I'm planning on buying a lift and tires/wheels within the next two weeks. I have a 98 XJ. According to their site you can run up to a 32 on this lift. I was hoping for 33's

I don't mind trimming a bit, but I would like to keep the stock fender flares. I've tried to look up some how-to's on trimming to see if this can be done. I've also heard that 97-01 Cherokees have smaller wheel wells.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

You can do 33's on 4.5 easy. Shouldn't have to trim anything.

Mine is at 3.5". Those were metric but they measured out to like 32.5". Trimming helps for uptravel just don't forget your shocks are not bumpstops.

Here is my Rustys 4 1/2" lift with 33x12:50x15's (actual 33.2" tall) but can run 35's also.

I daily drive mine, it has really great paint and I'm afraid to mess it up. Any suggestions on how to trim?

A friend of mine drove it to his body shop one day to work and when he brought it back they were trimmed. Oh yes he said I owed a 1/5 of whisky also

When I trimmed mine I just took off everything on the front up to where the bevel starts for the flare bracket, just basically made the fender completely flat. I've never thought of the concept of keeping the stock flares after trimming though, but I don't think it would be too difficult, you'd probably just be drilling new holes for the brackets that hold the flares on and moving everything up an inch or three. After having mine trimmed/cut&folded for like four months I decided I liked it better and got some bushwacker cut-outs. They look nice but they make my 31's look tiny




But here's proof you can put the stock flares anywhere.... This is my old 69 squareback.... lol

32 inch 11.5 wide tires, 4.5 inch lift, extended bump stops front and back, sway bar disconnected. 2001, stock flares, stock off set rims. Without longer bump stops it would eat the fender

Yes you really need a proper back spaced wheel on that with some trimming so it will flex out like it should.

Not a fan of trimmed fenders without flares. I got this planned in the future once finances permit it:
http://www.rustysoffroad.com/rustys-...flares-xj.html

I'm kind of considering getting a RC 4.5" X-Series lift. I found it here:
http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-sus...it-633xn2.html

I've heard things about the shackle angle of the rear on the Rough Country lifts isn't so great. The posts I was reading about the bad RC shackle angle were from around 2008-2011. The RC lift comes with a few extras over the Rusty's lift. It comes with upper and lower control arms that are adjustable (Rusty's comes with lowers that are fixed), extended brake lines front and rear, and extended sway bar quick disconnects (Rusty's comes with sway bar drop brackets).

I know there are opinions about both companies, I'm just looking for some direction on which one to get. I think I'm going with 32x11.50R15 Hankook Dynapro M/T's.

The Rusty's 4.5 is $874 after shipping.
The Rough Country 4.5 is $899.90

Not sure if I should make a new thread on this particular thought.

If you do any kind of serious off roading, you will break the track bar at the tie rod end from that lift kit in a year or less. Also one thing to consider is that that lift will bottom out on the lower control arms. That's what I had prior to some upgrades and I broke my track bar and am planning to go to the Rustys bend style adjustable lower control arms so i can get extra droop out of the suspension. Everything else out of that lift has held up great. The bottom control arms hit the spring perches long before your shocks and springs max out in the front.

Ups I ment they bottom out on the shock mounting plates long before you reach max on the coil springs or the shocks

I don't know how I didn't notice those arms... I noticed the Rough Country lift that is one step down from that one has angled lower arms, but they are not adjustable. And it doesn't come with extended brake lines or sway bar quick discos