jeep forums

[swynx]

my sister was making payments on an 85? heep cherokee xj. 2 door white. 4x4. 5 speed 2.5l 4 banger. 130k miles. rebuilt clutch blah blah. she moved from idaho to tenesee leaving the jeep behind. so i took over the payments which is only another $200 and then it is mine.

since i sold the explorer. gave the ranger to my mom, and the nissan is a crap shoot. im looking to learn abit about this thing. possibly lift it and wheel it abit make it my DD.

any one know any good forums? ive been on pirate4x4 but all the posts i read over there have guys who bash other people for being them selves, and just give alot of criticism. i dont wanna deal with as much criticism as they deal over there.

i really like the way trs is set up. with the tech section and the user friendly forum.

on a side note from lookin on the web this thing needs lift to fit 31's? im not sure what to say about that. people needing 4 inchs of lift for 33's...

 

[kimcrwbr1]

I have a 95 XJ with the 4.0 HO and am kinna a member of jeepcherokee.com. And yea it is hard to navigate nothing for a tech library and my experience the majority of jeepers are really stuck on themselves kinna sad. I finally found a manual on line I downloaded to my computer. If your looking to upgrade the engine your probably better off to find a donor of the same year with the harness to go with the engine, jeeps have alot of wires I mean crazy amounts on my 95 with alot of connectors not being used so it may be plug and play with the correct computer and engine harness. We have a jeep bone yard close to us so it is nice having someone nice to talk to when I have Qs. They came with 4 cyl V-6 and strait 6 I just dont have a clue on what all you can do with your setup as far as bell housing bolt patterns, mounts radiator/engine/transfer if you ask about mods you may get a better response than I did asking stock Qs.

 

[schaffer]

Jeepforum.com


The guys over on pirate are more brash,develop a tough skin and you can learn some good stuff.

 

[--weezl--]

dude, 4" for 33's isn't bad... my ranger needs 4" for 33's and it's an fx4 level II... with just the 3" bl my rears munch on my box

 

[Original_Ranger84]

to my knowledge a 4" lift on a cherokee will give you enough room for 31's not 33's, My old boss had a 97 cherokee classic with a 4" lift and it barely cleared the 31's he had, the 85 cherokee my buddy had had 225's and they would scrape the fenders all the time.

But the cool thing about jeeps is just about everybody in off road shops know about them because they are so popular and they haven't changed much at all over the years.

If you want a good DD I would get a small lift (easy and cheap since its got solid axles and you can find lifts dirt cheap, go with 31's and then gearing if it needs something.

 

[donaldcon]

www.naxja.com
www.xjtalk.com
www.cherokeeforums.com
www.cherokeetalk.com



If your boss was barely clearing 31's on a 4" lift than it 4" lift was worn out.

If in stock form 225's were scrapping the stock suspension was worn out.

With a brand new 4.5" lift I ran 33's on the trail and had minimal rubbing at full tuck on my old trailr ig
With 167,000 mile factory worn out suspension i am running 31's with no rubbing for street use on my dd cherokee.

 

[mhughes165]

ok.....the jeep u have has the iron duke motor in it, will run forever but has shit for power, its bad in wranglers, even worse in the cherokee, the transmission thats factory in that is garbage aswell, any type of wheeling will soon lead to failure......

the rears are junk, there the weakest years u can get cherokee wise

and a 4" lift max tire size is about a 31-32, ive lifted ALOT of jeeps, using alot of the same lifts, sometimes they settle out more then others, some could fit 33's with the lift, some u would have to trim out the fenders(more often then not)

NOW BEFORE U JEEP GUYS GET ALL UR PANTIES IN A BUNCH

its a 85, junk motor, junk trans, junk rears, id leave it alone, drive it for a daily, and get a real truck to turn into something to take trail riding




besides, id rather own a b2, where i can fit 31's on new stock suspension of i wanted to and rub less then a cherokee with a lift and 32's lol

 

[RatDog8o8]

NOW BEFORE U JEEP GUYS GET ALL UR PANTIES IN A BUNCH

Its a 85, junk motor, junk trans, junk rears, I'd leave it alone, drive it for a daily, and get a real truck to turn into something to take trail riding.

