XJ lift questions

[bchcky]

my cousin has a 2 door 94 xj and he wants to lift it. what i want to know is, what can he clear with each lift? as factual as you can please, like white said before, i dont want "well you might be able to squeeze these tires with this lift" i want someone to say "94? ok, well if he lifted 2" he could clear X"

so i'm assuming he's going to end up with either 2", 3" or 3.5" of lift on it. so with each, can someone tell me best fit tire size? my initial guess is 30s on a 2" lift, but beyond that i dont know, and like i said, its a guess. thanks in advance for your help guys!

 

[TwistedCU]

This will vary depending on wheel offset and actual lift gained from the advertised height.

2" 30's will clear but rub some offroad

3" will clear 30's well and 31's with a little rubbing offroad. Alot with the swaybar disco'd.

3.5-4.5" 31's or 32's with a little rubbing offroad. 33's with some good cut out flares or trimming and re-using the stocj flares (see Mingez on this one).


The pre-97 XJ's had a little better clearance than mine, but I have 4 1/2" of lift and my 31's will stuff into the wheelwells with the swaybar disconnected and stock bumpstops. No rubbing but believe it or not it is close.

Extending the bumpstops would be a substitiute for trimming, at the cost of articulation.

If he is just starting out, a 2" budget boost and a set of 30x9.50x15 tires would be a great start if his stock suspension is halfway decent.

 

[IcyFridge]

I second Twisted's post.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

3" for 30" tires, 4.5" for 32" tires, 6" for 33".

Bumpstops are a great idea, especially on the rear, to prevent the springs from fatigueing prematurely.

 

[jps4jeep]

But also take into consideration, some brands of 31" tires only measure 30 inches when another brands 31" tire measures closer to the 32" mark! and also what TC said! the best method is to ask what other people have and get as much feed back as possible. If you and your cosin come to the great American Jeep Rally in a couple weeks, there will be hundreds of xj's there ranging from stock to complete competition rig! so ask as many questions as you can. i like to bring along a pen and 3x5 index cards and stick them in my pocket so when I ask a question, like what type of springs are on your Jeep, then I can quickly write down the answer like 94 YJ has 4" skyjacer springs, two years old, sags in rear!

That is the best method of recon!

 

[jeeperjoe]

TC sounds right on. i have a 3.5"RE and BFG 31's(actually 31") and the only time i rub is at full flex with the swaybar disconnected.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

While I've never seen a tire measure over what it's spec'd at, many measure up to 1" shorter. Closest manufacturer I've seen to actual advertised tire size is Interco with the Swampers. Everything else seems to fall a little short.

When I recommend a lift height in relation to a certain size tire, I refer to the size printed on the sidewall taking well into account that most tires are slightly smaller. Seems less confusing that way, comparing apples to apples.