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Looking for my first jeep(and want a lift)

thats why im not getting the 8", i came here asking questions and found out why i shouldnt get it, isnt that was these forums are for? maybe i did come in saying i was getting this and that, but im sorry for that, i guess im just another teen who thinks he knows it all but i really dont, so thats why im asking these things. so if i get either the RE 3.5 or 4.5, i am gonna get a SYE, but will i need driveshafts front or back? if im gonna get a lift for my jeep, why not get the good stuff. i hate buying cheap stuff, you get what you pay for. who cares if im gonna go offroading or not, as long as i get good stuff, i know it can handle the mild offroad or trails if i ever decide to do it. oh, and thanks for the info everybody
 
SKIHIGH975 said:
...i am gonna get a SYE, but will i need driveshafts front or back?
Click to expand...

A SYE requires a new rear shaft. The slip yoke eliminator removes the slip yoke from the rear output of the transfer case and replaces it with a flange. This means you need a new shaft with the slip spline. Just go to Tom Woods site and read up on this and it will all make sense.

BTW, I applaud you admitting you don't know everything and appologizing for coming off that way. Most people are to proud to do that. I think you are heading in a better direction now with your Jeep. Just keep reading these forums. This is truely the best place on the web for good, accurate Cherokee info.

Welcome to NAXJA
 
A few thoughts, Skihigh --

First, welcome to our forum. If some comments sound abrasive, it's because many of us have seen or heard similar ideas many times before and we don't want you to make an expensive mistake, and result in killing yourself and/or your best pal.

Lifts are not to be undertaken lightly or blindly. Your post doesn't say where you are from, but for starters I'll just point out that an 8" lift is going to be illegal in almost every state. That's not a problem for an older person ("old fart" to save you the trouble) like me, living in the boonies and maybe using the Jeep primarily for off-roading. If you live in an urban area, use it as your daily driver, and you're 17 years old, you may be handing a cop a ready-made excuse to throw the book at you next time he sees you roll through a stop sign.

The cost of lifting an XJ is exponential. That is, if a 2" lift costs $100 a 4" lift doesn't cost twice as much, it costs four times as much because now more things need to be changed. At 8", almost everything needs to be changed. I'm glad to see you're thinking more toward the 4" range -- that's a much saner, more affordable way to get started.

Why are you so fixated on a '96? There are advantages and disadvantages. '96 was the first year for OBD-2, so if that's important to you go for it. However, OBD-2 means two oxygen sensors in the exhaust rather than one, and it means no Jet chip to boost performance. Many people prefer the older OBD-1 models because the ECU can be tweaked.

The '96 still only has one air bag, so you get no advantage over a '95 on that score.

More important to someone who wants a lift, '96 was the first year of the new "improved" transfer case output shaft. Prior to '96 you could generally lift up to 4" or so without driveline vibration problems. Starting in '96, any lift at all usually results in major vibration problems.

Between the on-board doagnostics and the transfer case output designs, IMHO you will be better served by a '95 rather than a '96. JMHO
 
bgcntry72 said:
So you like Rusty's.....but Old Man Emu is not worth mentioning?
What color is the sky in your world?
Click to expand...

I believe the young man would like more than a 2" lift. The sky in my world is a beautiful blue. With the tonality of many of your posts and reponses to other's, I'm starting to think it's a shade of red in your world. Aaaaand, I don't appreciate your tonality.


Flowers
 
sorry about my tone...its usually the one you need when you are trying to help folks see the issues surrounding going from stock to 8" in one fell swoop....sounds like you are a smarter fellow than I pegged ya to be. If I ever see you at one of our events, I'll buy you a beer.
 
thanks guys, i have been on here all day and found a site that i would like to order my stuff from, Crawltech.com, they have the RE 4.5" super-flex kit for $870, and i would prefer a transfer case drop kit instead of a SYE and a new driveshaft(for now, i wont be doing any offroading anytime soon, but dont know where to find them, it would be nice if crawltech had them(do they) because i can order the RE lift and it at once. and thanks for telling me the diff between the 95 and 96, i will look for a 95 instead. i will get the rubicon express transfer case drop kit. will that work just as good as a SYE, ill just have less ground clearance? if thats the case ill be more than happy to lose a couple inches of ground clearance to save some effort and money.are there disadvantages to a transfer case drop kit? eventually i will get a SYE but not now. will the transfer case drop eliminate the vibes, or just decrease them. and the SYE eliminates them for sure right? i know there is a lot of questions, but this is gonna be my daily driver and dont want any problems. because i dont see if i get a 4.5" lift and only lower the transfer case by 1", that that could do much, but i guess it does.
hey, i was just looking, the 4.5" $870 super-flex kit comes with the transfer case lowering kit then i added pro-comp es9000 shocks for $150, and i can order everything directly from Rubicons homepage, they have the currie SYE and the RE SYE, which would you guys choose? and which of the 3 axles on there is the right one for either the currie or the RE SYE. im learning more each day, now i just need a jeep lol. soooo. to sum all of this up, the RE 4.5" $870 super-flex kit with the full leaf springs, with the transfer case drop that comes with it, and the procomp es9000 shocks is all i need to get my jeep going? how long do you think it will be before i should get a SYE, or do i even need one, THANKS GUYS!
 
