I'm 18 on a budget due to school, sports, and work. Currently, i have a 91 Xj laredo 4.0 daily driver with a 6.5 inch short arm lift with 31's with a rusty's offroad front stinger bumper with 12,000 winch and that's about it. My END goal is an xj with 40's and a full body exo roll cage, possibly diesel or LS swapped (a guy can have dreams). my question is what do i start upgrading first like do i go for steering, fender trimming, axels, or other stuff?? Like i said i'm on a budget but definitely open to saving up and/or making payments lol so if anyone can help that'd be great! I'm open to everything and pretty much anything! I live in Warrensburg, Missouri so also if anyone knows a good fab shop or someone whos good in working with 4x4's and can help with any ideas or anything close that'd help a lot too!!

 

Long arms if you stay at that height. Steering for sure. Axles uograded are a must......well.small budget and 40s dont go together well.

 

.well.small budget and 40s dont go together well.[/QUOTE]

Small budget and Jeep don’t go together well IMHO.

 

Small budget and Jeep don’t go together well IMHO.[/QUOTE]
eh, theres tons of budget type builds out there, but most are mainly smallish 3 inch lifts and below. Once you get higher then 3 inches theres much more that needs to be done and thats where small budgets come and haunt you.

 

Dreams are a good thing.

But at a certain point you DO need to address reality. As mention above, at that height and with your dream of running 40s... Its gonna take a LOT of cash to get it where it needs to be.

Basically your dream involves replacing everything except the sheetmetal. With mostly custom parts. Translation, EXPENSIVE parts.

6.5" shortarm? Not good.

31s? Thats good.

Keep the tires, drop down to a 3" lift. She'll still be very capable, ride like a caddy compared to your current lift(and be safer), and ruduce strain on your steering parts and wallet.

Then do your research, save your money, and bit by bit gather up the parts needed to attain your dream the right way.

Build your dream front/rear axles. Save up more, get a 6.5 long arm kit. Save up more, get your wheels/tires. Save up more and buy a shell. Install everything. Then start saving for your drivetrain.

 

The bottom line?

If 40s and a huge lift could be done on a budget... youd see a LOT more of them on this site.

 

 

if thats all you do, the first uograde should be to drop your lift height for a better ride. The stock components of steering and axles are perfectly capable to handle 31s.....drop your lift height and you'll be golden.

 

 

Your axles are not going to be able to handle 40s and at that lift height with those tires your center of gravity is sketchy at best. Have you done suspension work yet? If not, buy some 3"ish lift components (try to stay away from Rough Country springs if you can) and drop the truck, sell the 6.5" lift stuff (hopefully you have adjustable upper and lower control arms already so it should be as simple as a spring swap) and then wheel the thing. No point in spending money on upgrades unless that's all you want to do. When my last rig was at 3.5" with 31s, a little deeper gearing and a rear locker, I had so much fun just using the thing. I should have just left it like that.

While you learn how to drive better, build some 1 ton axles in your spare time. From one Logan to another, learn first my dude.

 

 

You could keep the lift you have now and add some control arm drop brackets or long arms, lower gears, and 33 or 35 inch tires.

 

You don't need Jeep people - you need off road people. Most modern Jeep clubs are just a bunch of JKs with 20" wheels and light bars - hard parkers. Garbage.

I guess just do some searching online and on social media to find an off road club in your area, or even better, legal wheeling spots. You have a winch - just go get dirty and stuck.

 

You mean the ones that park on 6" curbs and call that flexing? And then go full panic mode when thier rims get dirt on them? lol