I need some opinions for a daily driver

B

BigSteve

NAXJA Forum User
Location
M.V., CA
So I am building a cherokee as a daily driver and weekend wheeler. The catch is that it needs to be able to handle the rubicon trail as I do a yearly offroading trip there with my father in law. So I have to reach some sort of happy balance between reliable, as comfortalbe as possible, and offroad ready. Obviously my fuel economy is not going to be great and the ride may be a little more harsh when lifted. I understand that. My question is am I crazy for thinking that I can daily drive a 6 inch lift on 35's? My wife who is 5'4'' will drive it occasionally. We will tow the dog around in the back (80lbs greyhound). Am I going overboard here? I have been known to do that. If I need a reality check hit me I'm a big boy.
 
You'll be fine. For the harsh ride, go with a long arm suspension. You could get descent gas mileage providing the gearing is matched with a 35" tire and you have the usual mods (air intake, Cat-back exhaust, possibly fixed if/do have a cracked down pipe).
 
i use my 5.5" lifted teraflex long arms(converted to radius arms) 89 xj w/4.0 aw4,3.55 gears,on 33 duratracs as my daily driver.i love it.i definately need to regear though.
 
I was thinking about doing the rough country 6.5 in long arm, 35in tires, 4.88 gears with an auto trans. Am I in the ballpark? Also I understand that rough country may not be everyones idea of perfection, thats not the opinion i'm looking for.
 
Steve I daily drive my jeep xj with 33's & 4.5" lift. Its got 3.73s & basically stock 4.0 & I can still light those 33's up when I want (4.10s are ideal with 33's though)! I'm still getting great mileage & love how my jeep is as my daily driver.

So Steve why not a 4.5-5" lift & 33's? If you run 33x12.50's you will have a nice wide foot print & lots of traction when you air down! It would be cheaper than 35's and still do great offroad. It would be nicer on road without being so big & with some of the money you saved from not going 6" & 35's you can upgrade your axles & get lockers. Or get body armor. The list is endless.
4.5" & 33's, rear axle upgrade, front locker, uniframe stiffening > 6.5" LA & 35's.

Just remember with the bigger 35's your putting more strain on your axles, mainly the D30 unless you swap it out! Plus you will also have to gear deeper, which makes ring & pinions easier to snap.
With 33's you can run 4.10's and love it all day. I run 3.73s because thats what came in my Ford 8.8 & its fine. Doesn't lug around still gets great mileage for what it is. I just don't see a point of going 4.10's since its such a minor jump for me. When I have cash I'm going 4.10s, its just not my top priority because I won't gain much!
33's & 4.10s is perfect though! I can still light up my 33's when I want with 3.73s & 33's. All I have is a homemade intake & throttle body spacer, with a dumped exhaust (no muffler).
I would do 4.5" & 33's. & with this option you can do short arms w/ drop brackets, or still do long arms! Plus you need to make sure your rig can handle the trail. You should be looking at a rear axle upgrade, uniframe plating/stiffeners & a locker! Theres more to a capable rig than just being big!

Many Many Many people concor Rubicon with 33's. Plus this way you won't be straining your axles so much & still maintain your daily driver! Have a functional rig not the biggest rig! Think biggest isn't always best!!!
 
Thats another thing to think about with 35's. It cost alot more to make sure your doing it right!

33's & 4.5" is so much easier! I've got stock xj brakes up font & ford explorer disks in the rear & she stop without a problem. Plus once yours rigs all done up. You know upgraded axles, upgrades brakes, unibody stiffening & such you can go 6" & 35's after!
I would worry about the base of your rig & then go from there. Start with stiffening up the unibody or you will reget it!!!
Then do axles, then brakes, & so on! Plate the unibody before you do too much offroading. Preventing is easier than fixing!
 
Casual I was kind of thinking the same thing. I already have a Dana 44 for the rear. I just get carried away sometimes and start seeing that for another couple of bucks I could go a little bigger lift or a little better upgrade. Not saying bigger is better. Then there is part of me that thinks well I have to drive my jeep up to rubicon, wheel and then drive all the way back down here. So being a little bigger may not be such a bad thing.
 
BigSteve said:
Casual I was kind of thinking the same thing. I already have a Dana 44 for the rear. I just get carried away sometimes and start seeing that for another couple of bucks I could go a little bigger lift or a little better upgrade. Not saying bigger is better. Then there is part of me that thinks well I have to drive my jeep up to rubicon, wheel and then drive all the way back down here. So being a little bigger may not be such a bad thing.
Click to expand...

