96k1500's 89 xj build

[magimerlin]

Yes even on the street I prefer my long arm set up. I use to have a short arm set up with drop brackets. The long arm is just better geometry for the suspension overall. By mounting the arms further back with a 6" lift it softens the ride out by letting the impacts from driving get soaked up by the suspension like its meant to be and not feel like your hitting a brick wall on every rock you drive over.

If you go 6" there is a few more things you will HAVE to do to make it usable.

Short list and what I use......
---6" RC long arm upgrade(I made a ******* pack for the rear so didn't need leafs)
---6"RC front coils
---front brake hoses(stockers ain't long enough) mid 90's c1500 hoses
---rear brake line(same issue as fronts) mid 90's dodge Dakota rear brake hose.
---longer shock, front I use the RC 2.2 for a 6"
For the rear I use jeep JK rear reds(2.2's didn't work for the rear on mine as I have raised mounts on my D44 I built)
---gears,,,,,,yah stock gears may work but take it from me. 33's and 3.55 gears suck. I have 4.56's in there now and it works real well.
---rims...stock rims will work for the tires but have too much back spacing to let you turn full left or right. I use soft 8's with 3.75 back spacing and have no issues.
---axle shaft----see my comments on my others reply. I use a Tom woods driveshaft. Abused for about 4 years and no issues so far. Still using my stock style front. Did buy a new one from the parts house as the original from 80 was dead to say the least...
---SYE...talked about that earlier.

Sure there is more but I'm tired and that's all I can think of off hand.


Sent from what use to be a great country.

 

[96k1500]

I would not run a cv style shaft they suck. Cv style is a constant velocity joint like a front wheel drive car uses. The do not hold up well at all off road. Use a double Cardin style(has two u-joints on the transfer case side). That's what you should have on the front of yours now is a double Cardin joint shaft as long as you have a np231 transfer case and not the np242. But the best thing is to get one made for the right dimension for your application.


Sent from what use to be a great country.

everything i had seen was saying the front shaft had a cv style joint, i am planning on getting another front shaft to run on the rear, maybe pick up a couple to keep for backup

 

[magimerlin]

Oh and for flares I use jeep TJ front flares for the front and have a set TJ rear flares for the back just haven't had time to put them on yet. I cut my front fenders up 2" above stock and they fit great with a lite cutting(there are write ups on how to do it). And I did a cut and fold on the rear fenders (are writes on how to do that as well).

I've never been a fan of bushwhacker flares. To mall crawler style to me. It's all about personal taste though.

And check out NAXJA.org, its a forum I am part of for just XJ and MJ's. I am currently the treasurer for the Red River chapter and have been for the last 3 years.... Stepping down this year but its a great site and have made a ton of friends from it. I go by "magimerlin" over there as well.


Sent from what use to be a great country.

 

[magimerlin]

everything i had seen was saying the front shaft had a cv style joint, i am planning on getting another front shaft to run on the rear, maybe pick up a couple to keep for backup

Take a pic of it up by the box (transfer case) and ill tell yah what shaft you got. That sounded sooo wrong......lol.


Sent from what use to be a great country.

 

[96k1500]

Take a pic of it up by the box (transfer case) and ill tell yah what shaft you got. That sounded sooo wrong......lol.


Sent from what use to be a great country.

haha i was told its np231 but not sure, it has 2wd, 4hi part time, 4hi full time, and 4lo part time

 

[96k1500]

Yes even on the street I prefer my long arm set up. I use to have a short arm set up with drop brackets. The long arm is just better geometry for the suspension overall. By mounting the arms further back with a 6" lift it softens the ride out by letting the impacts from driving get soaked up by the suspension like its meant to be and not feel like your hitting a brick wall on every rock you drive over.

If you go 6" there is a few more things you will HAVE to do to make it usable.

