Emusoda

So I recently bought a 99 jeep Cherokee 4.0 auto and wanted to build it into a more offroad capable vehicle. I want to lift it 3" all around.

Here's a list of the modifications I plan on doing so far:

Sand and paint it flat tan
Rough country 3" lift
15x8 wheels with 3.75 backspacing
33x12.5 BF goodrich mud terrain tires
Bushwacker fender flares
ARB front bumper possible winch

My first question is, should I go for the rough country series 2 kit with the added control arms? Are they really needed? Will I rub the stock ones with this amount of backspacing?

I know I will need to do some fender cutting for the 33" tires but how much cutting is really needed? Does anyone how many inches up front and in the rear I will need to cut? I plan on painting it and cutting the fenders before I lift it and throw the tires on.

What extended brakes hoses should I go with? I work at a auto parts store so if I can use another vehicles brake hoses let me know.

Is a track arm relocation bracket really necessary? I know you can drill a new hole for it, if I went this route I would probably weld in some reinforcement.

If I were to winch it how many pounds is a good amount for this vehicle?

I may regear it later on and planned on going with 4.10 gears. Who makes quality gears?

Let me know if I'm missing anything to complete my lift, thanks for the help!

SeriousOffroad

First off, Welcome to the forum!!

Are you dead set on the lift you listed?

ta2tony

For 3" you don't really need the arms.

You're going to have to cut a LOT of fender and extend your bump stops to fit 33's under a 3" lift. More lift or less tire.

I think off a 98 5.7l dodge Dakota. Someone will have to verify that though...or you could search for it.

No track arm bracket. Either drill a new hole an use the stock bar or get an adjustable tack bar.

That's all I can do ya fer. Not sure on the rest. Just make sure you get the kit with the full leaf packs, not the AAL.

NewJerseyXJ609

Ok... You might as well go with the series 2 kit. And get the full packs if you can. The new lca's aren't needed but I would definitely suggest them.You won't need extended brake lines, but it is suggested. I currently have my stock brake lines still. But I hear yj brake lines work well. You will need a mild trim up front and the normal cut and fold in the rear. You don't need to hack your jeep up to make 33s/3inch lift work. Your going to want to add bumpstops though. You will not need to do anything with your track bar for a 3invh lift. Once again this is one of those things where you don't need to replace it. But it doesn't hurt to do so esp if you wanna run larger tires and whatnot. If you plan on sticking with 33s you'll want 4.56 gears. If you plan on going larger In the future 4.88. But rolling around with 33s and stock gearing is doable.

It all depends how much your willing to do to your xj. It can be endless what you can and should upgrade. But it doesn't take much to achieve a simple 3inch setup.



Here is a pic of my xj. RC series 2 kit with 33x12.50 baja claws on 15x8 3.75 backspaced d windows.

Emusoda

Well I heard rough country was better than rustys kit. What do you suggest? The jeep only cost me $1000 and has 245k miles on it so I'm trying to keep things cheap.

Any reason to why you guys are suggesting full leaf kits instead of the add a leaf?

ta2tony

Why new leaf springs? You just answered that question...245k miles. AAL's won't hold up forever and will start to sag. You're already going to be spending some bucks, this is one area to spend a bit more to do it right.

From what I've read on here Rusty's is better than RC. Do a search for "lift problems" and see which company shows up in the threads most. I would also research Zone and Old Man Emu lifts. If you're wanting a 3" lift I'd advise against RE because it'll giver you closer to 5" from their 3.5" kit, which means you might be buying an SYE and new driveshaft to get rid of vibrations.

Personally I'm piecing together my 3-3.5" lift. Old Man Emu 2" leafs with 1-1.5" lift shackle in back. A friend is giving me some Rancho 3" coils and shocks so I'll use those for now. Otherwise I would have probably gone with Rusty's 3" coils. My $.02 as someone in the same boat as you, trying to determine the best 3" lift.

SeriousOffroad

AAL's don't hold up to wheeling very well, they'll sag rather quickly.

What kind of wheelin' do you plan on doing?

NewJerseyXJ609

II've always bought rough country stuff. In the past the bushings and shocks they used left something to be desired...

The most recent kit I bought for my 00 I am very happy with. The n2.0 shocks are nice and the bushings are holding up. I have the 3inch series 2 kit with aals. I'm looking to upgrade the aals with full packs but other than that I'm a happy camper. Can't beat it for the price. I payed alittle over 400 for mine with the cf discount. Might have even been less than that. Can't remember offhand. I got 50 bucks off the whole price so I basically made it free shipping.

Emusoda

Mostly mudding, I decided to change from rough country to zone. From the reviews they seem like an awesome company. Still need some help on the brake lines and winch setup

jeep.kevin

if you are wanting to do mostly mudding you should really consider spending some dime on getting your rig waterproof, maybe even relocating the alternator up where the AC comp is.

As far as your lift goes I alwasy like to piece together lifts, then you can get good coils/leafs and then also have the better parts for the rest of the lift. a lift kit may seem like a good deal but they gotta skimp somwhere to make a good profit from it. Just my .02 on the matter.

bootxj

Ran/running the rustys 3in full leaf lift. Only extras I bought was a transfer case drop. With 31x10.50s I would only rub when I cut the wheel all the way on the LCA's. I netted a little over 4 inches with that lift. Didn't need a new track bar or any other parts till I went bigger. Overall, rustys has an awesome product, customer service is amazing, and the shipping is insane fast! (alabama to south Florida in 2 days every time I get stuff) pic shown is my rig last year with only the 3in rustys.

Emusoda

Alright so I started to order stuff for my build. I got some steel braided lines that are 4" longer than stock and I ordered my lift and wheels. Something new has been brought to my attention. I found out that I'm going to need longer sway bar links. Would it be ok if I ran the jeep with the sway bars disconnected? I'm a little low on funds and can't order jks's until later on

EagleXJ

A lot of people run without front swaybar permanently. Your fine; just take it easy round turns.