Cane

Ok alright, before you say it, I know.. there's already a million threads out there about the same topic, but trust me I've been reading for the past couple weeks a couple hours every day and still gathered up a few questions.

So sorry if you've already seen similar threads!

My cherokee is used as a daily driver. i have little to no experience in mechanic but after getting that baby, I can't stop thinking about lifting it. (I want to get some experience, but fear I don't have the necessary tools (and knowledge) to do so, so I would probably get it installed by someone)
So since it's a dd, I'm not looking for that super lift with 33"+ wheels and so on. What I want to know is, basically, for a daily driver but also some off road, main reason why I wanna lift, what would suit me the best. I'm looking around, and from what I can understand, Rubicon Express has the upper hand on Rough Country. Is it worth it to spend more $$ for RE or it's useless because I'm not a hardcore offroader and RC would good? Then comes the height question. 3.5"? 4.5"? Definitely I want a better look than stock, but what height is too much when used on the road?
Then finally, do I need to go with the leaf springs or add-a-leaf would be alright?

If you have any other suggestion or something to add, go ahead!

Thanks for the help, and sorry again if this looks like other threads!

VTJeep

Preference mostly. I'd say stay at 3-3.5" to help avoid (much) drive line and steering changes. This will help keep cost down. Also, if your making your jeep more off-road capable than you're going to be sacrificing some on road capability. So keep that in- mind whenever you're adding a left it will not ride the same. Some say they prefer the ride after the lift more than stock! Really, the spring rates contribute the most to the ride, so check to see what the spring rates are of different lift kits.
As for AAL vs. full packs- if your current leaf packs are worn out, then one helper leaf won't save the day. New packs good, but some have luck with the bastard pack route.
Also, what size tires are you planning on running? If you're doing a 3 inch lift you'll probably want at least 31s otherwise it's going a look a little goofy and negate some of the point of all that lift. Your axles will still be very low to the ground!

Cane

I had in mind 3.5 max at first but I was still hesitant and for the tires, I was thinking 31s, and from what I could read, if I got higher than that with 3.5. it'll rub and I'm not interested in trimming as of right now. For the brand tho, I don't know a bunch about tires/wheels, so I'll still look around for that.

And for the installation, I read the installation is "moderate" in difficulty, so should I give it a shot and see if I'm able to do anything, or I should look around for a shop to install it?

Thanks alot for the reply, really straight forward and appreciated!

xjoz87

When I started building my jeep I was soo anxious to be able to go offroad and also kept it as my dd. I went with the pro comp 3 inch lift because it was a decient price. It had the add-a-leaf as part of the kit. I found that just using the add-a-leaf left the rear end sagging a bit. That can be fixed with some longer shackles. I wheeled with that set up for a while and found myself bit by the offroading bug and ended up going with a rubicon express 6 inch lift and have been much happier with it. It flexes great and feels much more solid. My personal experience is that even tho rubicon express is a little more expensive it is worth the price. I havent had much experience with the rough country parts but I have a few buddies that run it and are happy with it. As far as the 3 or 4.5 inch lift it depends on how much work and money you are willing to put into it. With the 4.5 inch lift you need to put a sye kit and get a new rear drive shaft for your jeep. You will be fine without those mods if you only drive it on road but since you are planning on doing some offroading you will need it because if you dont you will have to watch to make sure your rear driveshaft doesnt slide out of your transfer case. Other things you will have to consider is you will need longer brake lines to accomodate for the extra lift and flex. Hopefully this has helped you a little bit.

JerrytheJeep

Heres my 3" pro comp on 31's with a full pack and shims in the back



Here it is with the aal and my stock tires, my stock leaves gave up the juice and were pretty much only on the aal. I still have them if you want em cheap

CheapCherokee

sounds like you won't want to go over 3.5" lift. what year is your XJ? that will play a part in whether you will need a SYE or not. i know you said you want to pay someone to do the lift but honestly i would really urge you to attempt it. you will gain so much more knowledge and experience and really get to know how the jeep works. try to do it at a friends house who has done it before if you have to.

as far as lift kits go, it sounds like a simple 2" - 3.5" kit would suit you fine, on 30 or 31" tires.

