2" spacers and 2" shackles on top of a rough country series II 3" lift, rough country adjustable trac bar, 31" goodyear wrangler duratrac muds, and a whole lot of fun

 

Looking good man. I'm trying to decide on a lift for the 88 I just picked up.

 

the 3" rough country one is nice. it rides kind of rough but i think its cause i am at 5" and the control arms geometry might be to steep. when it was only at a 2" budget lift it rode nice and stock feeling. i have some drop mounts for the control arms coming in the mail so that should take out the little bit of harsh ride i have now but if it was just me riding in the jeep, its fine. the wife thinks it rides a hair to rough is why i got the drop kit.

she is used to her liberty with an old man emu 2.5 spring kit under it though. you want a nice ride, get one of theirs. nicer then stock

 

the kids got a lift on their skate board too

 

bump for the lifted skateboard lol

 

Nice looking XJ! Just out of curiosity, what's the badge on the driver's fender?

 

my trail rated badge. i think its stupid that dodge started putting those on when everyone knows jeeps are trail rated. i hate how some people look down on cherokees because they don't have a stupid badge on them too, so i got one for my cherokee and my wife's liberty because both are lifted and the wife's has the trac loc and all that stuff on it so i know its able to go through some stuff. this way, when the new jeep people come by and make comments, i can tell them lets go and see who can make it through what

 

Gotcha. Speaking of capabilities, Car and Driver did it's final XJ test in 2001. They pitted an XJ against 10 other "small-utes" as they called them. The Jeep finished 10th, only ahead of the Kia Sportage. Their reasoning: it's too truck like, too cramped, too many rattles, the engine breathes like an asthmatic grandpa, and the interior materials look and feel cheap. A Mazda Tribute took 1st place. Here's the funny part: the stated purpose of the test was to see which of the 11 vehicles performed the best offroad in the snow. Here's what they said of the Jeep. "The Cherokee simply would not get stuck. After the back out point reached 1/2 mile we decided to go back to the others." The Jeep performed the best offroad of all the vehicles being tested and still finished 10th. Goes to show that the XJ simply isn't appreciated for what it can do, even when stock. Live hard, Jeep hard, and go farther than they can go. I love owning an XJ!

 

thats so badass and so sad. it lost because it met the requirements called for and then surpassed them and because its truck like, not soft.

oh well, it keeps them out there for people who know about them.


i wish jeep still made an suv this size. i know they won't put solid axles in them anymore but at least this size. our liberty is a monster when parked next to the cherokee. its got a 2.5" lift and the tires are the same height but its taller then my cherokee with a 5" lift on it. the dang liberty is one of those soft boat sized suvs. it goes through stuff like hte cherokee does but its size is limiting it to the wider trails the pickups and suburbans take. plus, it weighs about a ton more then the cherokee.

 

all rough country lifts ride very stiff, my 4.5" kit is incredibly stiff still and iv had it in a year. if you dont want stiff look at bds, sky jacker, or old man emu. some of the better and smoother lifts out there.