mikey98zj

Just posted up on the North Atlantic section too! New guy here from Rhode Island! I've had my ZJ for almost 4 years now and all this time I've been complaining and whining that I wanted something different, faster, etc. But now that I'm getting older I'm realizing that my jeep is such an awesome car and I want to keep it for as long as I can. I wasn't ever planning on modding the truck, but I needed tires and my stock wheels were starting to pit and it drove me nuts so that's when I decided to go with a lift, wheels, and a 31. Right now the truck sits at 186k, lifted 2.25" on poly coil spacers, and Black Rock Dunes 15x8 with 4" backspace. I have BF Goodrich A/T's which are 31x10.5, but they will soon be replaced by Nexen Roadian MT's. I may go bigger someday but not yet. Once taxes come in I plan on getting a cargo basket with fairing, black grille, and some new shocks. Hope to meet some cool people on here and learn a lot about my truck! I'm a photographer on the side as well so I hope to keep the site posted with pictures as I continue working on the truck and hope that people will like my work. I only have one shot of her now since I've been so caught up, but here she is

joshk

Nice Jeep. I like those wheels and tires. How much does that affect the handling and such? I'm about to start upgrading a 98 Cherokee from stock and wheels and tires were going to be my first purchases. Is the lift kit required? If you don't mind my asking, did you install the lift yourself? If so, how hard was it, and if not, how much does it cost to have it done? Sorry for all the questions. I just don't know anything about Jeeps or SUVs as this is the first one I've owned and I just got it. Thanks.

mikey98zj

Thanks a lot man! Not a problem bud, I had a lot of questions myself and still do because I'm still on the learning process myself. Handling is a little worse since the trucks taller but its really not too bad. I have coil springs all around on my truck (not sure if you have leaf in the rear, i know my buddies 01 cherokee does) so I did a coil spacer on the coils. It's simply a polyurethane spacer that slides above the coil and pushes the truck up 2.25inches. As far as install, my 2 friends did it for me and they way it worked was my buddy had a mobil lube express oil change place that was on my way to work so I dropped my truck off, borrowed a friends car to work, and then they worked on it while I was at my job. That day was the only day they had time to work on it and I couldn't leave work so I unfortunately didn't help with the install . I was told it was a little bit of a pain to break free some nuts and the coils were kind of a ***** to compress, but other than that it was ok. Depending on what size tire you want, a lift may be required. I ran a 31x10.5 tire on the stock setup for a while but I had to trim my front bumper because the tires were almost ripping it off. Now that it's lifted there is no rub on the bumper but I do have some on my control arms at full steering lock. Idk how much it would cost because I try to stay away from mechanics as much as possible. The wheels are called dune and they're made by a company called black rock. Its a 15x8 with 4" backspace and they look awesome. It's a steel wheel so it's fairly cheap and they look awesome. I paid $336 shipped for the wheels, and $150 for the tires used.

1ATony

Welcome to the site

ol"blue

Welcome to CF. Looks good.

mikey98zj

Thanks everyone! She'll be looking better soon because I'll be doing a 3" lift in her with new tires, sway bar end links, black grill, and a cargo basket when I can find one. I'll post pics when all that is said and done!