A little hello and a little question

[Cheese]

Hi

I've been poking around the XJ world on the internet for about the past week. After finding this site, and going through most of the recent history, I decided this place seems to be my best bet for most anything.

I'm hoping to trade in my 90 XJ for an 88 XJ with 4WD soon. It's all pretty much settled, I just need to get some help from my mother (Before you laugh, I'm only 16 :looney: ). I'm so excited that I'll finally have my own car to turn into a rig that I like.

At first I was set on doing it up big: Skyjacker 8" RR lift, spacers, cutting to get some mean 39" tires. But after reading up a lot I toned things down. Now I'm thinking about the RE 5.5" lift. I know it's still pretty big for such a youngin', but I've been driving my granfather's '76 Ford F150 on our trips around Texas and that thing is a BEAST! A 5 inch lift on an XJ is still a big step down.

Now, enough babble! I know your all eager to hear my question! Er... questions. I was wondering about the differences between the RE 5.5" XJ and the XJLA. Is it really worth the extra cash?

I haven't been able to find alot of information on the '88 style. Do y'all think I'll need a SYE to control vibration? Or is not as bad as it is on the later models?

And, is there a better place to buy from? I'm still a po' high school kid! It'll be tough to shell out the 13/18 hundred for the lift kits direct from RE.

Edit: A 5.5" lift will allow for a 33" tire, right? Would I be able to go bigger with minimal cutting? After all, I am a silly high school kid who has just gotsta impress the ladies!

 

[REDXJ4FUN]

OK The XJLA is the long arm version and not to start the whole short arm long arm debate in general the long arm set wins out and many of us here have built our own.if yopu want 33s you can go with a 4.5 and do some cutting with Tj flairs. depending on how much you cut you can fit alot bigger tires than stock. i started with a rough country 99 dollars epecial witch is 3 in and added about an 1 1/4 to the front and some bump stops and it looked great with 33" MTRs

 

[Phil]

Are you going to wheel this thing, or just look cool? Either way, I agree with your choice, I've got my RE 5.5" sitting in a box right now. Most people can recommend a vendor, I used DPG. PM me if you want to know what I paid.
LA v. drop brackets, just search and read.
SYE on an 88, the consensus seems to be try it, then if you need to, get the SYE.
I'm going to run 35's, I'm 95% sure, but I'm not afraid to trim, and I think trimming looks cool.

Oh, and I'm a starving college student myself, I just wanted to do it right to start with.

"We locked you in a dumpster once."
"I got out"

 

[vintagespeed]

I agree with Red about the first lift kit. RE is a great first step, and you can fit a 4.5 on an early model ('88) with the stock d-shaft & maybe a longer slip yoke. If you go 5.5......that's kind of pushing it on the driveshaft angles.

I would start with the 4.5" and some 33s (they'll fit with some minor trimming) and then later on you can add some 2" spacers & a SYE to fit some 35s.

You gotta start somewhere, but dont get in over your head right off the bat.

 

[woody]

Hey Cheese

Welcome to ! I think you'll find some of the most helpful folks here when it comes to XJs/MJs and all around stuff in general.

I agree with Red & Vintage that starting off at 4.5" with trimming for 32-33" will probably be wiser... OTOH buying new tires twice is kinda dumb...your call, but I've seen where good drivers running 33" on flexy XJs are capable of going a lot further than the monster-truck crowd would believe.

I didn't catch where you are from, or if your potential 88 is a 4.0 or 2.5. Either way, the factory axle gearing will be bad with 33" or taller. I ran 3.07:1 (5 speed axle gears) and 3.55:1 (auto gears) with 33x12.5 and both were pretty sluggish around town (forget about OD unless you are on the highway). This might be a good thing for a young driver? In any case, off-road in low range it isn't as bad, but lower (higher #) gears are more fun all around IMHO. This a whole nother tack from the suspension, but it's worth pondering.

The brakes on the XJ are marginal, adding bigger tires & lift only add to the weakness...you will be driving a rig that handles completely unlike your 90 2WD, so be safe in your learning curve.

My advice to young grasshopper would be to ask & listen, don't build in half-steps...4.5" is $$$ enough, but done right, any inches past that involve lots more $, fab skills, making compromises in utility etc... let's keep him on the right track.

 

[Cheese]

Thanks for the great help guys.

I'm in Allen, Texas (around the DFW area) and the 88 is an auto 4.0.

This will be my DD, but I hope to get off-road more than a few times a month. I love to go camping, hiking, and paddling, and my family has a bit of a hunting niche. I don't really want a mean rock-crawler(yet... ), just a capable trail-rig that will be able to take me all the places I want to go with out getting stuck. Well, I guess I want more than just a trail-rig.

I don'd really plan to be on the highway too much since most places I go are pretty close to home. And I'd be willing to sacrifice some speed around town for some better handling on the trail.

Looking over things again and reading what y'all said, I think I'm going to go with the 4.5" and some 33". Maybe latter I'll get some spacers and try and some bigger tires, or even upgrade the whole lift and get some really mean tires... but for now, I think I'll be more than satisfied with the 4.5".

Is there anything that you guys can suggest that I should look into? Performancewise(On- or Off-road), techwise, and stylewise? So far, I'm going to look into brakes, axle gearing, and some nifty looking flares.

 

[vintagespeed]

For now, you'll do fine with a lift. You might want to start getting some trail armor. First thing would be some rocker panel protection (rock rails), then maybe a t-case skid or gas tank skid. Later on when you've got some experience, get a rear locker. It will change your world, but could get you in to trouble if you aren't ready for it.

Have fun, I've been wheeling for about 9 years now and it's a blast.