[diegoxjjk]

I have a 1999 jeep Cherokee sport xj 4.0 with 4x4 I want to buy a lift kit don't know ,how high I have to go for 35" .or what suspension kit with adjustable control arms .don't want to spend more then $700 please direct me to the right lift kit thanks .

Looking for this type of look a shown in the picture

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[diegoxjjk]

Help needed

What do I need to buy to make my jeep Cherokee sport xj 4.0 4x4 to look like this
What lift kit
What tire size
What rims are those
What do I have to do mechanical wise
Adjustable arms

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[jason m]

Moved to the XJ section.


Jason.

 

[TheBoogieman]

It takes a lot more than a lift kit to properly run 35's. A WHOLE LOT MORE money too.:shhh:

 

[wildman4x4nut]

As Boogieman stated you need to expand your pocketbook a lot more to run 35" tires. You will need a 5-6" lift plus fender flares from Bushwacker or one of the other vendors.
One of the less expensive lift kits would be from Rough Country and you will want a long arm kit. You will need to upgrade your steering, brakes and regear your axles to handle the 35" tires.
You will need 4.88 gears at a minimum to compensate for the larger tires. Plus you will want to think about upgrading your front and rear axle shafts and new u-joints in the front axle.
Then you are also going to want a SYE kit for your transfer case and a new rear driveline and maybe a front too.


Lifting your XJ isn't just new springs and shocks. Do some reading and look at what you will need.

 

[RockRodHooligan]

$80 can get you a Milwaukee Sawzall .....

 

[vabeachmike]

Help needed

Welcome from Virginia Beach!

Lots of Money . There are all kinds of mods needed to run 35 inch tires. The wear and tear on the stock driveline will be brutal. Gas mileage will be terrible on the stock gears. Why not go with a milder lift and 31s or 33s? You can get basically the same look, less work and maintenance and save lots of money?! Do some reading and research and you can find the answers to your questions here.

Here's a shot of mine on 33 inch tires and a 3.5 inch lift

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[Timo_90xj]

You're looking at around 4" front coils + long arms, ~3" lift rear leaf packs + shackle relocation brackets. New shocks on every corner. 4.88 gears installed. Upgraded steering. Better brakes if you actually want to stop. SYE + double cardan joint rear DS. Longer brake hoses for the front & to the rear body-to-axle. At least a rear locker if you want to keep on going on the trails . 29-spline Chrysler 8.25" rear axle, or Ford 8.8 swapped in if you currently have a D35.
..and a bunch of other things.

Bare minimum you're realistically looking at spending is at least three times more than you're ready spend.

You will need a 5-6" lift plus fender flares from Bushwacker or one of the other vendors.

Why?

4" is plenty enough for 35s on an XJ. That, and trimming front fenders along the outer edge of original fender flare, and rear cut 'n fold.
Ran my two XJs that way on the trails with swaybars disconnected for about 3 years with no issues.

 

[TheBoogieman]

Welcome from Virginia Beach!

Lots of Money . There are all kinds of mods needed to run 35 inch tires. The wear and tear on the stock driveline will be brutal. Gas mileage will be terrible on the stock gears. Why not go with a milder lift and 31s or 33s? You can get basically the same look, less work and maintenance and save lots of money?! Do some reading and research and you can find the answers to your questions here.

Here's a shot of mine on 33 inch tires and a 3.5 inch lift

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I want your Jeep.:drool:

 

[bluejunior]

I want your Jeep.:drool:

I think that's the only nice thing I've seen you post lol.

On the original subject: $700 just isn't enough for this.

The typical step-in for 35's would be to first buy a 4.5" ish lift and run 32's or 33's (with minor trimming). The stock steering, brakes, gears, etc.. can at least handle those. Not well, and not locked if you've got a D35, but it'll roll down the road okay and look nice and Jeepy.

You then add all of the things you'll need to run 35's and get trail ready: gears, lockers, armor, brakes, steering, etc... The final step being to much more aggressively trim and then mount up your 35's.

