I am doing my best to keep with my goal of not lifting my Cherokee but I also want a roof rack.

Does anyone have pics of a roof rack on their non lifted XJ?

 

No lift with 30" tires.

 

Looks sharp!

 

Thanks. found it on CL for 25 bucks. I extended it prior to putting it on. It works great. I have hauled a lot with it and it has held up great.

 

Not the best pic seeing as it is covered in snow, but mine is stock height on 235s. I can get better pictures for you tomorrow

 

Surco Safari rack- picked it up for $50 at a yardsale with the lights.
No lift on 30x9.5s

 

So i love your jeeps stance. what exactly are the specs of the wheels and tires? no lift at all? is there any rubbing?

 

Thanks! The wheels are Cragar soft 8s 15x8" with 4" backspacing, tires as I said are 30x9.5x15s but they don't make those specific ones (Sidewinder radials) anymore. As far as the suspension, I put .5" lift shackles on the back, but as you can probably tell it's still sitting lower than stock and I also have no bumpstops, so the rears will rub if I have too much junk in the back or flex or drive reallly hard offroad. The fronts rub on the fender a liitttle if I cut it really sharp on the right angle hill or with somebody in the passenger seat, but I think I could fix that If I trimmed a little more. HTH

Also- note to the OP- I like my Surco rack for what I paid for it, but it's not the absolute sturdiest thing and it's seriously lacking in cross rails. If I was going to spend full price on a rack I would get something else.

 

They all look good, thanks.

 

Just curious... Why don't you want to lift your xj?

 

With the budget that I have I am worried that ride quality will be crappy. I just sold a Scout that I lifted 3" with a Rough Country kit. Had that kit on for over a year and the springs never did settle in and smooth out.

My uncle brought up his wrangler with a skyjacker kit that was "professionally" installed and that thing was so bouncy that I could not wait to get out and that was on paved roads.

My plan is to get new "stock" height springs and I may do a puck and shackle but only after I have researched how the ride is affected.

 

Ok yeah that's why I've been hesitating too

 

With a high quality lift only 2-3" the ride should improve pretty greatly. Something like an OME lift. Costly but the quality and ride is awesome!
Also great shocks make a huge difference.
My old 2000 XJ had a 3.5" Rubicon Express super-ride kit, and it was very smooth especially now I can compare it to the new XJ with 3" RC lift and 1.5" spacers...

 

better pictures