for the 2 inch you can go as simple as spacers and shackles, or as nice as a complete old man emu kit. if you go old man emu, get the full leaf packs. i explain why in the next paragraph.

for 3/3.5" kit you can piece one together yourself or spring for a complete kit, like you mentioned from rough country or rubicon express. the rubicon kit would be of much better quality and i would go for that if i had the coin. also for one of these kits you are going to want a full replacement leaf pack. add a leafs don't work out so well, especially on sagging stock leaf springs.

as far as tires, 30s are typically run on 2" lift, and 31s on the 3.5 kits. now, if you are okay with trimming your fenders (and you can trim and still make it look very nice and close to stock) you can get away with 31s on the 2" lift. IMO, sounds like 30s will suit you fine for the amount of off roading you do.

don't feel pressured to go with a taller lift and even bigger tires, you can still do more than you think on these "little" tires, and if you wheel on them longer you will improve your driving skills and finesse.

n_a_i_w

well heres My 2 cents. Depending on your buget. If you want a really good ride down the road and a capable rig I would definitly go with a long arm kit.
Here are some prices to compare what you would get. didnt shop around.
Rubicon ( from what i gather this isnt a long arm)
http://www.jeepinoutfitters.com/scri...?idproduct=113

Rough Country ( this is a long arm.
http://www.jeep4x4center.com/jeep-li...m-lift-kit.htm

And this is my recommendation for the cost.
Iron Rock Offraod
4 inch long arm
http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merch...egory_Code=PFX

You can do a 5 inch long arm IRO for the same price as Rubi

As far as tools. The IRO you can do in the garage with basice hand tools. Good set of metric, standard wrenchs and sockets including a 18 mm. and a set of tourqe sockets. A good floor jack, Jack stands, drill and drill bits, Vic grips, WD40 for all the bolts before you start your take down and a bottle of anti seize for everything as you put it back together. Im sure I'm forgeting a few things.

I did my 6.5 long arm in about 20 hrs. Basicly a weekend. If you have a friend to help out, even better. Handles great on the road. You could do this on your own and save a ton of cash. Its not difficult. Take your time. Take pictures. Ask questions. And thats part of owning a jeep. The satisfaction of doing it yourself. Theres tons of knowledge on here and people are always willing to help out with questions. a little joking and ribbing is always part of it.
I hope this gives you a idea and helps you out.

xjoz87

this is what my jeep looked like with the procomp lift with the add-a-leaf, longer shackles, and a 1 inch spacer up front.

Cane

Alright, thanks alot guys.

You know I always feel like I want higher and higher, but I mean I know I wont put it to good use (well for now, simply because I dont have an entourage that have modified 4x4s) so I don't want to pay the full price for a super duper lift and only go trailing 5 times a year.

Let's say from a 3.5" lift, is it possible, later on, to upgrade to 4.5 without installing a whole new kit?

And a quick question here, what are some good tires that can be used on road but all off road?

Edit,

@CheapCherokee, it's a 1996. I am also interested in doing it myself, but I still have some insecurities as far as problems that can occur and on how to fix them. For example stuck bolts and such. I mean I dont have what it takes to cut them or anything, I have very basic tools.

@n_a_i_w Thanks for the advice, I still don't really know what the difference is with a long arm kit, I've not been looking at them. I'll still take your advice and look around. I've foolowed your link and will look at that shortly. Thanks alot!

@xjoz87 Really nice, looks like the same cherokee I have (color and year)

If you were interested, here she is.

