ok, I was on your side, now im not sure. I agree with doin what you want with your xj its YOURS, and no one can change that. I also agree with trimming your fenders aggressively.

and no I dont have a comeback, because I dont feel like it. and btw I didnt say I was wiser than anyone on here. Yeah I am just a kid, yeah you know a hell of a lot more than me; I am just a beginner, but I still like to come on here and learn things and help people. and yes it is for my benefit, and I thank you for that, ALL of you.

Having said that now I WILL SIT AND WATCH what you guys have to say.

 

I am not downing on you for your age, people do that enough to me as it is, but what has gone on in here is legitimate tech IMO. You used your age as an example so i just mirrored that...

Seems like you and I agree as is, so on with the show

 

Thanks man. I hope it gets even better! the show I mean.

 

I don't see why the mods freak out when everyone gets into a true discussion. Not alot of true discussions such as this on this board, and it's not a bad thing. In fact, there needs to be MORE threads like this. Everyone can learn something.

Keep it going.

 

im lifted 6in and i like it. i never once felt tippy. its not like these trucks are high to begin with. my truck on 33s is about the same height as a stock 1/2ton pickup.

 

i never said you have to jack it up im just saying a proper suspension setup and wheel combination is fine....i dont care what you say my 4.5 lift and 33s has way more travel than stock suspension with longer shocks....if all you have to do is cut it up, bumpstop it and get longer shocks then we would see milloins of dumb looking xjs with huge tires and no lift. you can wheel stock just as good as lifted but lifted and good setup will do much better in many situations than stock.... my whole point was if you want lots of clearance for your tires to move and keep em planted lift with good size tire that you can clear....otherwise hack it up i have nothing agianst stock with bb or pucks or long shocks....oh by the way the goal of suspension setup lifted or not is to keep the vehicle level all around while going over terrain.....look at the pic of the tan convertible while flexed the body stays close to level side to side...

 

how did this get so off topic?

 

I would wonder how many people that say no to one idea have even tried it?
I can see both arguments. I think both ideas have there place on the trail.

 

i have had 3" and 32's and 5" and 32's

eventually went back down to 3"

then 5" and 37's
3" and 37's
6" and 37's
and now 2.5" and 37's

the purpose of a suspension is to keep all tires on the ground, but i would call rockcrawling the exception to that rule, I would rather have my travel limit itself at a certain point before my control arms are at too steep an angle, this is the idea put to use by the currie antirock, it almost allows full range of travel of the suspension, but in certain situations you would rather have a tire in the air to get over a dip or ledge, if you have a control arm at a 45* angle dip into a hole or hit a ledge. that axle must go forward as much as it goes up to keep the vehicle level. Which doesnt always go as planned, and the suspension will stay maxxed out on that side until you are up and over the obstacle (if you get that far).

if you put all the components from your 4.5" lift onto a stock jeep with stock springs, i bet it will flex just as much. stock control arms are designed to limit droop, they bottom out on the shock mounts/ lca mount. depending on what control arms you have they are either bent or have an offset bushing/flex joint to clear the shock mount to a greater extent. other stock components will limit travel as well, but control arms are the main hinderance.

Lift height doesn't equal flex. it changes the range of motion a suspension has. in fact flatter springs with an extended shackle allow for more movement than a more arched leaf pack.

and just because this pic is fun:

5" lift and 33's on left

stock suspension minus swaybars and 235/75r15's



the jeep on the left was lifting his rear driverside tire at the time of the pic. the white stocker was firmly planted and could have kept going higher.

When lifted the control arm angles steepen which is no good for flex or wheeling capability, this is why many people run longarms at that height. to compress the suspension the axle also needs to go forward which kills you on ledges. Longarms make the arms flatter (more parralell to the ground) making the axle have its choice of up and down, not forward and up or backward and down.

another thing that hindered the black jeeps articulation, was the leaf packs, while the stocker had soft, flat leaves, the black jeep had stiff aftermarket 4.5" lift leaf packs which are much more arched and don't droop nearly as much.

all in all a low jeep with flatter leaf packs and control arms will do more for flex and stability. The only time i wish i had more suspension compression is when jumping and doing high speed stuff, but its a tradeoff. To gain compression I lose perfect control arm angles and some stability, but Im planning on a small boost just for that and shouldnt hinder me too much.

 

its not all about the truck/lift... its all about the driver, you dont learn how to be very good at driving offroad by using perfectly ideal trucks, and alot of times its more fun to wheel with a less than suited truck... this parallels putting big tires on a stock truck... i bet ktmracer had wayy more fun making his rig work, more than just putting bumpstops/ big lift on it...

 

I have come to agree with this statement. My leafs on my XJ are factory, 192K old, and are constantly being tortured by lift shackles (TeraFlex).

My rear swaybar is attached in this picture, in fact it's never been removed.


I know that's not insane flex or anything but if I removed my rear sway bar my leafs would probably fail miserably.

Not trying to hijack, just contribute.

 

Well, I'm at 6" of lift, now. I know I don't want to go any higher with my XJ as it's felt a little too tippy a couple of times on the trail. I'm pretty sure 33s will work fine with my lift. If I find that they chew on the fenders and wheel wells too much, I will extend the bumpstops an inch. I won't extend them anymore than that, if I have to at all. Now, when or if I go on up to 35s that is when I'll cut the fenders a little higher and mostly longer so I can flex and turn with the 35s off road. I already know I will have to get after market fender flares because the badge flashers in Wa. love to ticket any rig with rubber extending out past the fender/fender flare.
I really don't get why there are companies out there that make 8 and 9" lifts for the XJ. Lifts that big I know would not work off road at all. Anything off camber at all and you'd be on your side. The only way I could see being able to use a lift that big would be to have full width fullsize truck axles. Then, you're limiting your XJs natural talent for being able to squeeze into the tightest trails.
So, long story short, I won't lift any higher than 6 inches. So, if I go any bigger than 33s, I will be trimming my fenders. There I've spoke on both sides of this thread. This ismy honest feelings, too. That being said my XK looked good with 4.5" lift and 32s. I've test fitted a 33 with my 6" lift and that looks good, too. So, I'm betting 35s will look good with 6" lift and minor trimming.

 

KTMs post holds truth in high levels.

 

I held KTMs words at high levels the whole time. He has pics of his rigs posted to prove he has personally tested everything he is talking about.

 

A stock rig would have just as much or more travel as a 4.5" lifed rig. If you look at the angles of a 4.5" short arm xj, the arms are already pointing downwards. You only get so much more downward articulation with this setup. Take a stock rig, which has it's arms parallel with the ground. There's a whole lot more downtravel left to go compared to the 4.5".

Here's an example of MY rig:

4.5" on stock arms:



The axle could only go down maybe 6-8" before the suspension binds (control arms hit the arm mount/sway bar mount).

Here's my jeep with the drop brackets on it, similar to a stock setup:



The arms are parallel, like stock. You have so much more downtravel with this setup than a regular 4.5" lift. You can see the control arms are no where near binding on the shock mounts. Even if you have long travel shocks, the 4.5" kit can only flex as much as the arms allow.

A lower suspension height with close to parallel arms will perform better than a higher lift with angled arms.