TooPlaneCrazy7

Hi all,
Okay I am narrowing down my suspension lift selection with the following:

RE6020 3.5" XJ Super-Ride Kit with DT3000 shocks ($449)

or

RE6160 2" with add-a-leaves and DT0 shocks ($200)

I have a 1990 Jeep Cherokee with 105K 4.0L and Selec-Trac and plan to get 30"
BFG tires. I mainly will be using it as a daily driver with moderate
offroading...mainly on mesquite/brush flat terrain with as much beach/sand
driving that I can do.

Out of the two kits I mentioned above, which shall I get? Is the RE6020
over-kill for someone like me?

I am also clueless as far as putting a kit on the Jeep--so I am gonna have a
mechanically-inclined friend do it for me (with a case of beer).

Will we have to mess with anything else? Drivetrain? Transfer case? etc?

Thanks!!

Steve

TooPlaneCrazy7 wrote:
> Hi all,
> Okay I am narrowing down my suspension lift selection with the following:

Hi,

First off, I think you are looking at a good manufacturer. I recently
put a Rubicon Express 4.5" kit in my '90 Cherokee an I am really
impressed with the quality and fit.

The prices you got are too high. There are lots of little resellers on
the web that will give you a much better deal than RE direct. I recall
seeing quotes several months back from mesa4x4 of $150 for the RE-RE6160
and $240 for the RE-RE6020.

If you just want to slip some 30's underneath and be done with it, then
the 2" kit will get you by. If, however, you plan on keeping the vehicle
for a while (and you can spare the extra dollars), you'll be far happier
with a 3.5" lift in the long run. It can be the foundation for building
a capable off-roader that will still run nice on the road.

While you're spending money on new suspension components, you should
seriously consider full spring packs for the rear as opposed to the
add-a-leaf. The stock rear leafs on my Cherokee had a bad case of the
sags and needed replacement anyway. Yours are probably the same.
Add-a-leaf would have only prolonged my misery, so I went with full
springs. The 2" kit is add-a-leaf only so you might want to consider the
3.5" RE6030 Super Flex with full springs. Expect to pay around $475.

The 3.5" is more than you need for 30" tires, but getting it now means
you can move up to 31" when you want. Increasing tire size will decrease
power (RPMs). What is your current differential gear ratio? If you're
lucky, you've got 3.54 or 3.73. Mine was 3.07 and the vehicle was
sluggish even on the stock 26 inchers. I had a set of 33x10.50s lined up
for the lift so I knew I needed to regear. My solution was to find a
junker 80's Cherokee with the 4 cylinder engine. Because of the low
power engine, these things came with 4.10 diff ratios straight from the
factory. For a few hundred, I got my gears and a pile of spare parts.
4.10s would work real nice with 31" tires.

Another consideration is the use of diconnectable sway bar links for the
front end. Even in stock form, your Cherokee will have much improved
offroad traction with the front sway bar disconnected. Try it. You will,
however quickly tire of all the wrenching required to remove and replace
them at the start and end of each offroad foray. The solution is
quick-disconnects. The 2" kit does not include new links. The RE6020 and
RE6025 ('Super Ride' kits) come with fixed links. The RE6030 'Super
Flex' kit has disconnectable sway bar links and and better control arm
joints to boot. I would however, recommend that you ask you vendor to
upgrade you to JKS disconnects. The RE's are said to rattle and clunk. I
got the JKS and they are great.

As far as other modifications go, you may notice some rear drive line
vibration after the lift. This can be corrected by carefully ensuring
that the downward angle of the transfer case output shaft is exactly
equal to the upward angle of the rear differential pinion. Get an angle
finder from a hardware store. Rotate the drive shaft so that the slip
yoke arms are vertically aligned and measure the front-rear slope of the
flat surface on the lower yoke arm. Then put your angle finder on the
back edge of the rear differential housing to get the pinion angle.

