New member

[Woodsxj]

Hi this is Woodsxj. I have tons of questions about what year XJ to buy. I am going to run 35 tires and 5.5 lift. I need feed back for any one who can give me advice please. Thanks Woodsxj.

[Mudderoy]

Welcome, thanks for joining.

As I mentioned on your other post. 1999 seems to be the "best" year for the XJ's, but 1998 through their final year 2001 are all good choices.

Get feedback from the others though.

If you decide to get a 1998+ XJ you'll want to get one WITHOUT anti lock brakes, specificially a Dana 35 rear axle. Chrysler 8.25 is a very good rear end, not as good as other axles that you can swap in but a very good factory installed axle.

You'll want to get a Dana 30 high pinion for the front axle.

You may need to have a 6.5" lift to run 35" tires and 15" wheels. Even at that you'll be trimming the fenders.

It is an accepted fact that if you are going to lift higher than 4.5" you'll need a Slip Yoke Eliminator or SYE to take care of vibrations that can occure when your rear drive shaft angle gets too great. That angle increases as you lift the XJ.

If you get a XJ with a NP231 transfer case they make "Hack and Tap" SYE kits, that are fairly cheap. If you get a NP242 transfer case the cost is more, in the 470 area.

The NP231 is an excellent transfer case. With it you would not have any 4x4 settings for ON PAVED ROAD driving. It is truly an off road only transfer case.

With the NP242 you have one ON ROAD 4x4 setting. This is very handy in the rain and semi slippery surfaces.

Now if you want to run 35" tires you should be ok if both axles are "OPEN" and not locked. If you plan on doing mild wheeling you should be ok, however to run the 35" tires on an XJ with the HP Dana 30 and Chrysler 8.25 you should really changed the axle rods to a heavier duty axle rod. If you run lockers then this will be a must.

With 32" tires, you'll want to swap axle gears to at least 4.10 (3.55 factory). With 35" tires you'll want to swap axle gears to 4.56. This is about 1300 if you don't know how to swap them yourself. 500 if you do

This is all that I have learned through reading. Others may have different opinions, or experiences, so just read and absorb.

I'm leaning in the same direction you are 35" tires, I'm running 32" now. Keep in mind though that increased tire size is going to mean decreased braking capability. So you may be looking at another series of modifications that include swapping from drum brakes to disc brakes in the rear. Stainless steel brake lines, and even upgrading the front disc brakes.

I've got a couple of more years on my 32" tires, so I may be ready for the 35" by that time. Oh and there is increased load put on the transmission. An external cooler may need to be added. I'm about to do that to mine as during the summer my temps increase higher that I like while driving 70 mph down the road.

[Voldemort]

Welcome broseph!

[xjjeepthing]

Welcome to XJT

[Melissa]

Welcome from Oregon

[firehawk]

Welcome to xjTalk.