SixShooterXJCherokee

Hey guys, Im somewhat new to this forum. I bought an XJ cherokee as my first car and I am wanting to do a few things to it.
Winch and Winch bumper: I will be making the bumper/brush guard out of 1/4 inch steel and diamond plate. The frame mounts and winch cradle are the only things I think need strength so I am going to build the cradle out of 1/4 inch and put diamond plate on top and for the "trim" part of the bumper. I already have a 12000lb winch from harbor freight (got it for 300 bucks). This wont be heavy, but should I put bigger, say V8 grand cherokee front springs on?
New stereo system and speakers: Kenwood somethin or other with kicker door speakers (should be about 120 bucks total so that will get done soon).
3 inch lift: This is where I need some advice. I do not want to do a suspension lift where I drop 600 bucks into it, I ve almost done that already with the winch and bumper. I want to get a 2 or 3 in, but preferable a 3in body lift. My buddy has some shocks off of his rubicon that he is giving to me. Will these fit after I do the lift? I know they wont fit on without the lift as they would bottom out. What sort of body lift (brand, style, etc.) would you guys recommend?
Tire spacers: This seems to be a pretty touchy topic, but everyone I ve talked to said they love them. I want to get the 1.25 or 1.5 inch spacers. I know I need to get studded ones so they wont slip around. I also do a lot of bumpy trail riding so with a lift I want to get more tire to tire space.
Thats about it for now. I will post pics when I start adding stuff listed above which should be next week and next weekend.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, here is a picture of her. I had some rust on the rockers (not too bad) so I bondoed them up and put black bedliner across the bottom. That is not in this picture though. I bought the cleanest one I could find, and she is clean (well, appearance and functionally speaking cuz shes covered in mud right now)
Thanks yall,
Nick
Probly should a told everyone I paid $3,200 for this. Probly a good deal?

Mountainelk

It looks just like mine did as a baby.

blakexcore

Looks like a clean start. Good luck with that body lift....

EagleXJ

Well you've come to the right place to find answers to your questions. I'd recommend doing a crap ton of reading before you do anything to your rig

Battle

lol

When it comes to lift components, you get what you pay for. The best way to do it cheap is piece together components. Some pieces hold up to abuse better than others like lower control arms, coils, shackles which means you can shop used on craigslist. Leafs springs are a different story. If you can swing it, just buy full leaf packs from a reputable company like Rubicon Express.

Also, spacers seem way too sketchy to me. If you want that "look", just get some wheels with less than 4" of backspacing.

Oh and most importantly, spend a day reading this forum.

EagleXJ

Just sent ya a pm. As to your spacer question: I ran 1.25" spacers for over a year on 31s and have for about a month on my 33's. As long as you get spacers that are CNC machined from 6061 billet aluminum, your good. I got both my sets for about $100 on ebay. Cinch them on tight with a breaker bar and then re-tighten them a week later and every time you rotate your tires and you'll be good

SixShooterXJCherokee

Thanks for all the info guys. I will definately have things rolling here in the next two weeks. Next thing after that is tires. The issue I have is those are brand new 28" Firestone Destination A/T's on there. I will definately be going with alluminum or steel CNC'ed parts for the lift. I have seen the polymer versions, but that will not cut it. The trails I go on would tear apart that. Thanks again guys.

EagleXJ

If I was in your position, Id do your budget boost, trim, sell the 28s and run 31s. If you don't want to trim, do 30s

SixShooterXJCherokee

Alright guys, the budget lift is in. It looks good and it came with an unlimited warranty (I had to pay a little bit extra, but I would rather have the warranty). Me and my buddy also started on the winch bumper yesterday. I am using 3/16 and 1/4in steel for the frame mounts and winch base. The rest of the bumper will be in 3/16 aluminum diamond plate. Brush guard will be going on too. The total components should not be too heavy because I am using alum on non stressed parts however should I look at getting v8 grand cherokee front springs? The pipe I am using on the brush guard is 2 inch 1/4in wall. It is cold up here in ohio though. Our high today is 10 so the lift will go on this saturday in a heated garage. Will be posting pics after the lift goes on. Winch bumper will be done by the end of the month.
Thanks yall

SixShooterXJCherokee

I was just looking at my rear shocks and they are beat. Is there any way these may be the original rear shocks? Supposedly it hasnt been offroading (before I got it of course).

PurpleToxin505

So a body lift on a unibody? didnt know that was safely possible. If your looking to stay cheap you could order the 3" Rough Country Kit for 250, and run 31s. Thats what I have and total in lift and tires is under a grand. I go every where I want and have yet to get stuck

PurpleToxin505

SixShooterXJCherokee

Its a cheap suspension lift. Im putting on some rubicon shocks. There are front spacers for the springs and shackles for the rear leafs. Im probably headed to pull a part soon to get some more leafs and some grand cherokee v8 front springs.

PurpleToxin505

But it already has a quality suspension lift. Rear should have shackles and relocation brackets to get the proper shackle angle(45)

SixShooterXJCherokee

Alright, I only wound up doing the rear shackles. My leaf pack is bad enough where the 2in lift makes it sit level with the front. Should I buy an add a leaf to put back there? I havent even started the front or the shocks. Im gunna wait till its warmer to do more stuff too. Our high this weekend was 10 degrees and it wont be getting any better soon. My camera froze so I didnt take any pictures. Stereo is going in soon. I probably wont do anything more to the suspension till spring when its bearable to work outside.