I made a list of all the things I want to put on when I get a xj
-7 inch lift (skyjacker/rough country/rubicon express) ethier of these three
-2 inch spacer and block to equal the 9 inches of lift I want
-Detroit locker rear and front
-tom woods drive shaft
-4.10 gears
-Jks trac bar
-quick disconnects
-currie enterprises tierod
-slip yoke eliminator
-limit straps to keep coil from flexing out of the bump stop
-stainless steel braided brake lines
That's the functional upgrades I want to accomplish all this before adding accessories like rooftack,hella lights,bumpers.etc

 

That is borderline crazy. Can't speak for everyone but 9" of lift seems a "tad" excessive. Any reason you want to go that high? Would not be practical off-road I would imagine(extreme high center of gravity)

 

So age aside, not that it's really relevant, but why do you want to be lifted 9''? My friends and I are at 7'' and even then it has its moments of being too high. Especially seeing as how you're looking at using blocks, which are not recommended.. What size tires are you planning on running? And I can't speak from experience (yet) but maybe someone who's locked front and rear can chime in. I've heard it's a PITA to turn when engaged.

 

Family memeber had a xj with 9 inches of lift it did great offroad. Idk I just like it that tall it's still functional and it did great at the offroad park we have where I live.

 

Define "offroad". I've come close to feeling like I was going to roll more times than I'd like to admit. Plus it'd suck for you to put all that money into the Jeep, which may take a while unless you mow a lot of lawns, and then roll over and damage the vehicle since you don't have a cage.

 

I plan on 35s

 

What size tires?

Edit: Nevermind

 

It didn't seem to high for uhwarrie national forest.

 

With 35's you are going to want larger gearing than 4.10. And I have heard that fully locked 35's on stock axles don't always work out well.

 

I was going to mention maybe 4.56 or 4.88s, but I'm still learning gear ratios since I plan on going to 35s soon. FWIW, I run 33s on stock gears and have no issues on or off the road.

And you have to make sure not to buy an XJ with a D35. Just save yourself the trouble and avoid it.

 

I plan on building for DD/WW mostly trails and mild rock crawling.

 

I don't think you'll be crawling for very long sitting at 9'', not to mention the additional height gain of the 35s. And you'll essentially have to go to long arms at that point, which should hopefully be in your lift kit, so that'll help the ride quality. However the lift blocks will not..

 

This helps with tire size and gear ratio. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-p...size-chart.htm

 

and I'm not sure if you have thought of this but low cog builds have their advantages. https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/lo...24-12-a-32980/

 

And look mean AF. Save the money, go more practical. Stock/BB height, 33s and locked, maybe 35s if you want to put money into the axles.