The other half's '85 had the 2.8 Chevy V6, a notch up from the Iron Duke. Not an extremely bad engine, but hated the Rochester carb. It had the 5spd manual trans.

We lifted it 5" using coils & spacers in the front, and blocks & add-a-leafs in the back. I think we had 31s on it when we sold it. They can be built, but it ain't cheap......couple grand for a 6.5" or so lift, I think.

 

[mhughes165]

lol...dont tell him about the gasmileage of a lifted iron duke jeep, it might have him pissing himself lol

 

[RatDog8o8]

lol...dont tell him about the gasmileage of a lifted iron duke jeep, it might have him pissing himself lol

I have "fond" memories of my 1980 Sunbird with that engine in it. (Again, not a fan of any flavor of Rochester carb). It was a wimp in that car; can't imagine it trying to move anything larger.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

If your boss was barely clearing 31's on a 4" lift than it 4" lift was worn out.

If in stock form 225's were scrapping the stock suspension was worn out.

With a brand new 4.5" lift I ran 33's on the trail and had minimal rubbing at full tuck on my old trailr ig
With 167,000 mile factory worn out suspension i am running 31's with no rubbing for street use on my dd cherokee.

It was actually a fairly new lift not but a few years old and he never takes the thing off road it drives 80 miles round trip every day...

Although I will admit the one my friend had was a total hunk. 4cyl, 5spd, exact same truck really and that thing ran forever but it did not like any part of it....

 

[94xlt4.0]

to my knowledge a 4" lift on a cherokee will give you enough room for 31's not 33's, My old boss had a 97 cherokee classic with a 4" lift and it barely cleared the 31's he had, the 85 cherokee my buddy had had 225's and they would scrape the fenders all the time.

But the cool thing about jeeps is just about everybody in off road shops know about them because they are so popular and they haven't changed much at all over the years.

If you want a good DD I would get a small lift (easy and cheap since its got solid axles and you can find lifts dirt cheap, go with 31's and then gearing if it needs something.

my sister has a stock 88 and it clears 235/75r15's with room to spare. it would probably only take a 3 inch lift to get 31's on there and im pretty confident they would not rub. ive worked on the thing many times and the electrical is a nightmare as are the vacuum lines. its like spaghetti under the hood. it does run great though and is a perfect little dd. as far as forums i like jeepforum.com and naxja.org the best. jeepforum is more relaxed with more newbs asking dumb questions but they dont flame very much at all. naxja is a lot more technical and if you ask a dumb question they just ignore you

 

[gribly]

Buddy of mine has all new springs and shocks with his 3" lift on a '95 and it rubs with 30" tires. That is only when steering while on the rocks, though.

 

[rangerbum]

I have a 90 XJ stock height, with little bitty 27 inch AT's on it, and when it ran, it would go about anywhere, even with the kid sized tires. I didnt baby it cause i knew it wouldnt last. It was a fun SOB. If your gonna lift you might wanna go with new leaves in back because they sag hardcore after years of normal use. Mine would rub the tires every once in a while with 2 small people in the back seat(while wheeling).

I had the 4.0 which was great, very good power wise, piss poor mileage, and lacked reliability. In a month and a half it broke down twice, one not too big a deal, and one that leaves the damn thing sitting still a year later.

Sorry bout the rambling, back to your questions, jeepforum.com is as close to TRS as you'll get. with NEW leaves a 4" lift will clear 33's WITH minor trimming.

I personally wouldnt recommend putting on tires over 31 inches with the 2.5 motor. unless you plan to gear ALOT you will dog it uphill even in 4lo, and mileage will disappear.

As I said, with little 27's mine went almost anywhere with proper driving and knowledge of the vehicle(forgot to mention mine does have the limited slip diff's). These jeeps dont need a whole lot to do a whole lot.

 

[donaldcon]

Buddy of mine has all new springs and shocks with his 3" lift on a '95 and it rubs with 30" tires. That is only when steering while on the rocks, though.

Stock wheels?