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Beezil said:
sorry about my tone...its usually the one you need when you are trying to help folks see the issues surrounding going from stock to 8" in one fell swoop....sounds like you are a smarter fellow than I pegged ya to be. If I ever see you at one of our events, I'll buy you a beer.
Click to expand...

You didn't offer to buy me a beer when you got 'toney' with me with that 'bomb all tourists' comment.

So, brew me a beer? :)
 
SKIHIGH975 said:
i will get the rubicon express transfer case drop kit. will that work just as good as a SYE, ill just have less ground clearance? if thats the case ill be more than happy to lose a couple inches of ground clearance to save some effort and money.are there disadvantages to a transfer case drop kit? eventually i will get a SYE but not now. will the transfer case drop eliminate the vibes, or just decrease them. and the SYE eliminates them for sure right? i know there is a lot of questions, but this is gonna be my daily driver and dont want any problems. because i dont see if i get a 4.5" lift and only lower the transfer case by 1", that that could do much, but i guess it does.
Click to expand...

The transfer case drop is essentially a 1" spacer between the crossmember and the chassis (frame). This lowers the crossmember and the transfer case.

IMHO the only "advantage" to a drop as opposed to a SYE is cost. The purpose is to correct high operating angles in the u-joints of the drive shaft. If you look at how this is set up, you can see that when you lift the chassis relative to the axle, the u-joint angles have to increase.

The SYE is a better solution first because it shortens the output shaft, thereby reducing operating angles directly. It also reduces vibrations because the shorter shaft has a bearing closer to the end of it, which reduces flex, or "lateral runout" at the tip of the output shaft. Most people also chnage from two single u-joints to a "double cardan" style drive shaft (also often erronoeously referred to as a CV style, although it isn't a true constant velocity joint) that can operate at larger angles.

The disadvantages to the drop are (a) loss of ground clearance, and (b) in some cases people have reported that the drop messed up the transfer case shift linkage. It's a personal decision -- many folks on these forums are happily cruising around with drops. Personally, although the factory would have had the dealer install one in my Jeep for free, I refused. I prefer to go with a SYE, which is what I consider the "right" way to do it. The downside is that, without a job, I can't afford the new driveshaft so I have an SYE kit sitting in the garage and a Jeep with vibrations when I drive it. :(

The transfer case drop doesn't have to be a "kit." You can make it up with some washers or some 1" square tubing from Home Depot. On each end of the transfer case you should have one stud, and one bolt. The bolt is easy -- buy a longer bolt. For the stud, you can either remove the stud and replace with a long bolt, or replace with a longer stud.

Or you can buy a custom cross member (Rusty's???) that drops the transfer case but doesn't reduce ground clearance.
 
Ski, my comments that follow Beezil's comments are typically pretty dumb and intended as jokes. If you hang out here often you'll figure out that he and I can't seem to get any tech in lately and only poke fun at each other and then throw in a few inside jokes here and there.

I haven't followed this thread really, but if you're concerned about an SYE for less than 5" you must be dealing with a post 96 XJ. I ran without an SYE or a tcase drop on my 88 w/ 4.5" for appx. 1.5 yrs without a single problem. It sounds like you're not building it to wheel it so keeping it on the cheap so you can blow your money on the honey's would be my priority. You really won't know if you're going to be dealing with vibe's and what not until after your lift is on and settled in. So, my advice would be to get what lift and tires you want, and not stress over the extras. Make sure you can swing it if you need them though.

Sean
 
Don't look past the 91 to 93 XJ's either. Because they're older, they're cheaper. I have two 93's, one that my wife drives daily with 32" tires and 5.5" of lift, the other is my trail rig, that has 11" of custom lift and now 38" tires. I'd buy another 91/93 XJ any day, and you can find them for $1500 that are clean (you have to look alot, but they're there).

I'd hold off on the SYE for now, put the lift on and see what happens, if you get the vibes, then do it. I was running 6" of lift with only Rusty's drop cross member (yes, it's Rusty's that has this) and it worked just fine, especially with this being a non-off road Jeep. My wife's XJ at 5.5" doesn't have an SYE.

Look at Rusty's 4.5" kit, it's a nice complete kit, comes with shocks, lower controll arms, full spring packs and coils, it even has brackets to lower the brake lines (although I've never used them on the three 4.5 kit's that I've put on different Jeeps). You 'may' hear bad things about Rusty's springs, but every spring will sag over time, less if it's not wheeled off road.

You asked about the 88 to 96's, the major differance is the pre 91's have a different engine (same 4.0 ltr, just not the HO), cooling system and electrical, I'd stay with the 91 to 93's myself.

You made the best decision by comming here first, if we sound gruff, it's cuz like what's been said, we've been there and we know that it doesn't work, or would work better later. don't let us get you down, keep comming back and NEVER go to JeepsUnlimited for advice, JU is a good place to get a few laughs.

Good luck, and remember Vug really is a bitch. :D
 
ok ill just get the RE 4.5" lift $870 for now and start looking for a 91-95 cherokee, is there a diff between the 91-93 and the 94's and 95's?, thanks a bunch guys
 
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Beezil said:
I've become.............a total........asshole!
Click to expand...


This is just recent, or just recently you've become aware of it???


Sky, I have the AA SYE kit (Advanced Adapters), it too is a great kit.

Check Rusty's site before buying, and/or call him, if he doesn't answer the phone, you usually end up talking to him when you ask tech questions. Don't forget to tell him you heard about him from this site. www.rustysoffroad.com
 
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