The problem is a really complete 4.5" kit that includes the sort of things you'll want for a trail-ready jeep is going to run you 4 figures. And this is a REALLY loose definition of trail-ready since it doesn't cover armor, lockers, recovery points, etc...

This would be an example from Rough Country (one of the cheapest brands)
http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-xj-long-arm-suspension-lift-kit-laxj4.html
Keep in mind that even this fairly complete long arm kit doesn't include the Slip yoke eliminator and driveshaft, though it does at least address sway bar, brake lines, track bar, etc....

So....that brings us (within your budget) to an even gentler step-in.

1: Start at 3", running something between 31's (no trim) and 33's (aggressive trim). You'll get a lot of basics like longer brake lines, SYE, adjustable track bar here.
2: Then later you'll do a phase 2 lift which will add shackle relocation in the rear and either spacers or new coils in the front to get you more to the 4.5-5" total lift range, i.e. 35 ready from a height standpoint. You'll like do some other cost savers like adding BPE's instead of brand new shocks, relocating your 3" ready brake lines from the factory position to give more flex, etc... to get your jeep adjusted for 4.5".
3: You still have to piece together axle upgrades, steering, brakes, gears, all that crap before 35's, though.
4: You'd really want to add long arms in there somewhere as well. Control arm drop brackets are a much cheaper option, and do have the benefit of maintaining a true 4-link setup (most long arms are a radius arm setup, or a 3-llink). They tend to hang up on obstacles but if it's just a street rig or more about mud/sand/snow than rocks that wouldn't really matter.
5: okay, NOW you can mount up 35's.

It's worth noting here that if it's a street rig, steering and brakes are critical to run higher lifts and big tires safely. The XJ just isn't ready to be that tall out of the box. Ideally, something like a WJ swap would be used, netting you a better steering geometry and better brakes. That can run from ~700-800 to a couple grand on its own, depending on how you choose to source parts, whether you can weld, etc... "One ton" steering kits and such can be used as well, but don't come with the brake upgrades and only slightly improve the geometry (by moving the mounting point of the tie rod on the drag link closer to the end of the drag link). Even then you haven't account for more power or durability to the steering, like steering box bracing, pump upgrades or the use of a beefier steering box.

Step-in projects like that are more expensive and more time consuming, in total, than saving up a few grand to actually do everything for 35's all at once, but they have the benefit of breaking up the cost and work into chunks and letting you drive around a lifted jeep a lot sooner, even if it's not your final build.

Also....seriously consider just planning on 33's like vabeachmike. It's a hell of a lot less work and expense, even if his winch bumper probably cost more than your whole $700 budget.

 

[tstock0885]

I think that's the only nice thing I've seen you post lol.

On the original subject: $700 just isn't enough for this.

The typical step-in for 35's would be to first buy a 4.5" ish lift and run 32's or 33's (with minor trimming). The stock steering, brakes, gears, etc.. can at least handle those. Not well, and not locked if you've got a D35, but it'll roll down the road okay and look nice and Jeepy.

You then add all of the things you'll need to run 35's and get trail ready: gears, lockers, armor, brakes, steering, etc... The final step being to much more aggressively trim and then mount up your 35's.

The problem is a really complete 4.5" kit that includes the sort of things you'll want for a trail-ready jeep is going to run you 4 figures. And this is a REALLY loose definition of trail-ready since it doesn't cover armor, lockers, recovery points, etc...

This would be an example from Rough Country (one of the cheapest brands)
http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-xj-long-arm-suspension-lift-kit-laxj4.html
Keep in mind that even this fairly complete long arm kit doesn't include the Slip yoke eliminator and driveshaft, though it does at least address sway bar, brake lines, track bar, etc....

So....that brings us (within your budget) to an even gentler step-in.

