startin my summer project (87 XJ) need advice, pointers, prayers etc

[nickyroo]

i picked up an 87 XJ Chief over the winter for something to build over the summer. im not in a big rush or anything. im in the middle of yanking the motor out of it to pep it up some (new rings, valve job, gaskets, timing chain etc) and really just need to be pointed in the right direction for XJ rebuild tips. im not interested in buying the expensive-bad ass suspension stuff for it and i have no problem takin a sawzall to the fenders for more clearance. it's just gonna be a toy to take on the beach, pick up girls and maybe drive to work when its nice out. id like to see it sitting on 36" of tire or more, not so much for the performance aspect of it just because i want it to look pretty hulkish. im hoping to stay under a budget of $2500 and have it done by late july or early-mid august.

so enough of my gabbing.

i looked in the link section. NAXJA.org is down for some reason, so is rusty's. im gonna hit google up here in a minute, but if you all know of any good forums, DIY links, budget lift links, etc. itd be greatly appreciated. thanks :)

[bigd0915]

clear 36 on an XJ??? gonna take a lot of suspension. it can be done.. but its hella suspension work. and you cant do a body lift since its unibody.

check into rockymountain suspension http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/jeep_XJ.htm

i could be wrong but i think your gonna need at least 6 inches of lift and maybe dickwhackers to clear 36's i know a guy that is doing it, he has the long arm kit from rustys and all the steering stuff and everything.

btw.. i think i was next to you the other day on warwick... red camaro plates reuter... nice looking car. :thup: i was in the big ass 4runner, with the ugly rims :)

[nickyroo]

clear 36 on an XJ??? gonna take a lot of suspension. it can be done.. but its hella suspension work. and you cant do a body lift since its unibody.

check into rockymountain suspension http://www.rockymountainsusp.com/jeep_XJ.htm

i could be wrong but i think your gonna need at least 6 inches of lift and maybe dickwhackers to clear 36's i know a guy that is doing it, he has the long arm kit from rustys and all the steering stuff and everything.

btw.. i think i was next to you the other day on warwick... red camaro plates reuter... nice looking car. :thup: i was in the big ass 4runner, with the ugly rims :)

yea the more i look into it the more expensive it looks like it's gonna be. but oh well im young i got time. :p im sure i'll start out with whatever i can get my hands on and slowly build her up. but im lookin to fit 36"s before its done

and thanks, i remember bein next to your ride. it looked like it was gettin ready to swallow me haha

i'll check out that link thanks bud

[nickyroo]

what yall think bout these for the rear?

http://www.bigoffroad.com/vendors/bigoffroad/index.htm

[dubwize]

36s are no problem if your not afraid of the sawzall. a 4" lift and quite a bit of trimming will fit them. i know a buddy who has them with that setup right now. then again i would also be lookin at swapping axles with that kind of meat if you plan on doing any real wheeling

for reference the guys site is www.xjfanatic.com

[nickyroo]

36s are no problem if your not afraid of the sawzall. a 4" lift and quite a bit of trimming will fit them. i know a buddy who has them with that setup right now. then again i would also be lookin at swapping axles with that kind of meat if you plan on doing any real wheeling

for reference the guys site is www.xjfanatic.com

sawzall? huh? what's that? :cool: :D

thanks for the link :thup:

[CivicBeaterXJ]

ok, if you want 36's here's what you gotta do, get rubicon express's 3.5" lift kit, put on a daystar 2" lift ontop of that the 2" lift is cheap, then for drivelines you could probably get away with using a 1" transfer case drop, axle shims, and a slip yolk out of a 2001 cherokee (1" longer) that should take care of your vibes, after that just chop the hell out of your fenders and you should have no problem fitting 36's, the hard part is the axle's, check your rear axle, if you had a trailer package there's a good chance your jeep came with a dana 44 if it did, thank the gods cause they are rare and a very good axle, you could just regear it and probably be good to go, the front axle you most likely have the HP dana 30 which is another good axle, 35's is about the strongest recomended for that axle, you may want to look into getting some alloy shafts for your front axle. go too quadratec.com and have them send you a catalog you can also go to jeepforum.com and jeepsunlimited.com those are 2 good forums. if you have any other questions you can IM me at scubajb19. I used to have a 91 cherokee that i worked on for 3 years, but started running out of time to work on it and things were breaking and wearing out faster than i could fix them so i just sold it a month ago. oh yeah , if you want i have an oil pan gasket and a rear main seal sitting in my garage so if you want them you can have them for like 10 bucks

