i wish my 90 2 door came equiped with good looks :/ (sigh) great pics. love the blanket in the back and ur long board!

Thanks!
I think my jeep now looks like what it should have from the factory

Looks good. Deff one of my favorite ones so far. Very clean.

Thanks a lot. Good to see some people commenting now.

Its been a long road to get here, and still a long road to go!

looks good man, definitly need some control arms to push that axle forward..or just get some IRO long arms

Haha deffinitly.

Id like to do a longarm upgrade but I think ill just pick up some LCA's for now cause I have some other things I need to tend to due to the 35s..

Plans include
Steering Box bracing
Unibody Bracing
1-Ton steering.. Anybody know of any 1 ton upgrades that allow me to keep my sway bar mounts?
And I need to figure out my gearing/axle situation

yeah ive got all of the above except gears. im doing gears right after i get a winch.

the IRO OTK steering allows you to keep your sway bar mounts, i love my steering. pure beffiness..and its not a bad price either

So if I understand correctly, the IRO steering is completely bolt on? With no other mods? Their parts are the definition of beef.

And now aircruiser, this is where I need your advice. What do you feel the first thing I need to tend to with the 35s on?
Our jeeps are real similar, other then your new fancy schmancy long arms and such..

yeah its all bolt on unless you upgrade to the 5/8" hardware like i did..then you just gotta drill out the knuckles. heres the best picture i have of my jeeps steering



as for your question, what kind of wheeling do you do and what are your priorities? first thing i did when i went to 35s was the steering. ive seen waaaaay to many bent tierods wheeling.. but if you DD it alot i would also look into regearing as one of the first things. i hate DDing mine and i wasnt planning on DDing it because i had my other car when i got the 35s but since i sold that, ive had to drive my jeep on the streets and its sucks haha. what axles are you running?

heres what i have done to prep mine for 35s
-IRO OTK steering
-IRO long arms
-7" lift
-IRO SYE
-spicer 760 u-joints and IRO almost alloys kit

but i would higly recomend gears as well..thats next on the list after a winch.

edit: just looked back and saw youre running the D30/35..heres the conclusion ive come to.

you cant always trust what people say on the forums. ofcourse everyone is going to say a D35 isnt worth the metal its made of and i would agree and always thought of it that way until i got to talking to a couple of guys i met on the trail last year. 3/5 of the MJs in the group had D35s and 2 were running locked on 35s. i was like WTF dude?? and he was like "you know, its all on who you talk to. ive been running this setup for 2 years and have had no problems until last trip when i snapped a shaft but both tires were hoping and the pass side landed in between 2 rocks." i didnt believe him at first but after wheeling with him, he did beat the **** out of it.

granted his was towed to and from the trail but still seeing it hold up to that much abuse made me surprised.. then again, the IRO TJ blew out a D35 on the freeway before the 8.8 upgrade lol..no joke just driving to the shop the rear end exploded. and on my buddies XJ on 33s. he was backing out of his driveway and while barely rolling, put it in drive and he said he heard a clunk and then the jeep wouldnt move and sure enough, it blew up.

so that the way i see it. id say just look around and see if you can score a deal on a D44 or 8.25 from a 97+ XJ. i have no worries about running 35s on my D30 and 8.25 and ive wheeled it twice now and dont worry about the axles exploding.

sorry for the long post haha

Thank you for the long post! At least someone is taking interest.

The main reason why I decided to go for 35s on the d35 was from talking to real local wheelers. I mean, I know its a weak link. But that being said, it only has limited slip, and I feel if I keep the bagging to a minimum, it should stand up till I replace it. There is a lot of talk on the internet from people that say what they hear, not from real experience.

I have a 44 with 410s locked, as well as a d30 with 410s lined up but cant decide if it would be a waste of money, knowing I would like to have at least 456s or greater in the future.
I would almost rather just find a 8.8, and re-gear and lock both, but that really gets expensive.

So from my understanding the 760 u-joints are a direct swap? And the almost alloys are just a simple weld on? May need to invest in some, as i'm thinking I may do my u-joints before the winter.

Anything else you have noticed having increased wear since you went to the larger tires?
I wonder if we are the only ones in the 35"-3.07 club haha.

Thanks again!

your xj looks sick dude im liking the rims and tires it looks like a beast

i would probably jump on those axles if i were you haha how much are they? ive been looking for a D44 too and when i drove my buddies 5 speed xj on 35s and with just 3.55s, i could definitly feel the difference between my jeep and his and ares were identical. but yeah as mentioned before, ive seen a few people on D35s out wheeling and they will swear by them.

as for the 760s, yep they are a direct swap and the IRO almost alloys are just weld on tabs..i have pics of mine if youd like to see them.

as for increased wear as well, from wheeling i have bent my front driveshaft but ive also started wheeling harder too haha..my wheel bearings also have a little play now and ive bent the pressure plate in my tranny last time out. other than that just remember to bumpstop too cause those 35s will love your fenders lol

Don't know how much he wants but i'm first on the list when he parts his rig out in the spring to build a new one on 37s.

Im planning on doing some bump stopping tomorrow with some good ol' hockey pucks. Then I can actually give the tires a go!

Some pictures of your almost alloys would be great

heres the only pic i got right after we welded them up



yeah id jump on the D44 or just give it to me

I like the thread so far, like the inexpensive/durable approach you are taking. I am planning on getting an XJ in December when I get my bonus and wanna start building it for serious wheeling without going broke doing it. Keep up the good work and keep us interested folks informed.