Mods to avoid

[oderdene]

We all have a some level of experience in XJ modding. Please post here mods to avoid:
- waste of fund
- installed and removed items
- etc etc

[rguignard]

not lifting it 4.5 the first time

[Punisher]

not lifting it 4.5 the first time

whys that?

[msmoorenburg]

whys that?

its a fender eater :shocker:

[rguignard]

whys that?


its a fender eater :shocker:

i wouldnt had to have to cut so much out of my fenders to put 33's under it

[Punisher]

so then what would be good for your first lift?
I'm not going any bigger than 33" anyhow but I dont want it super high either,
In florida its most mud and trail riding.. I wont be doing any rock climbing as theres
really no mountians...

[rguignard]

so then what would be good for your first lift?
I'm not going any bigger than 33" anyhow but I dont want it super high either,
In florida its most mud and trail riding.. I wont be doing any rock climbing as theres
really no mountians...

i would go 4.5 right from the start but if you want to go 3.5 i tell you what to do to put 33's on it. i have 33 tsl's that are 33.4in tall and they fit :thumbsup:

[4.3LXJ]

You shouldn't go with too small of a lift. If you do, you will just want to go a little higher after you do for a variety of reasons. Happened to me. I started out with 3" and now sit at 7.5"

[LizardRunner]

for 33's and mudding I would look into a 6" lift. That will keep you from having to cut your fenders much if at all. a 4.5" lift is recomended for 31-32" tires and if you use 33's you will do some serious cutting to get the flex clearance. a 4.5 lift and 33's will put your rockers 28" from the ground if you are concerned with getting in and out of the jeep. I have changed my plans for lift and tires after finding a guy with the 4.5 33's set up I now will do the 4.5 long arm lift and hold the tires to 31's that will let me have a rocker height of 26" lots easier for me to step into and out of.

[XJ4IV]

I do lots of mods to mine and I think the one that I THOUGHT would do the most difference did the LEAST... hood vents, I may have been the only person to say this but lots of folks that did the upgrade SAY they get serious temp drops, ask them one on one what there true experience is.
the BEST thing I did for my cooling system was either the three row radiator or the dual electric fan setup and do away with the mechanical fan.
Shackles:
IF your considering shackles for lift purposes DONT, as long as your shackles sit in the vertical position your ride is gonna SUCK!
now if your doing shackles you really ought to do a shackle relocation kit to where your shackles sit at at least a 50 degree angle pointing to the front of the jeep this provides a less stiff ride and offers GREAT flex!
and another item I installed that did great things for the jeep only cost me 30 bucks, rather than DROPPING your transfer case use axle shims under your leaf springs to point your differential towards your case! lots less than a case drop and also not DROPPING your clearance height. mine are 4 degree shims for those interested!

[XJ Rat]

I've got 32" TSLs. With a RE 3-1/2" list and 3/4" spacers in the front/extended shackles in the rear and major trimming. They work great on the road, rub off road in the back/rub real bad when disconnected up front. I still need to do more rear trimming in all 4 fenderwells.

Lizard Runner is real close with his evaluation.

[XJ Rat]

I do lots of mods to mine and I think the one that I THOUGHT would do the most difference did the LEAST... hood vents, I may have been the only person to say this but lots of folks that did the upgrade SAY they get serious temp drops, ask them one on one what there true experience is.

I agree with this. I put vents in my hood and they helped negligibly. I wonder what else the people who claim 15-20 degrees cooler running did because vents alone will not account for that. Vents give maybe 2-5 degrees cooler running. It is fun to watch the heat pour out of them at lights though.

[Mudderoy]

for 33's and mudding I would look into a 6" lift. That will keep you from having to cut your fenders much if at all. a 4.5" lift is recomended for 31-32" tires and if you use 33's you will do some serious cutting to get the flex clearance. a 4.5 lift and 33's will put your rockers 28" from the ground if you are concerned with getting in and out of the jeep. I have changed my plans for lift and tires after finding a guy with the 4.5 33's set up I now will do the 4.5 long arm lift and hold the tires to 31's that will let me have a rocker height of 26" lots easier for me to step into and out of.

4.5" and 32's are good for on road, and light off road, minimal flex.

[Mudderoy]

I agree with this. I put vents in my hood and they helped negligibly. I wonder what else the people who claim 15-20 degrees cooler running did because vents alone will not account for that. Vents give maybe 2-5 degrees cooler running. It is fun to watch the heat pour out of them at lights though.

Hood vents are crap! They look cool, but they lack enough surface area to allow the heat to escape. I cut a huge hole in my hood two 12" dinner plates connected in a pill "capsule" shape. Very little difference. Then I cut out A LOT more. Finally made a difference, but almost 1/3 of my hood is missing now.

Also the hole I cut is completely open. I have a cowl induction scoop covering it.

[LizardRunner]

We all have a some level of experience in XJ modding. Please post here mods to avoid:
- waste of fund
- installed and removed items
- etc etc

the only one I can think of is the hidden snorkel modification. this puts your intake up in the area just below the windshield and for me doesn't work since some of the streams are that deep and water getting into the intake is just plain bad. It's a very cool mod for those that don't take their jeep swimming though. Yes I agree on the "hood vent" mod they might work if they are right at the front edge of the hood but most I've seen are to far back on the hood to really do any good at getting heat out. a better mod would be a two or three core radiator and electric fans along with a better shroud to suck more air through the radiator. I have not had any cooling problem even with my air on at a stop sign.

[cantab27]

throttle body spacer ,,,,put it on ,,,no difference i reckon...........

[4.3LXJ]

One I would avoid is trying to make a 3" lift into a 5" lift on the cheap. It is done commonly by people who don't have enough money to do it right or just plain cheap. It almost always results in death wobble and other issues. Do it right the first time.

[xjrev10]

Yep buddy of mine made his 3 in to a 5. Jeep rode and wheeled like crap IMO.

[muddeprived]

One I would avoid is trying to make a 3" lift into a 5" lift on the cheap. It is done commonly by people who don't have enough money to do it right or just plain cheap. It almost always results in death wobble and other issues. Do it right the first time.

I second this. You can go 2-3 inches cheap but you can't add cheap onto cheap, like adding 2" coil spacers on top of that.


I also agree with the hood vents. I did mine hoping to help with the heat soak but it didn't help, nor did it lower the temps. I do get a nice heat show at red lights.

[4.3LXJ]

I second this. You can go 2-3 inches cheap but you can't add cheap onto cheap, like adding 2" coil spacers on top of that.


I also agree with the hood vents. I did mine hoping to help with the heat soak but it didn't help, nor did it lower the temps. I do get a nice heat show at red lights.

When I did mine, I reduced my heat soak tremendously. But I have a conversion.