Im About to buy an 01 jeep Cherokee I have no intention on off road and just like the looks of the lifted jeep however the one Im looking at only has 95k miles looks great inside and out and he wants 5k for it. My question is he has a 4.5 inch fought country lift with , 285/75s on 16" pro comp wheels. I'm worried how top , 285/75s on 16" pro comp wheels. heavy itlll feel and how sluggish the 4.0 will seem with those tires. Also thoughts on cost. Thanks for any input here's a pic

 

It's really all relative to what you're used to but I don't think it will feel top heavy at all. I'm running the sames size lift and tires without issue.

As for the 4.0L with those tires it depends on the gearing more than anything else. With the stock 3.55's it will probably feel like a slug but with 4.10 or more you should be fine. Again though, if you're used to driving a 300 horsepower V-8 it will be a slug no matter what you do. When I drive my pickup for a few days and get back in the Jeep it's definitely an adjustment.

 

Thanks, what you think of price and it does have the 0331 head casting,

 

I paid $4,000 for my '99 last year bone stock with 124,000 on it so that doesn't sound too bad to me if it's really in great shape. You'd be looking at least $2,500-4k to lift it and replace the tires and wheels as it sits now.

As for the head, that's a good bargaining chip but it can be replaced. There's thousands of them out there that aren't cracked too so that's up to you if you want to do it proactively or not.

If you're not looking to go that tall though you could find a nice clean stocker and just do a small lift and some 31's. They look pretty beefy like that with the stock flares. Mine was destined for the rocks so it needed a little more elevation.

 

Flush the cooling system. Flush it real good. including the heater core. Replace the thermostat (i replaced mine with a 160* from the 180* about 3 years ago and worked out great for me, i know some members on here strongly disagree with that but w/e) water pump, and cooling hoses. And if your feeling real adventurous, tri-core metal radiator with the multi cooling fans built in, you know the one you see in the porno? you can get them on ebay for like a $160.
If you did all this i would say you stand a pretty good chance of preventing head replacement.

Unfortunately, mine did crack and i had to replace the head. but I've done everything i previously said and now i can sit in stand still traffic in the middle of summer with the a/c on max andive never seen my temp get higher than 195*