Short list and what I use......
---6" RC long arm upgrade(I made a ******* pack for the rear so didn't need leafs)
---6"RC front coils
---front brake hoses(stockers ain't long enough) mid 90's c1500 hoses
---rear brake line(same issue as fronts) mid 90's dodge Dakota rear brake hose.
---longer shock, front I use the RC 2.2 for a 6"
For the rear I use jeep JK rear reds(2.2's didn't work for the rear on mine as I have raised mounts on my D44 I built)
---gears,,,,,,yah stock gears may work but take it from me. 33's and 3.55 gears suck. I have 4.56's in there now and it works real well.
---rims...stock rims will work for the tires but have too much back spacing to let you turn full left or right. I use soft 8's with 3.75 back spacing and have no issues.
---axle shaft----see my comments on my others reply. I use a Tom woods driveshaft. Abused for about 4 years and no issues so far. Still using my stock style front. Did buy a new one from the parts house as the original from 80 was dead to say the least...
---SYE...talked about that earlier.

Sure there is more but I'm tired and that's all I can think of off hand.


Sent from what use to be a great country.

If i do long arm im gonna buy the long arm kit to start with, and its a np231 i just looked at it, thanks for all the info

 

[TylerZ281500]

I would not run a cv style shaft they suck. Cv style is a constant velocity joint like a front wheel drive car uses. The do not hold up well at all off road. Use a double Cardin style(has two u-joints on the transfer case side). That's what you should have on the front of yours now is a double Cardin joint shaft as long as you have a np231 transfer case and not the np242. But the best thing is to get one made for the right dimension for your application.


Sent from what use to be a great country.

yeah they do suck in many ways for many reasons but you cant properly use anything else. a double u joint shaft would be nice but you will never get proper geometry and youll go through u joints faster and it will break faster than a cv. Your pretty much stuck with a cv, yea it sucks, but your limited with such a tiny wheelbase.

 

[magimerlin]

yeah they do suck in many ways for many reasons but you cant properly use anything else. a double u joint shaft would be nice but you will never get proper geometry and youll go through u joints faster and it will break faster than a cv. Your pretty much stuck with a cv, yea it sucks, but your limited with such a tiny wheelbase.

Ok so my 1989 XJ that came factory with a front double Cardin joint and the double Cardin joint that I had made for the rear and ALL the people I know personally that have the same set up on a np231 and np242 as well are wrong and have bad angles??? Nope I think not. A factory style cv style joint driveshaft on a lifted cherokee(XJ) is a bad idea because it can mot handle the added angle that is created by a lift. A double Cardin joint is 1000 times better then a cv style axle shaft on our application. A cv style front driveshaft was a bad idea from the start. Even the people I know that still have a stock cherokee that came stock with the cv style replace them with a double Cardin driveshaft.

The double Cardin joint is what is needed to help correct the angles. It alleviates the harsh angles that a lift causes on the drive train. A cv joint driveshaft has a limited max angle that it can work at because of the cup style end on it.

For the record I and all my friends running this way do not have any u-joint issues what so ever. And never have in the 5+ years of doing this.

As for saying stuck with it(cv style) with our tiny wheelbase.... Nope. Think of jeep Cj's, TJ's, YJ's they all have a shorter wheel base then an XJ and all the people I know that run them use double cardoon joint driveshafts front and rear. They are a must for the angles a lifted short wheel base vehicle creates.


So who ever is feeding you this info is wrong and or misinformed themselves and needs to stop feeding info they know nothing about. Just wanted to clear that up. My knowledge comes from the 12-15 XJ's I have personally been a major role in building for friends and my own as well of course, all from mild to wild.



Sent from what use to be a great country.

 

[magimerlin]

wow after i just reread that parts of that made me sound like I was trying to be an ass. Sorry bout the way some of that sounds. Not meant to sound like that. Just hate when miss info gets told as fact. Not anyone's fault but the original teller whether verbally or the Internet. Best bet is to get personal experience of the masses.

Again sorry if I sounded like an ass. Wasn't meant like that towards ya or anyone.


Sent from what use to be a great country.

 

[96k1500]

Guess who got a brushguard finished and mounted, just need to finish some paint

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