as far as lift you could go with rough country 3" series II w/ shock upgrade already included. a little cheaper on the wallet without giving up quality. JMO

http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep_xj_...lift_kits.html

 

Thanks!

Do you have these in your '95?

I see they also have replacement springs available, and glad to know they throw in the upgraded shock.

Are these kits fairly stable for highway driving once they're in and bolted down? It is a good idea to go underneath the vehicle and torque everything every so often? I was wondering how long these kind of components last under normal wear, compared to what came with the vehicle new.

Curious to know if any other components need to be checked for wear more frequently, like drive shafts, tie rods, tires, and so on.

 

if you want to tow look into rear disc upgrades there are some who sell them and you could also just go to the junk yard for some zj rear disc they are the cheaper way to go but more labor intensive

 

if your gonna be towing with it you might wana look at OME lifts since they come in different load ratings

 

I'll do that. Thanks, zj rear discs sound like a good idea. Cool.

 

I was wondering about that, load ratings for different lifts. I'll check 'em out!
Thanks!

 

I can't remember the numbers off hand but be careful how much weight you tow. If you have to slam on the brakes the brakes may hold up fine but start to warp the unibody....

Anybody know?

 

Go with OME 'heavy' kit and you will never look back. Add Detroit Tru-Trac diff's w/4:56 gears and 31x10:50 A/T tires and you will have a great all around family Jeep. Its close to what I use and I pull a 3800lb travel trailer.

 

link to these? i've been looking for some better lighting.

 

Thanks Don. Wow, sounds like a good hauler. Does the Detroit Tru-Trac differential transfer power to both wheels? Is the gearing lower than what comes from the factory?

 

Holy smokes, hadn't thought of that. Stands to reason. Thank you.

 

yes gearing is lower than factory you should have 3:55's and updrade to 4:56's for hauling stuff

 

Excellent. Thanks!

 

Hi All,

Well, I went to Oklahoma City (OKC) and picked up the '00 xj.

When I was considering buying it, the dealer found out it had a problem with 2 of the rockers in the head, and didn't want to sell it, until he replaced the rockers.

A good friend of mine knew the dealer, and knew the fellow who had sold the jeep to the dealer, so I thought it might be a decent vehicle if we could work out a couple repairs.

We went through a friendly process of discussing what was wrong with the head, and in the back of my mind, I thought if you replace two rockers, what else might be wrong?

Since we got along fine, and there was no hurry, we had the head sent out to Don Wise machine shop in OKC. Somewhere along the line, I suggested I'd rather pay to have all the rockers, the valves and the rings done at the same time.

In checking out the piston rings, the dealer's mechanic thought one of the pistons might be cracked, which cinched the idea of rebuilding the motor. I wasn't disappointed, thinking if its a good job, I'd have a reliable motor.

All in all, the price for the vehicle was reasonable to me, and so was the price for the machine work. The dealer paid for extracting and installing everything, and most of the machine shop parts and labor except the extra work I wanted done.

The head turned out to be cracked, so we put in another one, which I believe was from an earlier model, which sounded good as I learned from this forum that the heads made for my '00 were prone to cracking.

The whole head was re machined. The cylinders were re bored, pistons replaced, cam, bearings oil pump, fuel pump, water pump, etc. - only the block and the push rods were the same.

Anyway, I talked to the dealer's mechanic, a fellow by the name of Luis, who seemed pretty ok, and he mentioned that the engine might run a little warm until it was broken in.

I drove it to Concho OK, El Reno OK, and back, and it did run a little warm, so I stopped a couple times along the way to check everything. I did the same on the way back. By the next moring it was fine. I drove about 400+ miles to SE Colorado that day, and everything went smoother.

When I accelerate, there's a slight mechanical whistling that goes along with hitting the gas. My wife says its the fuel pump, needing to be pressurized, or something.

Anyway, looking forward to the build now that I have it home. Seems a little taller than other Cherokees I've driven, and maybe its the 235 75r 15 tires, but it seems bumpy in the front end, so I'll have it checked out.

I'm looking to get tires next. Couple shallow parking lot dents, kind of wondering about paintless dent removal, whether any of y'all have had this done?

 

If you get new tires make sure they have a Hunter road force balancing machine, its the only way to really balance tires. Tire rack seems like a good site to get tires and maybe wheels. If you get both they will mount and balance them for free and throw in new lug nuts. Prices seem ok and no tax.