1: Start at 3", running something between 31's (no trim) and 33's (aggressive trim). You'll get a lot of basics like longer brake lines, SYE, adjustable track bar here.
2: Then later you'll do a phase 2 lift which will add shackle relocation in the rear and either spacers or new coils in the front to get you more to the 4.5-5" total lift range, i.e. 35 ready from a height standpoint. You'll like do some other cost savers like adding BPE's instead of brand new shocks, relocating your 3" ready brake lines from the factory position to give more flex, etc... to get your jeep adjusted for 4.5".
3: You still have to piece together axle upgrades, steering, brakes, gears, all that crap before 35's, though.
4: You'd really want to add long arms in there somewhere as well. Control arm drop brackets are a much cheaper option, and do have the benefit of maintaining a true 4-link setup (most long arms are a radius arm setup, or a 3-llink). They tend to hang up on obstacles but if it's just a street rig or more about mud/sand/snow than rocks that wouldn't really matter.
5: okay, NOW you can mount up 35's.

It's worth noting here that if it's a street rig, steering and brakes are critical to run higher lifts and big tires safely. The XJ just isn't ready to be that tall out of the box. Ideally, something like a WJ swap would be used, netting you a better steering geometry and better brakes. That can run from ~700-800 to a couple grand on its own, depending on how you choose to source parts, whether you can weld, etc... "One ton" steering kits and such can be used as well, but don't come with the brake upgrades and only slightly improve the geometry (by moving the mounting point of the tie rod on the drag link closer to the end of the drag link). Even then you haven't account for more power or durability to the steering, like steering box bracing, pump upgrades or the use of a beefier steering box.

Step-in projects like that are more expensive and more time consuming, in total, than saving up a few grand to actually do everything for 35's all at once, but they have the benefit of breaking up the cost and work into chunks and letting you drive around a lifted jeep a lot sooner, even if it's not your final build.

Also....seriously consider just planning on 33's like vabeachmike. It's a hell of a lot less work and expense, even if his winch bumper probably cost more than your whole $700 budget.

this write up is great and answered a lot of my questions i was searching around for... I have a rough country 3 inch lift on my xj, and in your "step 2" you mentioned spacers to give me about 5" of lift. Are the spacers all i need, or do i need longer brake lines, sye, ect.? Its a 90' and i thought i heard somewhere that older XJ's dont really need the sye untill about 6 inches of lift. Is that true? Thanks.

 

[bluejunior]

this write up is great and answered a lot of my questions i was searching around for... I have a rough country 3 inch lift on my xj, and in your "step 2" you mentioned spacers to give me about 5" of lift. Are the spacers all i need, or do i need longer brake lines, sye, ect.? Its a 90' and i thought i heard somewhere that older XJ's dont really need the sye untill about 6 inches of lift. Is that true? Thanks.

I'm going to break this out a little:

1) Spacers to up the lift:

What I suggest when going from 3" to 4.5 or so, which is where you need to be to run 35's with aggressive trimming, is that you leave the rear springs alone and use bolt-in shackle relocation brackets (link below). Those brackets will improve ride and flex and lift about 1.5-2" on their own, not counting shackle changes or whatever. So that + 3" lift leaves gets you to 4.5+ with some side benefits. For the front, just some simple 1.5" poly spacers will work if you're cheap, or you can buy new coils for the lift height. New coils will flex better, since you've got a longer spring to compress/extend, but that may be less important for a street rig or a mud guy than for rock crawling. You'll also need to make sure that your shocks, brake lines, track bar and sway bar links can handle this additional height. If you don't have an adjustable track bar, you'll definitely need one now. If you do, just adjust it a little longer. If you don't have extended sway bar links or relocation brackets, you'll need them. If you do have a set designed for 3", they'll survive at 4.5", you'll just need to replace them with longer when they wear out. If your shocks aren't long enough, you can add BPE's (which usually reduce required shock length by ~1", which should be enough for a 1.5-2" ish lift change) or you can buy new shocks. If your brake lines aren't long enough, you'll need to relocate he mounting point or buy longer lines. You can go nuts buying new everything, or just use some cheapo shortcuts. If you want FLEX, you have to go nuts. If you want to play in mud and drive down the street with big tires, you can go cheap.

Shackle relocation:
http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-xj-shackle-relocation-kit-1117.html
spacers:
Coil spacers:
http://www.roughcountry.com/coil-sp...n77tof6h-FIsoX1V0jNc_EeMDuM-BKzsCIaAueR8P8HAQ

Those are both just examples, other manufacturers make those pieces as well, and in fact the spacers are usually more like $30 than RC's $50. it's one of few things they aren't one of the cheapest around for.

