Hey all,

First off I would like to say that if this needs to go to the lift and tires thread please move accordingly. Also, after finally being able to pick up another 96 XJ, I have been utilizing the search feature quite a bit lately. A huge thank you to all of those who have contributed to the forum...

Ok, a little back ground:

My Cherokee is a dd, 130K, and bone stock. 231, AW4, 8.25, grey floor mats.... It will be driven offroad!! Everything seems to be pretty tight with the exception of what I would guess is a death wobble that occured at 70mph after hitting one of our lovely Michigan potholes, not a very fun experience I may add. It drives fine (smooth) otherwise, but at higher speeds it will shimmy on the driver's side after hitting a large bump. I will be going throught the front end to replace any worn parts.


Short-term:

I plan on purchasing an AAL, spacers, and new shocks soon for a temp. summer fix until I can save up for the good stuff. I've noticed already that with kids in the back seat, she sags a bit, plus I'll be hauling my fishing boat (<2k lbs.) around. I'll probably go with Rusty's as their full length aal worked very well on my last XJ, not too sure how their cheap shocks are... cheap, probably...lol. Any other suggestions for another kit I'm all ears....
I realize that these are pretty much throw away kits, but at a couple hundred bucks (with shocks), I'm ok with that.


Long-term (OME concerns)

My goal is a high quality, low cog lift. Old man emu seems to fit the bill in that arena, nice ride, good for offroad, etc. Springs, shocks, a little trimming, some 265/75 16's, proper bumpstops, etc... What I'm concerned about is that it seems OME/ARB are fazing out our application. I'm finding less and less "kits" available, and possibly not even a 3" option at any place but Rocky Road, (which I haven't heard good things about btw....) As far as kits go, not a big deal, just convenience, but possibly a price break, too! I'm concerned that by the time I'm ready to purchase my set up (hoping this fall) I'll have to opt for a different (albeit stiffer) lift system.

Thanks for any and all input...

Travis

 

Dirk at DPG sells kits. My understanding is OME has a limited number of vendors. Jeepin outfitters, morris4x4 and amazon have some stuff. OME phased out some stuff but brought some of it back in early to mid 2013. It was kind of difficult finding info online.

 

Agreed, OME discontinued a bunch of products for the XJ mid to late last year, opting to sell only the more expensive options, of course. They came out with a couple new products (leafs and shocks, specifically), however, so I would doubt they will phase them out any time soon That being said, I would still recommend going to purchase your OME lift kit immediately Although I'm sure someone like Dirk who deals with OME and ARB on a daily basis would know a lot more than most of us on the forums here. I would give him a call, and when you're ready, buy one of his kits; it is one of the few kits that I've found that actually saves you a fair bit of money (though it is a hefty price to lay down in one sitting)

In general, it seems that most companies want to charge you for the convenience of buying everything in one complete "lift kit" package, rather than the other way around.

 

Yep call Dirk. When I ordered my 3.5 inch lift the leaf packs were on back order so he told me to get the 4.5s and remove one of the leafs and it sits perfect now.