"Tristan" (casselts)
09/26/2018 at 14:31 • Filed to: None
0
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"Tristan" (casselts)
09/26/2018 at 14:31 • Filed to: None | 0
| 15 |
Never mind the missing flare... It’s back on now.
I’m my never ending quest to actually do something with my XJ, I’m actually considering downsizing the lift and tires.
My previous XJ that rusted to oblivion and donated its drivetrain to this Jeep had a 3" lift and 31x10.50 tires with 3.55 gears and an AW4 autotragic. It got anywhere from 13-15 MPG, it drove like stock, and went anywhere I wanted it to go. When I put this Jeep together and went with a 6.5" lift and 33x12.50s, it drove like absolute sheeeeeeeiiiiiiit. I took it from long arms back to stock short arms on dro p brackets, installed stock style rubber bushings in the track bar, added shackle relocation brackets and swapped the cheap white shocks for Bilstein 5100s, and swapped the 33x12.50 mud tires for 33/10.50 BFG KO2s and it drives sorta okay now. The high COG makes me nervous and I nearly defecate every time I go around a curve. I don’t feel like I gained all that much in the way of offroad capability going with the larger lift and tires, but I don’t wheel it crazy hard any more anyway ( I don’t want to beat the poor thing up- the body is straight as and arrow without a speck of rust). All I want to do is cruise around in the woods with my kids and maybe set it up for some future overland trips.
The biggest issue is with the extent of supporting mods. 4.56 gears, longer driveshafts, etc. I’d definitely want taller gears with 31s... And then there’s the issue that the last time I drove an XJ with the proposed setup was roughly 9 years ago so maybe it drove horribly and my memory is deceiving me.
Should I just drop 500 bucks on a Currie Antirock and live with the big lift? Or should I just keep shuffling the Jeep around, occasionally driving it, sorta not liking it but having fond memories of it and refusing to sell it but never actually doing anything with it?
Just Jeepin'
> Tristan
09/26/2018 at 15:21 |
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Hunter G reen Grand Wagoneers have been popping into my consciousness lately, so my vote for your XJ is lowering it and putting wood panels on it.
Or sell it to me and I’ll lower it , I’m good either way.
benjrblant
> Tristan
09/26/2018 at 15:22 |
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I think 31's are a sweet spot for XJ’s, unless you’re going to upgrade the axles and go mad nuts buggy/crawler/exocage type thing on it.
I’m not familiar enough with lift brands and kits available to Jeeps to say one way or another. I also couldn’t justify owning a vehicle that I hate driving or never do anything with.
Party-vi
> Just Jeepin'
09/26/2018 at 15:34 |
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This is acceptable.
Future Heap Owner
> Tristan
09/26/2018 at 18:59 |
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I don’t think you should keep a vehicle you don’t really like and barely use. Are finances a barrier to undoing all the supporting mods?
adamftw
> Tristan
09/26/2018 at 19:39 |
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It drives like shit bc the front end is probably all fugazi’d. Check your caster, add aftermarket steering. An Antirock isn’t going to make a difference.
My old XJ on 35s and ~7” of lift could do 95 confidently.
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adamftw
> benjrblant
09/26/2018 at 19:40 |
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Nah, 33s and 3-4” of lift is.
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Tristan
> adamftw
09/26/2018 at 22:54 |
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The caster is fine. It drives like poo because there’s no sway bar... There’s just no good way to disconnect it on an XJ, so I just took it off when wheeling, and eventually just got sick of putting it back on. Yeah, I know. The front setup is stock XJ uppers, stock ZJ rear lowers, and RC drop brackets. The geometry is good, articulation is fantastic, and NVH is much lower than any poly Jimmy John jingleheimer joints. I went from a heavy duty heim joint OTK steering to a V8 ZJ setup. The heim setup sucked. It was noisy and the joints lasted about 6 weeks daily driving.
It honestly drives as good as a 6.5" lifted XJ without sways can drive. 95 mph is absolutely no problem, but to say it’s a “ pleasure” to drive would be a total lie.
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Tristan
> Future Heap Owner
09/26/2018 at 23:00 |
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I’d probably just swap in junkyard axles. I don't really want to just throw money at it. It's not that I don't like it, I'm just not in love with it right now. I need a way to reignite that. I've had this Jeep for 16 years and I've turned it from a 2wd with an automatic to a 4x4 5 speed. I built it as it currently is when my wife and I were dating and we drive away from the church in it on our wedding day. It's a part of the family and I'll never sell it... I just need to get back to actually enjoying it.
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Future Heap Owner
> Tristan
09/27/2018 at 03:28 |
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Ah yeah, you can’t sell that!
I think you should try to make it more enjoyable, then, whether that’s the sway bar or undoing the lift. Is it possible to reverse the lift in stages without expensive temporary measures, or is it gonna be one big long thing where it’s outta commission the whole time?
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Tristan
> Future Heap Owner
09/27/2018 at 05:15 |
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XJs are so ridiculously easy to work on it could be done in a day if I had all the parts. Regardless, it usually sits for months at a time anyway.
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adamftw
> Tristan
09/27/2018 at 07:10 |
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No sway bars isn’t the problem, but if you really think it’s jus too loosey goosey turning and whatever, upgrade your front shocks instead. You don’t have enough damping. Did you just get 5100s for a 6" lift? Those aren’t stiff enough. 360/80 or at least 255/70 valve 5125s will be a lot better.
Between the shocks and lowering it like 2" the truck will feel a lot better. You’re WAY too high to just be running the stock inverted Y steering.
This thing drove way better than it had any right to-
Idk what long arm setup you had that you could just go back to drop brackets, since almost all of them make you chop off the unibody side LCA mounts, and any good OTK steering setup with heims should have been a 7/8" joint mean you’d have your knuckles and pitman arm drilled out and wouldn’t be able to go back to stock rod ends.
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Tristan
> adamftw
09/27/2018 at 11:24 |
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You can revert to short arms if you never cut the brackets off. I was non committal to begin with. I’m over heim joints. Would you recommend something like JCR’s 1-ton OTK setup?
I did just go with regular 5100s. They made a drastic difference. I never would have attempted driving in the street without a sway bar when I had cheap white shocks! I'll look at 5125s.
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adamftw
> Tristan
09/27/2018 at 12:55 |
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Crossover steering for sure. Easiest way to do it is WJ knuckles and you get the big brakes at the same time. If not that, then yea, the JCR setup is good too. Both setups you’ll need to got over the axle with the trackbar, too.
I had both sways off for a bit with white shocks on my other XJ on 33s... when I switched to 5150s front and back (255/70 front, 185/60? rear) it felt more planted than it was when it was lifted and had the sways on. I had 9100s on the red XJ and they were magical.
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Tristan
> adamftw
09/27/2018 at 14:11 |
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It’s going to be a while before I actually get to any XJ related projects (renovating the house, work, new baby coming and also raising a toddler, taking college classes, etc. ) , but I’m definitely going to remember this and tap you for more info in the future. Thank you!
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adamftw
> Tristan
09/28/2018 at 06:46 |
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You got it, dude. NP.