2) Brake lines

I'm asssuming/hoping that when you went to 3" you did one of two things:
1) Bought longer brake lines
2) Relocated the front brake line mounting point lower.

You just do whichever one you didn't do originally when you go from 3" to 4.5". YJ factory front brake lines are exactly like XJ ones, except that the hardline bit sticking up from the caliper is about 3" taller. So you just bolt those up, and then follow one of many threads for relocating the brake lines to get to lines that are good for almost 6" of lift (with plenty of room at 4.5") quick and easy. For the rear line from the Body to the Axle, just use a late 90's Dakota line. Same size as the XJ soft line, but several inches longer.

Factory XJ lines CAN survive at 3" with a rig that never gets flexed out. They will NOT survive offroad use at 3" and won't survive much of anything at 4+ so if you didn't do either of those things, do them BOTH when you go to 4.5. Or else just buy lines designed for 4+" of lift and leave the mounting point alone.

3) SYE
The break is somewhere around 3". A lot of the late models need an SYE at 3, many early models can get away without one. At a taller lift than that, regardless of year, you need an SYE. A hack'n'tap SYE costs about $100, and you can usually use at XJ front driveshaft for the new rear with those kits. That's something like $25 at a junkyard plus the cost of new U-joints. That's especially nifty since you can carry one spare shaft that covers both your front and rear shafts. Note that many aftermarket SYE kits (notably rough country's) are designed to fit both TJ's and XJ's. TJ's have a VERY short wheelbase and SYE kits cross-listed for them are often VERY short (like RC's) and require a longer driveshaft. I got such an SYE kit in a trade and had to use a V8 4x4 WJ front driveshaft, which is almost identical to an XJ front shaft, except that it's a couple of inches longer. Custom driveshafts can also be made. For example you can pick up a JY XJ shaft and have a shop shorten or lengthen it as needed for something in the neighborhood of $100 (plus cost of shaft to be modified and new u joints). Brand new custom driveshafts (Tom Woods for example) are more expensive, but can be very high quality pieces.

It would help a lot, when giving advice, to know your use case. There are different priorities for a street only rig, a trailered rock crawler, a trailered mud/sand/snow buggy, jeepspeed, expedition vehicles or a weeekend warrior DD doing more than one of those. Rock crawlers need a ton of traction, armor, flex, strong axles and strong steering, but don't typically abuse their brakes as much as a highway speed vehicle. A mud/sand/snow buggy needs a bunch of traction, but doesn't really need much in the way of armor and doesn't stress its steering, axles or brakes as much as others. A lifted street rig used on the highway needs rock solid steering and brakes, but no armor, traction gadgets or outrageously strong axles. Expedition vehicles need a bit of everything with a focus on overbuilding to reduce breakages and thus stranding but have the option to dodge the hardest obstacles, while multi-use are typically balancing cost and capability but can often afford to carry more spares on the weekends and overbuild less etc...etc...etc...

 

[TheBoogieman]

I think that's the only nice thing I've seen you post lol.

:shhh:

 

[vabeachmike]

Thanks on wanting my Jeep, but I think I'll keep it. To much time and money invested. Lots of good advice being offered here by bluejunior! I started out on 31s and it suited my needs just fine. I mostly crawl on the surf here at the oceanfront and the street occasionally. Mine has all the upgrades mentioned to handle the larger tires with the exception of gears, that's the next thing on my list to do. My problem is knowing that I need to go to 4.88 and wanting to stay at 4:10, I guess the compromise is 4.56 which is what I plan to do. I also need to do shackle relocaters and AFCO Coil Spring Spacers. Hopefuully then I can get a little higher and get her sitting level.. These are the last things on my list other than maintenance. Hopefully by the end of the year I can have them done.

