xterrible

I have a 92 XJ sport, 4L automatic with 160k miles. My wife bought her before I met her from an old man. She sold it to me so she would have more of a down payment for her new Tacoma.
Well, I had a Nissan that was my DD and my weekend warrior, so...she kind of sat around the house. I drove her every once in a while, but not too much. When my wife had it I put in a K&N CAI for her. Other then that, she was bone stock.
My Nissan was going south quick, so I sold it before I had to do any major repairs to it. Now, I have a few bucks to dump into this ride...after all, it is a far better platform to build on then my Nissan ever was, and a far better performer off the assembly line.

Here she is about 10 minutes ago:



I put a cat back exhaust in her last week. She has old BFG AT KO's. I tell you these tires have just under 70k miles on them, and they are not that bad.

My plans:

3-4" lift
31x10.50's


That will make a great Daily driver, and a great weekend warrior. After we buy a house, I will get a truck to drive daily, and she will get a little more love and way more lift.

She runs great, has no major problems as I maintened her very well while my wife and I were dating, and after I bought it, I did the same. Only problem is the wipers dont work, which sux in the pacific northwest.

I have a new baby, and I roll with him in, so I need DD reliabilty. I am shoping for lift kits now, and this forum has been both a blessing and a curse...lots of knowledge, and lots of differering view points.

Thanks for looking, and stay tuned.

xterrible

Well, I am begining to have second thoughts. Shopping for the right kit has proved to be a daunting task with all of the choices out there. I think I may just go with new rubber and replacing the shocks.
I mean, mechanically she is fine. I just read about 'death wobble', and broken this and that on this forum...I need this rig to perform daily, and she does now.
Maybe I will wait on the lift, and until I get another rig to go all out on this project. Then I will have more time and more fun, building this only as a weekend warrior, not a commuter.

XJhos

This process shouldn't be that daunting. If you are going to tear it apart and replace the suspension anyway it makes sense to lift it as well since you are already thinking about it.

I read your post in another thread that you have a few bucks to play with. Why not go with the RC Series II with new leafs and 31X10.5R15? The lift will cost about $600 depending on shipping and if you look around you will find a good set of used rubber for $400 which you can put on those wheels in the pic. This is a total of $1000, well within your budget.

This setup seems to be highly recommended on this forum and it will serve you well as a daily and weekend warrior. The difficult part will be trying not to destroy it on the trails so you can use it for work on Monday morning.

The death wobble is a combination of several things that you have control over. Install the lift correctly and keep maintenence on it and you shouldn't have to worry about death wobble. Particularly if it runs as well as you say already.

At the end of this thread is some death wobble wisdom: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/sam...rontend-94581/

I'm a total noob in the lift process now, just trying to encourage you to go for it.

adamk

I drive a 92 2 door that is my DD. I've battled all that youre worried about and being honest, it really wasnt that bad. I'm a full time college student so I battled the financial side of all that as well. I was able to find everything I need, from parts, how-to's, to little bits of wisdom, right here.

Just find yourself something simple and run with that. It's always going to be an endless project once you start lifting it so why not start off simple and work your way up?

DaveAz

Couldn't have said it better Go for it. From my reading reviews on here and elsewhere, The RC kit (w/ full leafs) sounds like a good path for you.

xterrible

It isnt that daunting. I have installed an IFS lift before. I totally agree that if I am going to redo the existing suspension then I should just go ahead and give her some lift....
I dont know....just going back and forth here.
I appreciate your words of encouragement. I might just break down and get the dang kit...

DaveAz

XJhos

x2

...and post before and after

xterrible

She is really pretty now, as the photo above clearly shows...imagine how much better she would look with some more clearance and some better tires.
I guess its on!
Oh, by the way...my Nissan was named Silver Ice(the color name that Nissan thought up, waaaayyyy better than Salsa, that maroon color),
the Jeep, she is Blue Steel.
Gonna order that lift today.

xterrible

Oh, and I am keeping those sweet wheels as long as I can, they dont make em like that any more for some reason. Also, it was raining in that photo, so she looks nice and shiny.

xterrible

Rough country lift ordered. Got the 3" series 2 with the AAL. I am ok with the AAL for now.
I plan on taking her off the road for while next year and really going big with it, so this will do for now. After we buy our house and I get a full size, she will get a make over. I drove my lifted AAL nissan for 30k miles, never had a problem.

I have a coil spring compressor and air tools. Anything else important to note before I go into this project, I appreciate any words of advice or warnings. I hope to get to it the 2nd week of July...I am pretty stoked right now.

xterrible

Yesterday I pulled the wiper motor. washer fluid never worked on the drivers side. My wife had it 'fixed'. The shop welded the linkage arm and put some silicon stuff around the nozzle, making it trash. called the junkyard for a cowl and a wiper motor. Easy, fun job pulling it.

Lift should be here today.

XJhos

How is that lift coming along?

I installed mine on Saturday. I have pics in this thread: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/ju...st-lift-95868/