The t-case angle can be increased by lowering the t-case cross member.
Support it with a jack and insert spacers (washers will work) on the
four bolts, between cross member and frame. The rear pinion angle can be
increased by inserting shims between spring and perch. In addition to
matching the angles, dropping the t-case and/or raising the rear pinion
have the additional desirable effect of reducing the relative angle of
the drive shaft itself.

Other things you might need to consider if you go 3.5": longer slip yoke
and drop pitman arm. With my 4.5" lift, the rear drive shaft would bind
in the crotch of the slip yoke when the vehicle was on the hoist and the
rear end was hanging at full extent. To prevent this from happening on
the trail (nasty) I could have spent $50 on the RE1822 long slip yoke.
Instead, I ground out a small bevel on each side of the yoke so the
shaft could turn free at full drop. Easy. As for the pitman arm, I added
the RE2500 to my kit to improve the steering linkage angles. It might
help on a 3.5" lift too.

Good luck,

Steve
90 XJ: 4.5" RE lift, OME Nitro, 33x10.50 BFG MT, D30/4.10, D35C/4.11

Steve

TooPlaneCrazy7 wrote:
> Hi all,
> Okay I am narrowing down my suspension lift selection with the following:

Hi,

First off, I think you are looking at a good manufacturer. I recently
put a Rubicon Express 4.5" kit in my '90 Cherokee an I am really
impressed with the quality and fit.

The prices you got are too high. There are lots of little resellers on
the web that will give you a much better deal than RE direct. I recall
seeing quotes several months back from mesa4x4 of $150 for the RE-RE6160
and $240 for the RE-RE6020.

If you just want to slip some 30's underneath and be done with it, then
the 2" kit will get you by. If, however, you plan on keeping the vehicle
for a while (and you can spare the extra dollars), you'll be far happier
with a 3.5" lift in the long run. It can be the foundation for building
a capable off-roader that will still run nice on the road.

While you're spending money on new suspension components, you should
seriously consider full spring packs for the rear as opposed to the
add-a-leaf. The stock rear leafs on my Cherokee had a bad case of the
sags and needed replacement anyway. Yours are probably the same.
Add-a-leaf would have only prolonged my misery, so I went with full
springs. The 2" kit is add-a-leaf only so you might want to consider the
3.5" RE6030 Super Flex with full springs. Expect to pay around $475.

The 3.5" is more than you need for 30" tires, but getting it now means
you can move up to 31" when you want. Increasing tire size will decrease
power (RPMs). What is your current differential gear ratio? If you're
lucky, you've got 3.54 or 3.73. Mine was 3.07 and the vehicle was
sluggish even on the stock 26 inchers. I had a set of 33x10.50s lined up
for the lift so I knew I needed to regear. My solution was to find a
junker 80's Cherokee with the 4 cylinder engine. Because of the low
power engine, these things came with 4.10 diff ratios straight from the
factory. For a few hundred, I got my gears and a pile of spare parts.
4.10s would work real nice with 31" tires.

Another consideration is the use of diconnectable sway bar links for the
front end. Even in stock form, your Cherokee will have much improved
offroad traction with the front sway bar disconnected. Try it. You will,
however quickly tire of all the wrenching required to remove and replace
them at the start and end of each offroad foray. The solution is
quick-disconnects. The 2" kit does not include new links. The RE6020 and
RE6025 ('Super Ride' kits) come with fixed links. The RE6030 'Super
Flex' kit has disconnectable sway bar links and and better control arm
joints to boot. I would however, recommend that you ask you vendor to
upgrade you to JKS disconnects. The RE's are said to rattle and clunk. I
got the JKS and they are great.

As far as other modifications go, you may notice some rear drive line
vibration after the lift. This can be corrected by carefully ensuring
that the downward angle of the transfer case output shaft is exactly
equal to the upward angle of the rear differential pinion. Get an angle
finder from a hardware store. Rotate the drive shaft so that the slip
yoke arms are vertically aligned and measure the front-rear slope of the
flat surface on the lower yoke arm. Then put your angle finder on the
back edge of the rear differential housing to get the pinion angle.