 

[bluejunior]

Thanks on wanting my Jeep, but I think I'll keep it. To much time and money invested. Lots of good advice being offered here by bluejunior! I started out on 31s and it suited my needs just fine. I mostly crawl on the surf here at the oceanfront and the street occasionally. Mine has all the upgrades mentioned to handle the larger tires with the exception of gears, that's the next thing on my list to do. My problem is knowing that I need to go to 4.88 and wanting to stay at 4:10, I guess the compromise is 4.56 which is what I plan to do. I also need to do shackle relocaters and AFCO Coil Spring Spacers. Hopefuully then I can get a little higher and get her sitting level.. These are the last things on my list other than maintenance. Hopefully by the end of the year I can have them done.

Who wouldn't? It's even one of my favorite color schemes for an XJ (I've always liked the white body/black gear concept ALMOST as much as I like the yellow ones). Boogieman being complimentary with no caveats is nothing to sneeze at, either.

But on topic for the thread: OP, any input on that use case or do you have what you need to know now?

 

[vabeachmike]

Thanks! When I was looking white was not my first choice, patriot blue was. They say white is the most popular color. She was a 1 owner, very clean inside and out with decent miles and close to my location. My 3.5 inch lift actually raised it to 4 inches in the front and 4.5 inches in the rear. I would have probably stayed with the 31s but when I installed the Napier Flares they looked way to small. I never even thought about 35s, just way to many problems and cost for me. I'm pleased with the way it turned out, and also the way it drives. She gets lots of compliments.

 

[tstock0885]

this write up is great and answered a lot of my questions i was searching around for... I have a rough country 3 inch lift on my xj, and in your "step 2" you mentioned spacers to give me about 5" of lift. Are the spacers all i need, or do i need longer brake lines, sye, ect.? Its a 90' and i thought i heard somewhere that older XJ's dont really need the sye untill about 6 inches of lift. Is that true? Thanks.

I'm going to break this out a little:

1) Spacers to up the lift:

What I suggest when going from 3" to 4.5 or so, which is where you need to be to run 35's with aggressive trimming, is that you leave the rear springs alone and use bolt-in shackle relocation brackets (link below). Those brackets will improve ride and flex and lift about 1.5-2" on their own, not counting shackle changes or whatever. So that + 3" lift leaves gets you to 4.5+ with some side benefits. For the front, just some simple 1.5" poly spacers will work if you're cheap, or you can buy new coils for the lift height. New coils will flex better, since you've got a longer spring to compress/extend, but that may be less important for a street rig or a mud guy than for rock crawling. You'll also need to make sure that your shocks, brake lines, track bar and sway bar links can handle this additional height. If you don't have an adjustable track bar, you'll definitely need one now. If you do, just adjust it a little longer. If you don't have extended sway bar links or relocation brackets, you'll need them. If you do have a set designed for 3", they'll survive at 4.5", you'll just need to replace them with longer when they wear out. If your shocks aren't long enough, you can add BPE's (which usually reduce required shock length by ~1", which should be enough for a 1.5-2" ish lift change) or you can buy new shocks. If your brake lines aren't long enough, you'll need to relocate he mounting point or buy longer lines. You can go nuts buying new everything, or just use some cheapo shortcuts. If you want FLEX, you have to go nuts. If you want to play in mud and drive down the street with big tires, you can go cheap.

Shackle relocation:
http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-xj-shackle-relocation-kit-1117.html
spacers:
Coil spacers:
http://www.roughcountry.com/coil-sp...n77tof6h-FIsoX1V0jNc_EeMDuM-BKzsCIaAueR8P8HAQ

Those are both just examples, other manufacturers make those pieces as well, and in fact the spacers are usually more like $30 than RC's $50. it's one of few things they aren't one of the cheapest around for.

2) Brake lines

I'm asssuming/hoping that when you went to 3" you did one of two things:
1) Bought longer brake lines
2) Relocated the front brake line mounting point lower.

You just do whichever one you didn't do originally when you go from 3" to 4.5". YJ factory front brake lines are exactly like XJ ones, except that the hardline bit sticking up from the caliper is about 3" taller. So you just bolt those up, and then follow one of many threads for relocating the brake lines to get to lines that are good for almost 6" of lift (with plenty of room at 4.5") quick and easy. For the rear line from the Body to the Axle, just use a late 90's Dakota line. Same size as the XJ soft line, but several inches longer.

