 front axle with 4.88's and a selectable locker. The rear axle is an 8.25 with 4.88's and factory limited slip. For suspension it has a 4.5" long arm kit and I bump stopped it enough that I didn't have to do a crazy amount of trimming to run 35x12.5r15 KM2's on 15x10 steel beadlocks.
The lift you've chosen is a good one. My friend had the BDS long arm kit on his XJ and it worked very well. His rode pretty nice too and that was with just the basic white body shocks. Keep in mind however that with your XJ having a NP242 T-Case you're options are limited for SYE's. Its a great T-case and very strong but you're going to either spend more money on a Tom Wood's SYE (plus down time as they need your output shaft to machine) or you're going to have to go with a hack-n-tap style. Me personally, I'm not a fan of those. On my previous 2000 XJ (NP242 equipped) I went with the Tom Wood's kit. You could also swap in a NP231.
As Kittrell already stated, you currently have a LP front Dana 30. I wouldn't put any money into it and like he also said, the TJ/LJ front D44 was low pinion as well and not worth what people want for them.
With 35's a HP D30 and 8.25 will hold up fine with a bit of reinforcement and careful driving. That is what I'm currently running in my XJ and have ran in previous XJ's. The Explorer 8.8 is a good option and has its advantages, however IMHO its not worth the money to swap it in. Its advantages over the 8.25 aren't enough to justify it up to 35's, and its narrow width and 5x4.5 bolt pattern make it a hassle when you try to match it with a bigger front axle.
As I said earlier, 37's are a lot bigger jump than you would think. The other issue there is if you spend the money building a D44 front to run the 37's you are right back to being at the upper limit of the axle just like you are with the D30 and 35's. If you then decide to go even bigger you'll need/want to go 1 ton axles. Of course at that point the 8.8 rear axle would need to get replaced as well because its also at it upper limit running 37's. That means in order to go up 2" of tire (over 35's) you'll need to dump a lot of money building up 2 axles that will still be at or near their limit, and if you try to go bigger in tire you're going to turn around and have to start the process over again to build even bigger axles. That of course isn't getting into what all it takes for the XJ's chassis to handle having such big tires and axles under it.
Since you're new to the Jeep world (and I'm assuming wheeling in general) I would recommend you find yourself a high pinion Dana 30 for the front and either keep the 8.25 or go with the Explorer 8.8 rear axle. I would also recommend you start on 31's or 33's instead of jumping straight to 35's. Learn on the easier trails with the smaller tires, you're a lot less likely to break or get yourself into trouble that way. Keeping with stock gearing you can find Dana 30's, 8.25's, and the 8.8 all with 4.10's from the factory. On the Jeep axles 4.10's came in the 4cyl equipped models. Your 8.25 might already have a factory limited slip and if not they can be found for pretty cheap. Jeep Liberty disc brakes are an easy swap onto the 8.25 and with those there isn't much difference vs. the Explorer 8.8 rear axle. At least not enough (IMHO) to spend the money swapping one in. The 8.25 will hold up to 35's just fine and with 37's there are better options than the narrow Explorer model 8.8 rear axle, like a Ford 9" rear that will perfectly match (width and bolt pattern) a high pinion Dana 44. FWIW I had an XJ with a Waggy D44 front and Explorer 8.8 rear running 37's. It wasn't worth the expense or effort to make those axles work together for 37's, that rig wasn't any more capable than my last two XJ's on 35's. While the bigger tires might have allowed it to do some harder trails the full body would have been destroyed in the process and I'd probably have been fighting a lot of axle issues too.
Lastly I'll just say that an XJ on 35's will handle almost any trail in CO, and the trails it won't be able to do are the same trails that most people aren't going to try to take their full bodied JK through either.
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