Topic: Ready to lift the XJ, need some tips.

[TrueBlueXJ]

Howdy.  New to the forum, from West Virgina.

I've had my 4 banger XJ for about a year now and am finally ready to beef it up. The plan is a 4.5" Rough Country lift and 31x10.50 TrXus MTs. I've read a lot of the threads that say 31s should be no problem with the stock 4.10:1 gear ratio. I can't really afford to regear at the moment, so will I be satisfied with the stock gears for the time being?

I've also read the write-up on the 4.0L throttle body conversion. How easy is it to do?

And who can recommend a good cat-back exhaust system for a reasonable price? A lot of the systems out there say they only fit the 4.0, but some say they fit both. WTF's up with that? 

[oldjeep]

Might want to spend a little more on the lift kit.  Rough Country lifts are extremely Rough and not real flexible.  I ran one of their kits in a 96 Cherokee for a couple years.   4.5" is a lot of lift for 31" tires,  3" is plenty on an xj with no trimming.   Anything over 3" on stock short arms is pretty spooky anyway.

[oldjeep]

Might want to look at this one.  I know a few people running this setup and they've been happy with it.
http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=rustys&Product_Code=300SP&Category_Code=sus_xj_kit

[TrueBlueXJ]

I'm still a little torn on lifts. I like the stance of the 4.5" and the option of upping to a 32" tire after I regear. Here's what it would look like with 31s (-2 doors).



Alot of guys have told me they were pretty disappointed with Rusty's products, and especially their people. A guy on another forum has the RC 4.5 and 31s setup and says it flexes like no other. He also said the tires still rub offroad, so it seems that whole "no trimming" thing that alot of mfgs advertise is alot of blown smoke.

[JBFried67]

I have a 93 XJ 4-Banger currently with a 4.5" RockCrawler lift and 33's.  I can tell you that the difference between 31's and 33's was negligible (just put them on Friday).  I do have to say that on my XJ on 31's and 4:10's I did experience a more noticable loss of power than I did on my previous TJ when I ran the exact same set up.  I'd love to upgrade my gears, but at this time I just live with it and downshift as necessary. 

[oldjeep]

He also said the tires still rub offroad, so it seems that whole "no trimming" thing that alot of mfgs advertise is alot of blown smoke.

One of the things to remember is that most lift kits are not actually complete.  The manufacturers know that 90% of them will never be offroad.  The no trimming means that for normal driving the tires arn't going to hit the flares.  On XJ's especially you need to limit the up travel or they will rub.  Extended bumpstops will take care of that problem.