Factory XJ lines CAN survive at 3" with a rig that never gets flexed out. They will NOT survive offroad use at 3" and won't survive much of anything at 4+ so if you didn't do either of those things, do them BOTH when you go to 4.5. Or else just buy lines designed for 4+" of lift and leave the mounting point alone.

3) SYE
The break is somewhere around 3". A lot of the late models need an SYE at 3, many early models can get away without one. At a taller lift than that, regardless of year, you need an SYE. A hack'n'tap SYE costs about $100, and you can usually use at XJ front driveshaft for the new rear with those kits. That's something like $25 at a junkyard plus the cost of new U-joints. That's especially nifty since you can carry one spare shaft that covers both your front and rear shafts. Note that many aftermarket SYE kits (notably rough country's) are designed to fit both TJ's and XJ's. TJ's have a VERY short wheelbase and SYE kits cross-listed for them are often VERY short (like RC's) and require a longer driveshaft. I got such an SYE kit in a trade and had to use a V8 4x4 WJ front driveshaft, which is almost identical to an XJ front shaft, except that it's a couple of inches longer. Custom driveshafts can also be made. For example you can pick up a JY XJ shaft and have a shop shorten or lengthen it as needed for something in the neighborhood of $100 (plus cost of shaft to be modified and new u joints). Brand new custom driveshafts (Tom Woods for example) are more expensive, but can be very high quality pieces.

It would help a lot, when giving advice, to know your use case. There are different priorities for a street only rig, a trailered rock crawler, a trailered mud/sand/snow buggy, jeepspeed, expedition vehicles or a weeekend warrior DD doing more than one of those. Rock crawlers need a ton of traction, armor, flex, strong axles and strong steering, but don't typically abuse their brakes as much as a highway speed vehicle. A mud/sand/snow buggy needs a bunch of traction, but doesn't really need much in the way of armor and doesn't stress its steering, axles or brakes as much as others. A lifted street rig used on the highway needs rock solid steering and brakes, but no armor, traction gadgets or outrageously strong axles. Expedition vehicles need a bit of everything with a focus on overbuilding to reduce breakages and thus stranding but have the option to dodge the hardest obstacles, while multi-use are typically balancing cost and capability but can often afford to carry more spares on the weekends and overbuild less etc...etc...etc...

I just put everything together i need; the spacers, new brake lines, new shackles, shakle relocation kit, transfer case drop kit, adjustable track bar, and drop pitman arm. All of this equaled up to about $500. Does that sound right in your opinion? I think im going with 3 inch spacers up front, the shackle relocation kit gives 1.5 inches and the shackles give 1.5-2. So at the end, i should be sitting at 6 inches of lift.

 

[FrankZ]

Everything you need except gears, but way over your budget.

http://www.seriousoffroadproducts.c...S/Serious-Long-Arm-5.5in.-Long-arm-Suspension

 

[bluejunior]

I just put everything together i need; the spacers, new brake lines, new shackles, shakle relocation kit, transfer case drop kit, adjustable track bar, and drop pitman arm. All of this equaled up to about $500. Does that sound right in your opinion? I think im going with 3 inch spacers up front, the shackle relocation kit gives 1.5 inches and the shackles give 1.5-2. So at the end, i should be sitting at 6 inches of lift.

TC drop is acceptable at like 3-3.5" kits. For 6 you're going to need an SYE and new driveshaft. Also...think about long arms or at least control arm drop brackets. The short arms will be damned near vertical at 6" lift. Otherwise good

 

[tstock0885]

TC drop is acceptable at like 3-3.5" kits. For 6 you're going to need an SYE and new driveshaft. Also...think about long arms or at least control arm drop brackets. The short arms will be damned near vertical at 6" lift. Otherwise good

sye, driveshaft, and control arm drop brackets made the price go up to 1100... i got a lot of saving to do.:brickwall: At least it will be worth it.