i think...

okay, so i lifted my 2wd XJ 3" and i've driven it for a while and it's fun, and looks good, and i've been trying to really narrow down what to do next. on the highway it rides fine, but on rough roads, it rides like a tank. So, here's what i've done, for those who don't know:

3" spacers in the front.
3" OME springs in the rear
RS3000's all the way around...
no rear sway bar
need to put extended sway bar links in the front.. keep forgetting about that.
and that's all that's really relevant to this post

So yeah, rides bad, not the right shocks for that i know,and my shackle angle still sucks. NOW, i'm not interested in rock crawling, I'm not interested in mud. I used to ride 4 wheelers, racers. I'm interested in going very fast over semi rough terrain. there night be some air time involved occasionally. think baja or score. Basically i want to ride my quad and take my friends with me, BUT still have the ability to DD the thing... so here's my plan, find the holes and or better alternatives, that's what y'all do!

shackle relocators, correct shackle angle
replace front spacers with OME 3" lift springs
Bilstein or OME shocks all around
extended length UCA's and LCA's (is there a fixed length version for a 3" lift?" )
rear locker... my brother has a spartan in his 4WD he's pretty happy with, not sure if that would be best for my application.
extended front sway bar links.. fixed or disconnects?

Flat fender flares... because rough landing tire rub i've stuffed ALMOST 32's under the 3" lift.

Tell me about bump stops.. i have trouble wrapping my head around that, are we talking STEERING bump stops or SUSPENSION travel bump stops..?? and what do i do with either and how do you decide where to set them.. assuming they are adjustable.

Looking forward to everyone's input!!!

oh, and i'm putting in a switch panel where the ashtray used to be, and some nice LED cubes in the front bumper, so i can mount some "squatch lights" to blind all the dumb f-ers around here that like to drive with their high beams on all the time.. what is up with that?? oh, and for flash to pass.. because GTFO of my way, flying brick coming thru!!!!

I've looked, searched and read magazines and all that jazz, but opinions from people ACTUALLY RUNNING the gear is always nice.

Thanks all!

 

Where to start... You want a prerunner cherokee. That being said, this can get very pricey, very quick.

Ok, you'll want Bilstein, FOX, Sway-A-Way or King, Reservoir shocks with decent valving. Your current OMEs I'm assuming are a full pack? You can do a better shackle and pull a leaf to soften in the rear. And definitely get rid of the pucks for real coils. Disconnects would be a better choice as well.

Once that has been done, look into fiberglass front fenders.

Ok, bumpstops are used to limit your suspension up travel. You'll find them the the middle of you front coil, and over the rear axle tube. You WILL need to do this. You need to bumpstop so you do not completely collapse the shock and make sure you account for hard hits.

 

OME 930s and ACOS will get you 3.25" with an EXCELLENT ride and adjustable from there.

 

sorry bud but a unibody rig is not a good base for what your trying to do. you would be better off with a scissor action front end ford (ranger, bronco, broncoII, F-150). Just my $.02 This is a time a frame is your friend, long travel and and long radius arms are a big plus too.

 

There's a cherokee with a twin beam front racing in the baja1000 right now. A frame is not needed, it's just the proper fabrication and reinforcement. And long travel is not hard to achieve in a cherokee. It's all about fab skills and budget.

 

Aint that the truth. Enough skill and budget can make anything excellent at whatever you want.

Its not all that hard to make a Cherokee good at speed off-road it just takes someone with the knowledge and patience to tune the suspension.

How did his xj turn out. Last time I saw it, he was still mounting the radius arms.

 

well, I'm not actually going to RUN at baja, but i'd like to get the factory-ish configuration, (not swapping to twin i beams) to take up the bumps at speed as much as possible... but yeah, if money were no option, it's be twin I's and an LS7

 

Go to Rustys off road and look at the Jeep Speed springs and shocks they offer along with other items for what you want to do.

 

Or, look into deaver full packs and then rusty for soft coils.

 

Both are going to surprise most people for what it costs to go fast in a Jeep for even these small items that are so important.

 

Oh I'm well aware. I'm just sittin back with popcorn waitin for the shock. Then add the proper shocks/ coilovers and possibly bypasses.... Yea. Not gonna happen haha

 

I'm thinking 5-6k in my suspension by the time I get close to being done with my suspension.

 

Don't limit yourself. That will cause you to skimp on parts. Better to spend more now so you don't have to rebuild it later. I'm about 15-17k into mine. I'm nowhere near done.

 

I have no plans to limit the budget. That's just what I have seen looking at parts now. I fully expect it to be a 40k xj down the road after I get done having my fun with it. I'm hoping to do a diesel swap and a bunch of things its just time and money to get there.