Any ideas for a flexy XJ lift?

[mariocherokee]

I currently have a '97 XJ with a 4" Skyjacker suspension system with 31" MTR's. The articulation of this particular kit isn't so great and it doesn't provide a whole lot of ground clearance or wheel travel either. I want to upgrade to the Skyjacker Rock Ready 6" or 8" lift or the new Rubicon Express 5.5" Long Arm Kit. My goal is to fit 35" tires. I already have Bushwacker Cut-Out Flares installed to provide more clearance. I guess what I'm asking is: What is the cheapest way to fit 35's and still have great flex and not have to chop any more sheet metal? Thanks-

Mario Cherokee

 

[jp008]

Well then I guess this idea is out. This XJ flexes very well, BUT there is alot of sheetmetal cut. He is running chevy leafs in the rear with longer coils and adjustable spacers(PUCKS). he is running long upper and lower control arms. Here it is showing off on the crack.

 

[jamesgeologist]

I have you dilemma. Want more tire, want more lift, but refuse to chop sheet metal. I think you may have to settle for 6-8" and 33's or really thin 34's. RockKrawler makes a good looking modified three link suspension. Clayton Off-road makes a rugged long arm kit. All of which I cannot afford. IMHO if you could ditch the Track Bar, then you would have a flex monster on your hands. Another option might be giant bushwackers with gratuitous chopping might keep up the good looks as well as create the clearance you want. Check out jeeping.com for a write up on flares or rustysoffroad.com also.

James

 

[jamesgeologist]

Bushwackers.....I should have read your post better. Sorry....

 

[Milner]

I would use either the RE or a custom long arm setup. I like the RE springs, I have not used their XJ long arm, but do run a custom long arm I built. (3 years ago or so) Works great.

As for 35's kinda big for an XJ, I keep talking myself out of them. I am thinking 34 Truxxus.

Marc B should chime in here, he is running 35's.

 

[Milner]

Oh yea, I forgot, I have heard of breakage problems with the Rockkrawler long arms.

 

[utahxjer]

I've got 8.5" , 35x12.50's, and no fender trimming, and have plenty of room to flex... I've got misc. parts from www.rockkrawler.com , www.rustyoffroad.com , www.rockyroadoutfitters.com ,

 

[WayneXJ]

No matter how high you are you're going to have to cut sheetmetel to fit 35" tires and have room to flex. The Cherokee wheel well is only so big.

 

[Bart]

Go with a long arm kit of somekind. I'm not that impressed with the Skyjacker kit and have seen them fail. If you've already done some trimming then you may fit 35s with 8" of lift. If you go that tall be prepared to do all the other things necessary to accomodate 8" of lift. I'm sure you've heard them all, so I won't go into it. If you plan to try and shortcut any step, you might as well stay with a 6" kit and 33s. You'll be happier in the long run.
Bart

 

[Cody]

I think the best mod you can make once your at 8" of lift is to lower it to 5 or 6".

Whats funny is that for the amount of money it would take to make 8" functional for trail use with 35+ tires, you could go down to a body shop and spend it on a really clean trim job to run the same 35+ tires and not tip over whenever you turn to sharp in a parking lot

Cody

 

[Bart]

Ummm, I'd like to see a shop do enough trimming to accomodate 35" tires. Let me know when you find one that can do it, and keep it street legal.
Bart

 

[tweakeyjeep]

I would also suggest not going to 35's. My brother has the only cherokee in Utah with the Teraflex coil conversion long arm kit. Using TJ coils in the rear. It is about 8.5" total lift. 6" coils with 2 " spacers f&r. Long Arms f&r and when he first had it done he trimmed very little sheetmetel and still has the stupid stock flares that always pop off.

When it was first done he could fit 35's easily underneath, but unless he cut more sheetmetal than it would rub like crazy. He doesn't want to cut anymore because it is a 99 and not only does it wheel well, but it looks way good too! So he downsized to 33's and has room to flex. He has an awesome flex score on ramps and other stuff.

He can go all the way up a 20 degree ramp I believe. On a 30 degree he can go up about 700 points, and on a 40 he is at I believe 500 points.... I may be wrong on those scores, but he has awesome flex using the 33's.

Also the good thing about 33's is he can keep the stock axles and not worry about breakage. Better gas mileage.

Not to mention he has done a lot of hard trails in Moab with little or no problems. He did Pritchett canyon before he got his winch and lockers!!! He was completely open, and not regeared!

The only problem with this lift is it is basically a prototype, not sure if Teraflex will mass produce it, but it was very expensive for my brother. Good Luck man!

 

[Cody]

Originally posted by Bart
Ummm, I'd like to see a shop do enough trimming to accomodate 35" tires. Let me know when you find one that can do it, and keep it street legal.
Bart

Isn't Brent at about 6" lift, 37's, and street legal? Also, "street legal" can be a very loose term

Cody

 

[pokeyYJ]

The SkyJacker 6" long-arm clears 33's pretty well, Mosh has one on his 91 XJ and this thing flexs DAMN well. Mostly front flex though.

 

[Brent]

Originally posted by GroceryGetter


Isn't Brent at about 6" lift, 37's, and street legal? Also, "street legal" can be a very loose term

Cody

yea buddy, with full width axles too.

 

[Bart]

Wow, 37s and 6" of lift. Must flex like a tank. I think I had 8" to 10" of lift when I ran 37s on my XJ and did some massive trimming to boot.
Bart

 

[crimsonride]

It's not all that hard to fit 35's. It would be cake for a body shop to trim for them.

Here's my .02. Rockkrawler kits have had problems with their torque arms breaking. You never want one of them to break on you or you'll get a flopy axle and you don't want that.
RE doesn't have a long arm kit out yet for XJ's, they've been working on it for a while but it's not out yet. They do have great short arm kits for them though.
Clayton has awesome beefy flexy kits, they're lot's of dough though.
Tera has an alright kit, I don't like the use of long lowers and short uppers.
Tomken has a decent kit. I think it's pretty expensive though.
I'm not a fan of rockready kits, the heims wear out fast and the trusses break too often. I think they should flex better for what you pay for them.
IMHO get the clayton kit, it's beefy and you'll never have a problem with it. It's worth the money, you could prolly fit 35's with your cut outs at 6" and not be too tippy.

 

[mbryson]

Stay to 6" ish and cut........here's an off the shelf short arm kit mostly RE 4.5" with some mods.......35" tires---tax the D30 a little more than I'd like.......

You can MAKE something (or have one of the local shops do something) that will outflex it.

Go see Carl and Von at Rocklogic. We've done some mods to my XJ lately that make it flex more than the above pic and I'm still gettting used to the new geometry.......rides Way better though.

 

[Cody]

yeah, that tank flexed itself almost to the top of a 40 degree ramp w/ 38.5" swampers on it.

I ran 33's w/ 3-3.5" inch of lift on my ZJ w/ stock arms and I only had to trim a little bit on the insides of the fenders. It wasn't super flexy but it did it's job

 

[Ben]

Hey how about the RockKrawler 8 Inch long arm or there super 8 inch long arm. i have drove one on and off road and it was a great ride with alot of FLEX.