New to jeeps
 

Have been driving a Ford Explorer Sport for years, put a lift kit, locker good tires and a few other things. The Ford has been a good off road vehicle and has kept up to all sorts of off road trucks including several models of Jeeps, but the independent front suspension sucks and have been breaking the drive axles lately, a real weak spot for this truck. Got a smoking deal on a 1997 Grand Cherokee Limited, it has it's worn out parts but am working on that right now. Will be getting BF Goodrich AT's 31's and new bushings for the suspension arms and will add stuff as I go, I understand that lifting this Jeep may cause vibration problems which means changing out the trans case and adding better drive shafts. Does anybody know if this is true? Also looking for a winch bumper but would rather not spend a lot of money, a friend of mine got a really nice one for $400 from the states but they don't make one for the Grand. Hope to learn a lot from this site and thanks in advance for any help. POCODON

Re: New to jeeps
 

Hello pocodon, you may get some vibration from the driveshaft but only if the angles are extreme. For bumpers you can try www.kevinsoffroad.com, or www.icelandoffroad.com to start, there are many places that sell them but they aren't very cheap.

Re: New to jeeps
 

Thanks 04wjguy, I'll check out those sites. I was told that if I put in a 3 1/2 inch lift I'd get vibrations and have to remedy it buy changing trans case and drive shaft, that was an opinion from one of the guys from National 4wd in Langley B.C.

Re: New to jeeps
 

I put on a 3 in suspension (unbodied) home made using steel bolts between the springs and axle in the rear and solid rubber spacers from CtC on top of the coils for the front, plus you need new ubolts (local steel company can make them cheap for you) homemade square small pcs of steel between the top of the shock and where it usually mounts to the truck, put a larger steering stabilizer on. I didn't have a shake, but I did have an expert doing the job for me..he even did a laser alinement for me..we were right on the money.. but not everyone is fortunate enuff to have a friend like this. The total cost ard $100. I didn't have the death wobble ran 33x12.5r15 on 7" offset rims mud tires this was on an 89 xj. I don't understand the comment from national

Re: New to jeeps
 

Pocodon, I'm curious why he would have told you that. I know you can get vibration going 5+ inches because of the shaft angles or have loose/ worn suspension to start with. An adjustable track bar is always recomended when lifting a GC as well as making sure EVERYTHING is torqued properly.

Re: New to jeeps
 

Looks like your driving a regular jeep, but apparently my vehicle has a different trans case and is a quadra-trac all wheel drive, this might make things different between our jeeps.

Re: New to jeeps
 

So do you think it would be okay to go for a 2 or 3 1/2 inch lift with a few minor adjustments like a trac bar.

Re: New to jeeps
 

We've got 2 2004 GC's, a 98 GC, 96 GC, and a 98 TJ all with various mods and haven't had any problems with vibrations.
My GC is at 4 1/2" short arm lift with a 247 AWD T/C (QuadraTrac II) and no vibs.
I posted a chart in the GC forum (What did you do today heading) awhile ago that shows what you should replace as you go up. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Re: New to jeeps
 

Sorry, wrong thread. Just type this into the search bar and go to post #4.

suggested off road options for 04 WJ

This is good for ZJ's and WJ's

Re: New to jeeps
 

When I owned my explorer sport I just had too many issues. Used to irritate me how i had the front windshield resealed like 4 x and it was still like niagra falls when it rained.

Welcome to the site and lets see some pics of the rigs!