What's up, everyone? So sorry to be another noob asking the same redundant questions. I've been doing my best to research, but I feel like some direct input from experienced members would be very helpful. I recently purchased a 2001 XJ that came with a very used 4.5" short arm Rough Country lift. I now know where they got the name from because the ride is wildly rough. I do need to upgrade the steering gearbox and power steering pump, but aside from that, the ride is simply too rough for a daily, and I'd like to build a plan to hopefully improve on that. Please leave some input on which companies and kits would be best. I've read that Rubicon Express is a great option, but I'm only finding a 5.5" lift kit with the long arm option. That might be cool, since I'd like to upgrade the current tires from 31s to 33s. I will say the $4,200 price tag is a bit steep. What are yalls thoughts on Rusty's 4.5" long travel lift kit? Also, it's worth noting that this is my daily and it won't see much off-road articulation action. Any input is very much appreciated!!

 

For a pavement princess maybe a control arm drop, some better shocks, and a shackle relocation?
For steering, I would try a basic pump mod first. Its been a long time but I think I shimmed and ported my stock pump and had no problem with 33s.

 

Yeah thats probably a solid route to start with. Do you have a favorite shock? These rough country shocks are beyond stiff.
When you say ported, are you talking about drilling out the pressure relief valve in the pump?
I appreciate your input!

 

A nice Clean 2001!
Save up for long arms, that is the BEST solution for both ride and articulation - Dropping the control arm mount will only improve the ride a little while diminishing your ground clearance. Is it re-geared? Has the transfer case nosing been shortened with a new drive shaft? Have the brakes been up-graded? To do a 4-1/2" lift right is expensive - to do it cheep will be just as expensive in the long run

 

Yeah, Im not one that likes to knowingly throw money at short-term solution. Do you have any suggestions on a 4.5" long arm kit?
It's currently still rolling on stock gears and I can definitely feel it on the hills. I definitely plan on re-gearing especially with wanting to go up to 33's. The previous owner redid the brakes but I don't think they were upgraded. And the driveshaft is stock.
I just discovered that the 31's were running 39-40 PSI.... yikes
I appreciate your input!

 

If you want 33" tires, then you have to decide whether you want to stay with stock fenders. If you want stock fenders without rubbing, then at least a 5" lift is needed, probably more like 6". The better choice is to cut the fenders, and then a 3-4" lift will get the job done.

A long arm lift will give the best ride. A 3-link will give the best flex and smoothest ride. You won't find a long arm lift with less than 4" of lift, but that's ok. 4" would be good for 33" tires and cut fenders. IRO long arm is my recommendation.

Shocks matter a lot for ride quality. Bilstein is generally rated well, but there are others worth considering.

Keep in mind that the rear tends to ride firm because all the lift kit vendors provide fairly firm leaf springs. Some load is needed at the rear to smooth out the ride.

 

Porting your steering box as in reference for a hydro assist?? That's pretty darn excessive for a DD primarily street driven jeep on 33s. Get yourself a rebuild or genuine box and move onto other upgrades.

Im partial to the rubicon express 3.5" lift with short arms and full lift coil springs, leaf springs and a quality brand shock. Throw a rough country adjustable track bar in there and then upgrade as needed from there. Youll fit 33s and if you want a little more height/clearance later you can simply add coil spring spacers and shackles. Either buying the rough country long arm kit at the same time or later if you really want to.

This setup served me very well and despite not owning the xj anymore its still out there pounding pavement. I have a build thread on it in my signature. 98 xj DD

 

When you say old just how old is the RC stuff ??? The quality came a long way in the last 5 years with the new X kit components...Before that not so much on the quality side...If it's not X series components you might want to start swapping out parts to something better... I've got pics in my build thread for the X series arms and joints..... As stated if it's not going offroad much then a long arm is just wasting money IMO...Do the control arm drop kit, slip yolk eliminator and get the 4.56 gears in there for your 33s and you'll be good...

 

I guess when I say old Im mostly just saying that its aged. I'm not sure which version kit it is, unfortunately. All I know is that it was installed, along with transfer case drop mounts, and that's it. Some of the bushings look super tired which are obvious red flags. I scanned through your build thread and what an incredible project! Beyond impressive. I will 100% be referencing the thread. Thanks!

 

What That Jeep Guy XJMJ did with his XJ is very impressive! However he has skills, tools and other resources that are beyond most of us.