[CivicBeaterXJ]

http://www.rubiconexpress.com/dynamic/mainpage.asp?folde*****185

3.5" lift... $350

http://www.go2rdsi.com/racing/jeep/xjstore/xjsuspension5.html
2" daystar lift... $80

http://go2rdsi.com/racing/jeep/xjstore/xjsuspension64a.html
shims, slip yolk, and transfer case drop...$100

http://www.quadratec.com/cgi-bin/sgdynamo.exe?HTNAME=jeep/google/jeep_wheelstires.html&checked=Y
they got some pretty cheap rims there and dont rape you on shipping, i think i spent a lil over 200 for 5 black stealies

go2rdsi.com also has a sponsorship thing where you pay like 35 bucks and they give you a discount on everything, might be worth it to go thru them

http://go2rdsi.com/racing/jeep/xjstore/xjsuspension80.html
brake lines...$90 bucks

all that should take care of most everything you need except for tires and axles, those unfortunatly are the expensive part

[Crate]

i'd avoid the shim and tcase drops. I only have a 3.5" (closer to 4") lift on my stock 01 cherokee and even with the 1" tcase drop all the vib's arn't gone. Unless you like replacing shit often.

Just spend the 200 bucks and get a SYE and save yourself the headache is my opinion.

I agree with the 3.5" RE lift + daystar for inexpensive and pretty good ride quality height. That plus a lot of cutting and you can squeeze 36's on there... but once you fit those 36s on there you had better get some gears or upgrade that d30 (i think thats whats on the older XJ's).

[CivicBeaterXJ]

the newer cherokee's get vibes with less lift quicker, i had a 91 with like 4" of lift and no tc drop or anything and didn't get a single vib, so i figured he should be ok with the route i said especially since he was on a tight budget, he definetly works on those axle's regearing that dana 30 and throw a d44 in the rear if he doesn't already have one

[bigd0915]

i know a guy running 36's on stock 3.whatever gears in an xj... he cant accellerate worth a shit but it drives. we took it all the way out to salem to go wheelin.

[CivicBeaterXJ]

different model cherokee's came with different gears, i think i've even heard of a 4.56 gear ration in a cherokee before but that was probably a 2wd model with a tow package, but yeah its possible to wheel on stock ring and pinions but not wise not to mention it'll save you gas after you change it i know my jeep had 3.55 gears in it and i stayed stock with 31's and it was fine but with 36's i'd definetly regear, not to mention if you went to a junkyard or something and found a dana 44 for the rear and it had a different gear ration than your front axle you couldn't use your 4x4 cause it'd f*ck sh*t up

[bigd0915]

sure it would be better to regear... im just saying that an xj if driven properly the axles and gears will hold 36" tires.

ive seen it done and wheeled with it several times.

[kliph]

good luck with the XJ i have two and iv grown to hate them. but when ur done PM me with some pics or somethin.

if u needs parts off a stock one let me know i might have some stuff u need

[kliph]

btw. if u want easy lift without all the extra crap u can always do leafs up front. If you have access to someone who can weld or if u can weld, weld up the front hanger to the "frame rails" up front(old hitch package works great) and just cut all the coil crap off the axle. weld on some perches to the axle and get some YJ leafs. The rear part of the leaf fits in the lower control arm mount(might need to have some extra strength added). then just use that front hager for the front part of the leaf. its a bitch to do but its super cheap cuz u can use tons of used parts and u can jack the shit out of a truck so...check it out

[nickyroo]

that doesnt sound too hard. im a patient guy :p


do you have any links on front coil to leaf conversions for XJs? itd be nice to see some pictures of that conversion. thanks!

edit - and i drive a forum 157 :D

[bigd0915]

that doesnt sound too hard. im a patient guy :p


do you have any links on front coil to leaf conversions for XJs? itd be nice to see some pictures of that conversion. thanks!

edit - and i drive a forum 157 :D
it would be wise not to mention forum arround cliff and i.... haha..

and i think pirate has a write up..

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Leafspring_conversion/leafs.htm

check that out..... just FWIW... converting an axle to be leafsprung is a bitch... just so muchh bullshit to go through we are converting a d44 sprung under to sprung over right now, pain in the ass.

[nickyroo]

it would be wise not to mention forum arround cliff and i.... haha..

and i think pirate has a write up..

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Leafspring_conversion/leafs.htm

check that out..... just FWIW... converting an axle to be leafsprung is a bitch... just so muchh bullshit to go through we are converting a d44 sprung under to sprung over right now, pain in the ass.

yea that definitely looks like a pain in the ass. with my focus primarily on my race car regardless of how much i want to build my jeep, id say thats a little too time consuming for what i want to do. i have little off road experience so me going out on a limb and trying something experimental probably isnt a good idea.