nismo5

i found this 89 xj on craigslist today posted for $1300 so i went to test drive it today its all beat up but just wanted it for a wheeler and this is what i found

good

detroit locker in the rear and he says its a five inch lift ??? and doesnt leak any oil or tranny fluid and has more power than my other 89 stock xj seems like a good base for a project to me

bad

death wobble on the freeway and it overheats and something stays on in the electrical and kills the battery after a few days


anyway i told him what happened on the test drive and he let me have it for $500 bumpers and locker are worth atleast that so i figured i couldnt loose heres the pics let me know what you think

mobilecherokee4

yeah thats looks to be a 5'' lift...not bad for 500 bucks...could use some work...but who's jeep dont haha good buy though, rear lift looks kinda rough, looks like AAL blocks and shackles..a lil bit of everything!

winston427

Those aren't even lift blocks in the rear, it's just square stock tubing. What's even worse is it's 2x2 square and your leaf springs a 2 1/2 inches. That's just plain crap engineering for a lift. From the second pic I can see that the stock rear leaf springs are FLAT. It still has the stock control arms which is a bad idea for that much lift. As far as the Detroit locker is concerned, Do not trust what the po has told you. 89cherokeelimited bought his XJ with the po telling him it had Dana 44 front and rear diffs with 4.10 gears and a Detroit in the rear. It ended up having a D30 front a D35 rear and the locker was not installed with the proper procedure and the ring gear hardly has any teeth left on it.

But don't let me make you think it was a bad purchase. For $500 I would have snatched it up in a heartbeat. All of it's little issues can be easily fixed for a reasonably economical cost. The superlift springs in the front are a great start. Ditch the blocks in the rear and build a Dakota bastard pack. That XJ can be built into a highly capable offroad rig in no time.

nismo5

yeah i could tell the rear setup is garbage right off the bat not only is it just square tubing but its welded to the spring perches damn im gonna get springs for the back but im worried about the front and the steering i dont know much about xj steering but he said i need to remount the track bar 1" over and get new lower control arms is there a kit i can buy from rustys or somewhere for this size lift that will correct everything???

Mike1998XJ

It doesn't have a front sway bar in the pictures. It is widely accepted that driving without one is a very dangerous practice.
For $500 you can't go wrong though!
Mike

nismo5

good to know about the sway bar is all the steering stuff in the pic look like stock??? what is the norm for this type of lift ??? like i said it has the death wobble when u get on the freeway im almost sure its the steering the previus owner said i need to drill a new hole for the track bar 1" over to fix the steering ??? or can i get an ajustable one?? thanks

fantic238

Oh my god look at those skinny tubolar blocks in the rear....
Very, very dangerous, if they collapse in a tight turn you'll be rolling off the road....
It has add a leafs under the stock leaf springs and shims over the fake blocks, and the cut-in-half-and-add-metal fabbed shackles are funny with that chicken fence welded on them....
Fab some solid blocks or bastard pack...

fantic238

Great deal anyways, i like the rims and it has the factory tank skid plate, where is the exhaust? lol..

cjj98xj

I saw the expanded metal on the shackles and thought WTF??? But it doesn't really surprise me after looking at the rest of the rear suspension. I'd replace everything in the rear as far as suspension goes, then wheel the **** out of it. If it's gonna be a trail rig only, you don't need the front sway bar. However, if it's gonna see road time, you'll want one for sure. Overall, not a bad purchase at all for what you paid.

dude in an xj

This is the reason I won't buy a lifted rig. I would prefer to start fresh and do it right the first time. That way I know what I have and not worry about repairing/redoing another person's mess.

To each their own. Have fun with it.

fantic238

Well it's not that messed up after all... easy fix...

nismo5

yeah i started laughing too when i saw the shackles and blocks im prolly just gonna buy new leaf packs for the rear but like i said before i just need some pointers on the steering if it was lifted 5" and the steering is still stock what would i have to do to make it right is there a kit i can buy or do i just need a adjustable track bar ?? can you tell me whats wrong by looking at the pic ?? and thanks for the heads up about the sway bar ill have to go to pick n pull and snag one but will it mount with the lift or do i need any kind of extended quick dissconect thanks fellas

winston427

You can either get extended sway bar links, or sway bar quick disconnects. An adjustable track bar is a definite, but the rest of the steering "should be" OK. To help with the steep steering you can upgrade the pitman arm to one from a V8 ZJ, it will give a 1 inch drop over stock.

JakeWI

nice find for $500.

nismo5

i was also wondering why my other 89 has dana 30 in the front with vacum operated shift motor on the axle and the one i just got doesnt have the shift motor on the front axle i would assume the one i just got is better sorry im still a total newb also can someone point me in the right direction to a link for the 91+ radiator swap i searched but and read some threads but not really clear on what i need to swap thanks