Raf's XJ

[raf2379]

1999 Cherokee Sport auto
RE 3.5" superflex lift, on 31" Goodyear Territory rubber.
acos, RE shackles, rocky road outfitters OTT steering, drop brackets, brink fab bumper.

first the Rocky Roar Outfitters Over the top steering upgrade, it was a pain in the neck to install, nothing fit right, grinding and cutting and bashing required haha. it works ok, keeps everything out of harms way, better than stock.

This pic is after 3.5" RE lift and 32" procomp MT's


stock steering


bracket install






finished install


ACOS install gave me an added 1.5" of lift so i also had to add some RE shackles in the rear to level it all out





i've bought the bumper from someone a while back, had it installed for a few years, but had to redo the mounting brackets as ive almost tore my steering box out on the last trip out.

i have re-inforced the frame with the JKS steering brace, cut new mounts out of 1/4" plate, cut old ones off, re-welded and cut off a few inches from the bumper so that is does not stick out like bubba gump lip.












more to come

[raf2379]

Well, time to get the old RE lift off and build some long arms. Started with fabing up a cross member out of 5x2x1/4" square tube and some 1/4" plate

Frame mount




x-member which will be welded to the frame mounts tommorow.

[raf2379]

got a little bit more done on the cross member

[raf2379]

Got it all welded up and bolted up, now just need to fab up the mounts for the control arms to the cross member and make the middle section of the cross member removable, so that the t-case can be removed without disconecting the long arms.

[Tyn Pow]

Looking good man, nice work.  I was wondering what your plans for the x-member were.

What's the plan - radius arms, 3 link or 4 link?

[raf2379]

the plans are to 4-link it, i'll be finishing up the mounts this week hopefully if  get some free time.  Finished making the center section to be removable and started measuring and figuring out the angle of the lower Control arm mounts.

[raf2379]

some bling bling arrived. change of plans for the red xj. front and rear axles, 31" tire and rims, 3.5" RE lift, ACOS, and a set of 35" tires and 4.88 gears are all going up for sale in the next few weeks, as soon as i take them off the xj.

d44 and d60 are going in over the winter.

[mhernden]

I happen to be looking to buy a set of ACOS for my 99 Red XJ...     

[raf2379]

the teardown has began, the running gear is all out. and the fun starts with removing the stock control arm mounts to start preparing the frame for stiffening.

[Brink]

Looking good Raf

Give me a call about the shocks PM you sent

[raf2379]

small update, i started on plating the unirails. i wanted to go 3/16 on the front outside and bottom, but its too dificult to bend it so I used 1/8" and will do 3/16 on the inside, then will continue the rest of the way to the back with 3/16. I will try to finish plating the front this weekend so that i can start on the suspention and d44 install.




will need more than just fender trimming to fit the 36" IROK's. the wheelbase will be around 112"

[halfcRoOk]

Thats pretty sick dude! i like the 36" but since im just in my first 3 months of owning my first XJ, i wont be doing 36" just yet!! How did you like your RE super flex 3.5"? did u do any modification to your axel like shims or longer driveshaft to eliminate driveshaft vibration? and would you recommend the 3.5" RE super flex?

Thanks

[raf2379]

Thats pretty sick dude! i like the 36" but since im just in my first 3 months of owning my first XJ, i wont be doing 36" just yet!! How did you like your RE super flex 3.5"? did u do any modification to your axel like shims or longer driveshaft to eliminate driveshaft vibration? and would you recommend the 3.5" RE super flex?

Thanks

The RE superflex worked ok for me, there is better lift kits out there. I did add 6* shims in the rear, SYE eliminator Double Cardan driveshaft, for the front i added drop brackets for better control arm angles/geometry which pushed the front axle back to stock location, with out the drop brackets the front axle will come back a bit and cause your front coil to sit wrong, bent back.

if i was going to do it again, I would go with a good long arm kit from the start either a 3-link or 4-link. avoid radius arms they give poor geometry. some will disagree with me on radius arm comment, but thats a topinc on its own. post up and search on recomended Xj suspention, you will get lost of good sugestions.

[raf2379]

well I've decided plating the unibody rails is a waste of time for me and lots of hours. so I cut them out and took them to the scrap yard.



so I started to fabricate a frame to fit under the xj body.
test fitting



both rails cut and bent and tack welded. once i get it all squared up and test fitted to make sure everything is good and straight ill weld it all up. Thanks for your help Trevor.


still need to measure out the cross members tack it all together, test fit some more before final welds are done.


believe it or not its less work to build this frame than plate the whole uni-rails and it's less weight as well.

[w squared]

You are aware that is soon as you attach real frame rails to that thing, it stops being an XJ and becomes a modified YJ with a malfunctioning hard top, right?