I bought a bone stock 2000 Cherokee 4x4 with a 4.0 auto. Gonna use it to haul my hound dog around and drag a bay boat to the ramp with the occasional trip to River Ranch off road area to play a little. I'd like to do a 3" lift and add some bigger tires and maybe a locker. What can I get away with with what I believe are Dana 44's without breaking a bunch of running gear? Thanks!!
D30 up front and 99% chance it's a D35 in the rear, not a D44. Easy enough to throw a lunch box locker in either (or both) axles. 3" lift and some minor trimming will give you room for 31's pretty easily, and very little chance of breaking any running gear, even the D35...now if you're banging off the limiter in rock gardens, well, all bets are off.
You're right. Jeeps used to be my jam back in the day...some of the exact specifics get a little fuzzy. Either way, it certainly didn't come with a rear end I'd lincoln lock and run 38's with. I was also into YJ's...not those uni body things
Why people use jeeps for paved road travel is beyond me, they suck. Off road is the only place they belong. I've wanted a cheap beat XJ for a while now for off road use only.
Sorry .. I don’t agree .. I’ve had a Jeep non stop since 1978 till today . 1978 CJ -7 v-8 hardtop 3sp man. With A/C ...1980 CJ -7 v-8 hardtop 4sp man with A/C . Both of those were daily drivers that I drove 800 mi round trip to Michigan almost every weekend . They were great on the road , and could anywhere with them . I still have a 86 CJ -7 V-8 Hardtop Auto with A/C and a 94 YJ hardtop with with 383 and HD suspension. The only one not good on the road is the YJ and that is because it has a 5:11 gear ratio . If it had a 308 rear end , like the others it would be fine also . They were cheap to buy brand new , and were bulletproof. With zero mechanical issues . Only problem I ever had , was rolling over the 1980 CJ at the dunes twice . But that’s not the Jeep’s fault !!
They get a bit sketchy but manageable at freeway speeds but they are great for running around town. I get all nervous about shitty drivers running in to me when I drive my wifes car. In the Jeep, not so much.
Ha ha. Sketchy compared to most passenger vehicles though. You will be less tired after a 10 hour drive in a car. Mine is pretty docile up to about 65 but the handling gets pretty spirited above that. Not unmanageable but you gotta pay attention...
I don’t know , I’ve heard so many people tell me how bad they are on the the street and I would just roll my eyes .. absolutely not my experience. Granted , this thread is about XJ’s and I’m talking about CJ / YJ . But I would think a XJ would handle better . All my Jeep’s had hard tops and those come with sway bars and steering dampeners . Also I had 10x 15 wheels with 11.5 wide Armstrong Tru Tracks mounted on them , and on the highway with the speed limit being 70 , I would run 75-80 all day long with never a concern about them handling wise . All of them with a highway gear ratio of 308 mated with the 304 V-8 . They are definitely not Cadillac’s . And I would sometimes drag a trailer with dirt bikes at those speeds .. never an issue for me . edit : I have been in soft top Jeep’s and the noise and flapping of those tops at anything above 60 would definitely wear you out and give me a headache.
Yup. My XJ was a great daily driver until I ruined it with a soon-to-be-dumpstered Rough Country lift.
The 3" kit with full leaf springs (not the add-a-leaf), NR3 shocks, lower control arms, front coil springs and sway bar link drop brackets. It's damn near undriveable it's so stiff. The shocks don't move on the compression stroke until your top shock mounts have already tried to punch through the Unibody. The coil springs and leaf springs are far too stiff for the weight of the XJ. Maybe if you welded a second complete XJ on top of yours, the spring rates would be OK. Known as the double-decker.
First fill the entire vehicle with concrete, then jump. Known as the Rough Country break-in procedure
