Opinions? (lift and axle question)
 

So, last year I raced my XJ in class 1 boggers at some events and loved it. almost as much as I love trail riding. It was fun showing the old broncos and k5's that my "little" jeep on 32's can hold its own just as well. I'm in a tight spot now though. I want to be able to continue racing it with the boggers, but I also want to be able to wheel it just as frequently. I would like to be at the maximum tire height for class 1 which is a 35" tire. Would a 6.5 inch LA lift do it for me? also, would it be smart to swap in a dana 44 rather than having a 8.25 with that tires size? i also plan on stroking the engine or adding a supercharger if funds allow and i'm not sure the 8,25 would handle the power well enough.. any opinions are welcome.

id go 4.5 inch lift and a 8.8 rear.

things are different with bogging. and there aren't a lot of xj boggers on this forum to ask

he said he still wants to wheel it too. i always figured 4.5" was a good versatile lift height. and he can still fit 35s with trim. i realize that there is a bit more that would need to be done to make it good for both, but its a start.

I run 35x12s on my IRO 6.5... They "fit" in with no trimming at all. If you wanted to mud with 35's, a 6.5 would work. That being said, even with them trimmed, there is not a ton of room left for articulation. When I leave Louisiana (mud) and go back to Montana (snow/rock) I will be dropping to a 32-33. I have a D44 in the rear and have had no problems (but I am not supercharged :icon_smile:. I don't know what kind of trails you have there but I think you would have to go higher to run 35" boggers on rough trails. I have always thought it would be nice to have two complete sets of rims/tires. A set of 32/33s x10.5 for rocky trails/snow and a set of 35/36" x12 for the mud.

6.5" will be plenty for 35s and the 29 spline 8.25 you have is almost as strong as a D44 and will hold the 35s just fine even locked especially in mud. Rocks can be a little harder on them but most of the people I ride with run 8.25s with 35s and beat the crap out of them in rocks and mud.

I had a feeling not too many guys on here were into bogging. But frome what I'm reading here, leave the axle as a 8.25, good set of lockers, and run 2 sets of wheels and tires on a 6.5 inch lift. I'm already at a 4.5 inch on 32x12 KM2s. So ill see what happens with my cash situation this winter and pick up a 6.5" lift from bds, some beadlock wheels and a set of super swamper tsl's. Since I won't be driving on the tsl's I figure its alright to go big with 35x16 rear and a bit narrower up front with a 14.5 wide. Just a set up I noticed was popular with the "smaller" trucks I race with. Ill keep the 32s arround for wheeling and driving. Anything need to be done to the d30 to make it more bulletproof? With how much I spin my tires at the track, I don't wanna blow anything.

On 35's you'll need more axle. A 44 is legit. But as for lift, you wanna do mud, which requires being tall, whereas, being tall on the trail can be more of a hinderance than being low. 4.5-6.5" is plenty of room for 35's with proper allotments like trimming and, bump stopping.. Also, there's a lot to be said for a low COG set up with lots of droop.. Idk man, my two Lincoln's.

Yeah, I'm used to building up my older trucks that I can jack up way up in the air and some monster tires. I wanna show up with something most guys don't run with (aka the xj) and kick some k5 *** next season. It would be nice if I could keep it a multi purpose rig but if not its alright. If I had more cash and more than just the one sponsor id add a 95 ck1500 to my vehicle list and rock that for mud but I ll have to put that off till I can book a couple more sponsors and whatnot.