CheapCherokee

yes, possible to upgrade later. cheapest way would be to run a RE 3.5 kit now and when you want 1 inch higher just use a 1" spacer and 1" lift shackle, or relocation brackets in the back.

i believe your year is the first year for the non supported rear slip yolk, so you will probably need an SYE at that height but might be able to get away with a transfer case drop.


edit: it would also be time at that height to be looking into drop brackets or long arms. another expense just FYI. you might also need to get different shocks from the change in lift height

Cane

Alright nice to hear. And I'll definetely look into that. For 31" tires on 3.5" lift, is there any rubbing issues or it should be fine for that? Any other little issues there might be I should be aware of?

xjoz87

I always say go big or go home. haha. but seriously if you truely want to go with a big lift and do some serious offroading. I personally would do it from the beginning. It will save you a bit of cash in the long run. I went from a 4" lift to a 8" lift and wish i would have just done it from the beginning and have saved some money. As far as not having people to do the serious wheeling with, I was in the same boat for a little while but found that the best way to meet some of the guys that love to do that stuff and be able to do that kind of wheeling is to join some of the 4x4 clubs in your area. They are always out wheeling. But if you are only talking about gaining an extra inch later down the road then ya id say start out with just the 3.5" lift because you can always add an extra inch with some spacers and shackles for pretty cheap and pretty quick. As for the tires. It comes down to personal prefrence. All terrain tires are good on road and arent bad off road depending on the type of offroading you want. The mud tires are good offroad and arent bad on road but are a bit louder driving on pavement. I personally like a more agressive all terrain tire that is good on road and fairly quiet but is also good offroad. I personally run a big O xt tire. I love it but like i said it comes down to personal prefrence, what qualities are more important to you, and what you want the ride to be like.

CheapCherokee

its hard to say for sure, but more than likely you will rub your lower control arms ( assuming we are on stock wheels here) and probably some of the fender flare on the front. you'll really just have to find out after you lift it.

Cane

Alright, thanks alot. If someday I get another car that I can drive around with, I'll be able to keep my XJ and just do whatever I want with it without having to worry about onroad (because it'll be for offroad only). But as of now, I'd prefer to go with a small lift, see how that goes, and then maybe one day with more money, I'll make it a real offroad machine haha.

Alright. Thanks alot for your time again. I'll keep that in mind and like you said, I'll see what comes up of it. I will probably not lift it soon, I'll wait to get some more money and then later this year or maybe next year, buy what I need to get into it. I'm just preparing everything to have a nice idea of what I need, instead of going in without any information.

cdn_xj

What you need to do is figure out EXACTLY what kind of wheeling you want to do with your Jeep. or at least what wheeling you want to do most of the time. If at all possible you have to know the endgame before you can really start.

Are you more interested in rockcrawling, mudbogging, or overlanding? Or are you looking for something that's capable of doing all of the above well? Bear in mind that a pure mudbogger will be set up very differently from a pure rockcrawler.

For example:
rockcrawlers will need good articulation. the more, the better. and big tires for ground clearance. 33s or 35s are the norm. that means softer spring rates and probably some trimming to try and fit those big tires while keeping the centre of gravity down.
Boggers don't need as much crazy articulation so you can be less picky
overlanders generally don't encounter much extreme wheeling so a mild 2-3" lift and 31s or 33s are plenty

If you want to do all of the above and do it all capably then you will need to compromise your setup in different areas to allow you to do that. But YOU are the one that has to know what you are willing to give up and what you are not.

That said, here are some basics for you to keep in mind:
On an XJ 3-3.5" is, on average, about as far as you can go without having to get too far into messing with the steering and driveline. You can re-locate the axle end of the front trackbar to re-centre the axle by just drilling a new hole in the axle mount. and you'd be well advised to get longer Lower Control Arms (LCAs) to help return your pinion and caster angles to where they need to be. I recommend adjustable control arms.

4-4.5" is where you will in all likelihood need either a transfer case drop OR a slip yoke eliminator (SYE) kit to deal with 1) driveline vibration and 2) the fact that, at full rear axle droop, there's a very real possibility of the rear driveshaft being pulled out so far that the splines disengage and the driveshaft falls out of the TC. I've seen it happen. BTW, an SYE kit means you need a new rear driveshaft.

You'll also have to replace the trackbar with one intended for that amount of lift. Look into adjustable trackbars if you think it is likely that you'll go higher.
steering and alignment geometry can start to become an issue as well.

And you'll need to get longer Upper Control Arms (UCAs) as well. Again, I recommend adjustable.

anything over 4.5" and things get more complex...and expensive.

Oh...and figure out what tire size you want to run. that will determine what gearing you will need and help you figure out much lift and/or how much trimming you will need to do.