This is true if you have the mods to support being bigger. If you don't have the support, then your gonna brake something! You wanna drive there & back. Well what if you break while your there? Thats what you gotta be thinking!
You NEED to plate the unibody no matter what!!! If your gonna off road it you need to do it! The sooner the better. Your D44 is great to have, but you still have a D30 up front and if you gonna try out Rubicon, its nice to have a front locker. Always better to pull than push when climbing. So locker up front not in the rear! Or do both, but front would be priority!
If you got the cash to do the whole shabang. Then sure go for it. If you can't do brakes & everything else. Then I say hold off on the 35's. Possibly do your 6.5" La & 33's. Your only going to gain 1" inch with 35's over the 33's. The extra risk involved with them them...isn't worth it to me unless you've got the mods to handle 35's! Especially if its your daily. If you aren't prepared for 35's then don't do it lol. Do everything else first & make sure your ready for them.
If your set on 35's the only advice I can give you is be prepared! Plate your unibody, upgrade to rear disk brakes, & get a front locker & truss that D30 if you can. That locker will take you farther than the 35's will & the truss will help carry the load of the 35's!
Make sure to carry spare axle shafts when you go wheeling! It's bound to happen to everyone lol & with 35's I would be cautious on the D30. Just be prepared man thats all I can say!
With 4.88s in a D30 the ring & pinion is gonna be at risk of breaking, so Make sure you do something about the D30, that would be my only worry! Truss it & get stronger shafts for it! And make sure you plate the damn unibody :D I can't stress that enough. Plate it before you wheel it too much. Its better late than never. & its cheap as hell to do!

Make sure you got brakes to stop you & axles to carry you. If you got that then have some fun:thumbup:

EDIT: also make sure you have recovery points front & rear. That way if you do get stuck or anything you can be pulled without an issue!
 
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I dd my rig I'm on deaver 5.5 inch coils with a spacer and I have 33 geared 456 locked f r and I seem to be getting about 15-16 mpg. And the rear disk conversion is not really needed. As long as your rear brake hard ware is in good condition and properly adjusted it will stop fine.
 
less lift and more tire is the answer I would go for.

4.5" and 35"s is very achievable with some fender trimming. you will be fine on the HP30 with 35"s for a while as well.

I went with 33"s and now I wish I had 35"s. but maybe thats because my jeep is the smallest out of all the ones I wheel with. :D
 
SoCalBilll has ~5.5" lift, 35's and 4.88's on a locked D30/D44 combo he DD's and its fine. He broke a stock axle (rear) but since upgrading axles he hasn't had a problem. Of course, he doesn't solve problems with skinny pedal (thats me!! haha).

35's help more with ground clearance than you might think.
 
i always thought the dana 30 would outlast the dana 35.now don't get me wrong,i'm not saying the dana 30 is the strongest. of coarse mostly depends on the driver and skinny pedal. i remember reading "axles and gears" sticky and it was saying you can get away with up to 33's on the d30. i'm only speaking of what i've read.
i've run 31's on my dd for about 6 years and only snapped d30 intermediate shaft(disco) about 5 years ago because i had some liquid courage in me and i wasn't (thinking) going to be out done by a polaris ranger(whoops to much throttle and should of stopped after the first couple attempts).i know we are talking 33's and 35's but just thought i'd share.i've seen/now plenty of wheelers running 33's with stock d30's without issue. i've recently upgraded to 33 duratracs and have not wheeled yet.i have learned from my mistakes though(mostly).
 
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crash02 said:
i always thought the dana 30 would outlast the dana 35.now don't get me wrong,i'm not saying the dana 30 is the strongest. of coarse mostly depends on the driver and skinny pedal. i remember reading "axles and gears" sticky and it was saying you can get away with up to 33's on the d30. i'm only speaking of what i've read.
i've run 31's on my dd for about 6 years and only snapped d30 intermediate shaft(disco) about 5 years ago because i had some liquid courage in me and i wasn't (thinking) going to be out done by a polaris ranger(whoops to much throttle and should of stopped after the first couple attempts).i know we are talking 33's and 35's but just thought i'd share.i've seen/now plenty of wheelers running 33's with stock d30's without issue. i've recently upgraded to 33 duratracs and have not wheeled yet.i have learned from my mistakes though(mostly).
Click to expand...

a High Pinion 30 will last just fine on 35"s. it has a stronger ring and pinion than a LP 30 because the pinion runs on the drive side of the ring gear.

the only thing gained with a d44 is a stronger R/P since the shafts are the same.

if you truss the axle from C to C to prevent ring gear deflection it will handle quite a bit.
 
silverslk said:
SoCalBilll has ~5.5" lift, 35's and 4.88's on a locked D30/D44 combo he DD's and its fine. He broke a stock axle (rear) but since upgrading axles he hasn't had a problem. Of course, he doesn't solve problems with skinny pedal (thats me!! haha).

35's help more with ground clearance than you might think.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I DD mine on 35's with a dana 30 & 4:88's. I do'nt make a habit of beating on my rig,but I'm not afraid to wheel it. I also carry spare parts and tools in case I can't resist doing something stupid :laugh3:
I would recommend upgrading the brakes if you plan on running 35's
 
rockclimber said:
a High Pinion 30 will last just fine on 35"s. it has a stronger ring and pinion than a LP 30 because the pinion runs on the drive side of the ring gear.

the only thing gained with a d44 is a stronger R/P since the shafts are the same.

if you truss the axle from C to C to prevent ring gear deflection it will handle quite a bit.
Click to expand...

thats good info to know. now when you say the axles are just as strong you mean the 91 and up with the 760 joints?
 
yes, the 760 u-joints on a 30 are the same on a 44, that is the real weak link... and carrying a spare set of shafts for the 30 is usually a cheaper option than swapping a 44.

so as long as you can beef the housing up.. why not keep the 30 until its time for a 60 :D
 
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