This is my cherokee, I installed a 4.5'' lift on it about two years ago. I've replaced my old saggy leafs with a bastard pack, and threw on a 1 3/4 coil spring spacer. This is how it sits now. The axle seems to be off-centered and pulled towards the back. It was a real pain in the *** to get the lower control arms back in

My question is do ya'll guys think 35's will fit in here alright with trimming or should I just go with 33's. Having 35's is my goal, but if it's going to look like total **** I don't really want to go that route. Also, I know all of the repercussions for going up in tire size so no need to inform as I already plan on regearing. Thanks a bunch guys!

My advice:

-Fix the front axle positioning before getting any tires. It is pulled back because your control arms are too short for the height. You should either get some drop brackets for the lowers, and/or some longer adjustable lowers.
-Once the front axle is back where it needs to be, you can get away with 35s, but they will hit a lot offroad until you trim some metal out of the way. 33s would be fine as well, and would require less trimming. If you plan on doing 35s eventually, you might as well do it now and work with the issues that come up

yeah you need to fix that front end... what control arms are you using?

I see you are still running a d35 rear end... might not be a good idea to run 35s on that

I'm using the control arms that came with the 4.5" kit. I know the d35 is not the axle to use, I've been looking around for an upgrade.

What would you guys recommend for the control arm issue??

That looks a lot bigger than 6.25" lift... or is it just me

The front is about 6.5, but the rear is sitting close to 7.5 or 8

did you try shimming the lower control arms all the way forward?

you should trim and lower the control arms,the dana 35 will be ok if you stay away from rock crawlin,but find a 97+ 8.25 or a dana44 rear and throw it in there,then get 35's for a lil more piece of mind

my question is this: why go with the 35's? 33's are plenty of tire, imho... when you go from a 33 to a 35 there s minimal gain in ground clearance, but you add a ton of rotating weight that puts a lot of stress on your drivetrain. i think you add about 100lbs at each corner by going from 33 to 35. so all said and done an extra 400+ lbs! make sure to take that in to consideration. but, going back to my orrig. question- why the 35's just curious..

What is shimming the control arms and how do you do it? I was thinking of just buying the adjustable ones..any brand rocommendations? I really don't have a reason othe than I just like bigger tires.... I don't see a problem with that.

I get the idea that your truck is not going to be going off road much

honestly you need drop brackets... simple as that

that or mid/long arms


as for shimmng the LCAs

look where they mount to the frame... see the bolts in the back of the mount? loosen them, loosen the LCA frame mount bolt and slide them forward... then insert a shim... then tighten it all back up

I just recently traded my 33s and got 35s.. it looks like a beast, but I dunno If I want to stick with them, It honestly is almost too much tire for an XJ

No, your wrong. A 285/70/17 (33") tire weighs 59 lbs. while a 35/12.5/17 tire weighs 68 lbs. So that's not an extra 400+ lbs by going to 33's to 35's that's 9 lbs a tire being a total of 36 lbs.


My truck goes off-roading about every weekend. In the mud a lot of my friends and I go through, 35's are the bare minimum. You ask why 35's are the size tire I want and other than the reason above, I think it looks bad ***.

Please tell me 35's dont look better than 33's.




Now 35's:









I'm not saying that every XJ with 35's is handsdown better than one with 33's, it's just what I prefer and better suits me...

35's look alot better!!

if you are running 35s you need a better rear end... I can tell you this... you will get more places with 31s and lockers than you will 35s and a junk rear end...

I would get a d44 or a c8.25 29 spline and get those 35s mounted up

but if you are planning to run the d35 it will likely not live long... that being said many people have done it and got away with it...


I just think you should upgrade the axle FIRST... just to be safe...

you do not want to be this guy