If you want your monies worth get a Clayton offroad kit everything they make in-house is twice as beefy as most other companies especially their trac-bars and control arms and their springs are a lot better than rough country or rubicon express...you do not need an sye for 4.5" lift or a 3" i have had xj's with both and i work on other people's xj's if you have vibes you have other issues anything over 4.5" yes thats sye territory...


and to the person who questioned why people rag on rough country simply put you get what you pay for i have driven jeeps with rusty's lifts, rc lifts, hobbled together crap, and recently a mix up of high quality springs with full traction long arms...guess what the least liked by me was the rc it rode bad body roll was terrible...my last xj had a rusty's lift and i loved it no sye no swaybars 4.5" long arm could it have been better yes so i improved it in areas and couldnt have been happier...

to the op 4.5" i started 3" with my first xj almost immediately wanted bigger

 

Their control arms are .25 lowers and .125 uppers (radius) and .25 on their 3 link... Hardly twice the beef as other companies. Rock Krawler has solid lowers. IRO uses 5/16 on theirs. Most are .25. Their springs are good but not the best. Their track bar is 1.5 DOM. Pretty standard for a double shear.

Not trying bust you out or anything but don't lead the guy astray with things like "twice the beef" when it is not true. There are like 3 companies whose long arms/subframe are made of the exact same things for a cheaper price. (Check out Stang's FAB.. looks like a clone)

I do agree with you though, OP go 4.5 and long arms... You won't regret it! Disagree on the SYE- I think you do need it at 4.5 It is a cheap solution to a possibly expensive problem. Drop that rear axle enough and it will slide out, thrashing around, destroying your exhaust etc. (ask me how I know)

 

well i have built a few jeeps and or broncos and this is what i have learned over the years. you go put a 3" lift in and little bit bigger tires and a year later you are changing the lift and tires again to go bigger. so what i am going to say is buy the biggest lift and tire gear the axles and put the slip yoke eliminator in and wheel it hard.