I have a 99 XJ 4dr and want to make the ultimate Mtn bike rig. Im looking for suggestion on how you would go about making one of these great trucks into such a rig. Im thinking about a streetable 4.5" lift with SYE and maybe a rear axle swap. But other then that what would you suggest doing to make it a better mtn bike haller and over all campable truck.

 

SYE and rear swap are steps towards a rock crawler. 3.5" lift on 31's and a roof rack will make it a mountain bike hauler
unless your mountains look like the rubicon trail

 

A bike rack... should be all you need. Maybe a good radio...

 

I do a lot of mountain biking and all I need is a bike rack on my stock XJ to do it. I do have a fully locked XJ with a 6" lift and 35" tires, but I have never needed it to get to any mountain biking trails however the on board air did come in handy once as it works much faster than my bike tire pump.

 

A full size van works the best...
been there, done that.
But the XJ does ok.

 

Not necessarily, I'm going 4.5" because it looks way better than a 3" or 3.5" and I live in Florida so there is no rock crawling here. I also want the height for the mud and not bottoming out in big ruts. He might need it to get to some secluded trails that could have stumps and some good size rocks

 

And definitely a roof rack that can hold 2 or four bikes. Then a hitch bike rack if you need to fit more bikes

 

If he hits the mud trails down there, he is going to need more than a 4.5" lift lol. They measure their lift heights in feet down there lol

On Board Air should be #1 on your list.
Multiple mounts for the bikes, storage area for spare parts and tools in the back. Bangin stereo for the repair time. Might look at one of the awnings that mount to the racks. Would be nice to have some shade to work on the bikes and relax.

 

if you want 'go-anywhere' capability; mild lift, ~32" tires, and lockers. if you know how to drive you wont be gettin stuck unless you find deep deep mud/muck.

lockers would definitely be the first thing i would do.

 

Ok..my buddys races MTN bikes, has a 10's of thousands of dollars in bikes and carries them on his tahoe..but he had a surco rack on his roof and customized it to carry bikes with thule mounts. Here is what you need to do: RE 3.5 or 4.5 lift (3.5 for a more mild lift, 4.5 for a more agressive rig). Id vote for a cheap surco rack, 1 cause they are light, 2 they have square tubing which can be drilled through. Mount the surco directly to your factory cross bars, or use the crappy gutter mounts they provide. Buy 3 skewer (fork) mounts and bolt em directly to the surco rack, that way you can hold 3 bikes on your roof for just the price of the rack and 3 skewer mounts (under 350). Then you can also mount skewer mounts to the rear bar of the rack and hang the bikes over the back of your rig. If your like my bud and have 10+ bikes buy a utility trailer and mount your thule mounts across it.


Here is pics of my cherokee and then my buddys tahoe setup.

 

At the very least Id say a 3 inch lift, some 31's, a front locker, a 2" rear hitch, and a 4 position platform bike carrier that way only one vehicle is needed for 4 guys and gear.....pretty much what I'm building.

 

Here's mine. Attached some front fork mounts to my high jack lift handle with a couple bolts. It now acts as a giant foot while hauling my bikes and keeping them free from inclement weather. Currently pictured with one bike, but I can easily haul two side by side.

 

A Subaru forester is a great bike hauler. Huge roof, lots of cargo space, and it's not too high....

 

Are you high? This is Cherokee forum not stupid hippy car forum.

 

LOL.....thanks guys for the advice. So i plan on a 4.5" lift for sure just to take the jeep in to woods sometimes. As for on board air what parts do i need, i also have a air horn from a big rig that i want to install just for the hell of it.
Mike G.