I recently bought my first Jeep. Its a 97 XJ Country and its bone stock. I have been tinkering around on it fixing some small stuff like the rear brakes, AC drain, valve cover gasket. It is now time to start looking at a lift. It will not be used for any serious off roading I just like the taller bigger tires stance. I am thinking about going 3" with 31's and have been looking at the RC 3inch Series II Suspension Lift System. The kit comes with front lower arms, front springs, sway bar brackets, full set of rear leafs, and shocks. There are a few things that I have questions about.

1) Are 31's going look too close to the fenders with this kit?

2) I have 3.55 gears. Will they need to be changed?

3) Will I have to run a SYE with this setup? I have an auto trans, 8.25 rear, and a NP231 transfer case.

4) Does the pinion angle on the rear have to be changed?

5) Are there any other parts or things that I would need for this lift?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/all-lift-tire-questions-go-here-10579/

There's tons of folks with this same setup. Look through here. All your questions will be answered before you even post.

 

I have basically the same set up as you. I have 33's and think they looks a bit too far away from the fenders. The 3.55 is just fine, I know its not for racing but the inner child in me still races my Jeep and wins every now and then somehow. I have a 1/2 inch Transfer Case drop, dont think it was needed but better to be safe than sorry, thought about raising the T Case back up and giving it a SYE but probably never will. I dont remember doing anything about the pinion angle.

As for after the lift, you may need a sway bar drop $30-$40. You NEED an alignment. You may want a adjustable track bar, I had an adjustable Rough Country track bar that broke after 7,000 miles and went back to stock track bar so this all depends on how it goes.

Ill try to get some pics up. (Cant upload them from my phone, so I wont be able to give you pics. Sorry)

 

1. I have 31" and 2" lift, at the moment. Minimal flare trimming. lowered from 4.5". I'm considering doing 32" tires on next set and NOT lifting higher.

2. the correct or Stock like gearing for 31" tires is .373, one step lower than what you have. The cost of regearing outweighs the value by a long shot. Now you go to 32" or bigger, the benefit of regearing is more than the cost.

3. Every XJ is different . You won't know till you do the lift.

4. See #3, because this is part the same question.

5 NEED no.. Should be replaced or added as part of doing the lift, Yeah, anything that is part of the suspension and or steering , that is NOT included in the kit.

 

Well being that you don't plan to offroad much you'll be fine as far as fender clearance, but if your going to run 31s, your tires will rub on the LCAs at full lock, easy fix just space your steering stops.

3.55s are plenty capable of pushing 31s and even 33s, although you will notice your not as fast as stock.

No you shouldn't need and SYE, but if you do get vibrations id suggest and TC drop as you dont plan on wheeling it hard.

Didn't do anything with my pinion angle

You dont need a swaybar drop kit, as RC sends you extended links witch would be the correct way to fix that issue, although at 3'' I used my stock endlinks. I would suggest an adjustable track bar though to properly center you axle, I run the stock one and my axle sits about 1/2"-3/4" to the drivers side

This is all because Im running that same set up, except I got and AAL due to me having brand new leafs. I did trim before I got my tires so no picks of it with flairs. And honestly im kicking myself in the ***** for not going with 33s over 31s. My wheels are BS 3.75 15x8, and the tires are 31x10.5x15 Duratracs



Flexes pretty well, and yours should flex better as im on stock LCAs(dont mind the body damage, smacked a tree or two on my last run)

 

Welcome to another XJ owner!

You chose wisely on the year 97-early 99's were the best years for XJ's mine is a 99 but they are almost an exact clone of each other, except for a few engine mods on the early 99's for the better.

My fenders have always been trimmed because it is needed to get any real flex for your mods you will install. I started with a 3" lift and 31" tires 4.0/AW4/3.55's here is a picture of it really before I started working on it.



Even with the 31's the 3.55 gears sucked the transmission shifted up and down all the time on the highway, then add some weight it became worst the temp increased in the trans. To bring a 31' tire to a stock gear you would need 4.10's and for 33's a 4.56's these are just for a stock ratio. Yes you can run a 3.55 but its a real PITA and gas mileage suffers. Below I'm running 33's and recently installed 4.56 gears and Detroit lockers. My MPG increased 5.5 mpg I carry a lot of cargo BTW.



The RC lifts are known for less than stellar quality of everything in the kits most of all the Made in China 8>) springs not holding up. I received one of theirs in trade New in Box and was not impressed with what I saw 4" finally sold it for $300 here.

The Rustys Off Road has VG American made springs I have them on mine and did research before I bought anything. All the entry level kits are about the same with the shocks (poor)but work the springs are what you are buying. RC LCA is a joke compared to even a stock XJ arm and I ran stock for almost 2 yrs before the upgrade. Rustys kit is or was $438 I think and the items you really should consider as well are a transfer case drop kit (cheap) no SYE needed yet, adj. track bar under $140, proper wheels 15x8 with 3 3/4-4" of BS "ONLY for clearances' needed.

Other things can be added as you can afford or need to and you know how that goes

 

Thanks for the reply's guys. I think I'm gonna go with 3" and 31's. Then I will just see how everything else works out after that, like a transfer case drop or gears. I will still have to decide what kit to buy.

 

Piece one together so you can get exactly what you want.