I have a '98 XJ. Over the last 10 years I have added in stages a 4.25" lift in the front and about 3.5" in the back.


I did all the work in stages as I had the time and money to do the work. It has 4.25" front lift and 3.5" rear lift as measured from the top of the axle tube to the frame rail. In front I have Currie 4" lift springs that actually gave me 4.25" lift even with the Smitty-Built winch on the front bumper. At the rear it has Zone Offroad 3" leaf springs that actually gave me 3.5" lift. The leaf springs provide a ride that was way too rough and had very little articulation so I removed 1 leaf from each spring and added 1" extended shackles.

When my stock steering gear failed I added a Blue Top steering gear. It has TerraFlex adjustable short control arms. I change to a dropped pitman arm, added an adjustable drag link, added an adjustable track bar and frame brace and probably other things I may have forgotten for the moment. Most of the front steering linkage is Rusty's off road. I had a difficult time finding shock absorbers for the front that would allow full extension and not bottom out. You have to do the measuring yourself. I could not find a bump stop long enough to be effective for the front. I made bump stop extensions from hockey pucks and bolted them into the space at the bottom of the coil spring. You can find how to videos on YouTube.

I made my own brackets for bump stops on the rear.

The wheels are from a 2008 Grand Cherokee. They are 17". I don't have the dimensions of the wheel handy but I made them fit with 1" spacers that converted the 4.5" spacing the lug studs of the Cherokee to the 5" spacing of the Grand Cherokee wheel. This provided exactly the same wheel track as the stock Cherokee. The tires are 255/75R17. Translated to 32" x 10.5". I have not trimmed the plastic or the sheet metal to make the tires fit. They do not rub.

The differentials are both stock. The front is open with no locker, the rear has the Chrysler limited slip.

It is surprisingly competent off-road:




The above pictures are from January of this year. 2026.

I managed to do this by myself with basic hand tools, jacks and ratchet straps. PS I AM 80 YEARS OLD. If I can do it, I suspect you can too!

 

I dont really have a favorite shock, IIRC I had rustys white label front shocks and stock red JK shocks in the rear of my last lifted jeep. But I didnt really care about ride quality and I rolled that jeep like 10 years ago so I dont remember much about. Was a DD so must not have been too bad.
Yes drilled the port and shimmed the spring on a stock 97 pump.

Where did I say anything about a steering box?

 

Yours look about the same as mine. We are both on 32" tires and, by appearance, have about the same amount of lift, although my measurements indicate more lift than what you said for yours. Mine doesn't rub either. Or at least it hasn't yet.

 

How did you measure your lift. There is a stock ride height spec. Jeep's measurement is from the top of the axle tube to the underside of the frame rail directly above the axle tube.

Jeep published ride height specs.

Front ride height spec is 6 3/4" ±1/2"
Rear ride height spec is 6" ±1/2"

Because my Jeep had a small lift ≈2" when I bought it I had no way to measure it and compare to the specs. I presumed stock was 6 3/4" for the front and 6" for the rear.

After the installation I measured 11" for the front so 11"-6 3/4" = 4.25" lift in the front. I measure 9" for the rear so 9" 1/2"- 6" = 3.5" lift for the rear. Either measurement can be off by ±1/2".

Measuring anyplace on the body assumes that all the body panels are installed without error and no damage has ever happened to any of them. Of course, measuring to the frame rail assumes the body/subframes have never been bent. All measurements are to some degree inaccurate. I prefer measuring to the frame.

 

Incredible info, man. I really appreciate you sharing some insight. I'm 100% going with the Blue Top steering gear. Got some Bilstein shocks in the cart and a couple of other parts to help things out a bit.

Definitely just had the battery crap out on me while I was at the grocery store. Fate would have it that an Autozone was literally 500 feet away. Quick jump and I was on my way. Now... I'm looking at alternators... lol

 

My XJ was also lifted when I purchased it, so I assumed the same base measurements as you. I remeasured this evening, and I got 12.0" at the front and 10.5" at the rear, so 5.25" front and 4.5" rear. I don't think I can go much lower at the rear because my leaves are tuned for no load rather than for load. When we go on trips with a loaded cargo area, I worry a bit about bottoming out on the rear fenders.

I've finally realized that while I succeeded in making 32" tires fit without cutting the fenders, I likely would have been better off with 33" tires (metric 33" tires are the way to go these days IMO), cut fenders, and 1-2" lower lift.