The t-case angle can be increased by lowering the t-case cross member.
Support it with a jack and insert spacers (washers will work) on the
four bolts, between cross member and frame. The rear pinion angle can be
increased by inserting shims between spring and perch. In addition to
matching the angles, dropping the t-case and/or raising the rear pinion
have the additional desirable effect of reducing the relative angle of
the drive shaft itself.

Other things you might need to consider if you go 3.5": longer slip yoke
and drop pitman arm. With my 4.5" lift, the rear drive shaft would bind
in the crotch of the slip yoke when the vehicle was on the hoist and the
rear end was hanging at full extent. To prevent this from happening on
the trail (nasty) I could have spent $50 on the RE1822 long slip yoke.
Instead, I ground out a small bevel on each side of the yoke so the
shaft could turn free at full drop. Easy. As for the pitman arm, I added
the RE2500 to my kit to improve the steering linkage angles. It might
help on a 3.5" lift too.

Good luck,

Steve
90 XJ: 4.5" RE lift, OME Nitro, 33x10.50 BFG MT, D30/4.10, D35C/4.11

Steve

TooPlaneCrazy7 wrote:
> Hi all,
> Okay I am narrowing down my suspension lift selection with the following:

Hi,

First off, I think you are looking at a good manufacturer. I recently
put a Rubicon Express 4.5" kit in my '90 Cherokee an I am really
impressed with the quality and fit.

The prices you got are too high. There are lots of little resellers on
the web that will give you a much better deal than RE direct. I recall
seeing quotes several months back from mesa4x4 of $150 for the RE-RE6160
and $240 for the RE-RE6020.

If you just want to slip some 30's underneath and be done with it, then
the 2" kit will get you by. If, however, you plan on keeping the vehicle
for a while (and you can spare the extra dollars), you'll be far happier
with a 3.5" lift in the long run. It can be the foundation for building
a capable off-roader that will still run nice on the road.

While you're spending money on new suspension components, you should
seriously consider full spring packs for the rear as opposed to the
add-a-leaf. The stock rear leafs on my Cherokee had a bad case of the
sags and needed replacement anyway. Yours are probably the same.
Add-a-leaf would have only prolonged my misery, so I went with full
springs. The 2" kit is add-a-leaf only so you might want to consider the
3.5" RE6030 Super Flex with full springs. Expect to pay around $475.

The 3.5" is more than you need for 30" tires, but getting it now means
you can move up to 31" when you want. Increasing tire size will decrease
power (RPMs). What is your current differential gear ratio? If you're
lucky, you've got 3.54 or 3.73. Mine was 3.07 and the vehicle was
sluggish even on the stock 26 inchers. I had a set of 33x10.50s lined up
for the lift so I knew I needed to regear. My solution was to find a
junker 80's Cherokee with the 4 cylinder engine. Because of the low
power engine, these things came with 4.10 diff ratios straight from the
factory. For a few hundred, I got my gears and a pile of spare parts.
4.10s would work real nice with 31" tires.

Another consideration is the use of diconnectable sway bar links for the
front end. Even in stock form, your Cherokee will have much improved
offroad traction with the front sway bar disconnected. Try it. You will,
however quickly tire of all the wrenching required to remove and replace
them at the start and end of each offroad foray. The solution is
quick-disconnects. The 2" kit does not include new links. The RE6020 and
RE6025 ('Super Ride' kits) come with fixed links. The RE6030 'Super
Flex' kit has disconnectable sway bar links and and better control arm
joints to boot. I would however, recommend that you ask you vendor to
upgrade you to JKS disconnects. The RE's are said to rattle and clunk. I
got the JKS and they are great.

As far as other modifications go, you may notice some rear drive line
vibration after the lift. This can be corrected by carefully ensuring
that the downward angle of the transfer case output shaft is exactly
equal to the upward angle of the rear differential pinion. Get an angle
finder from a hardware store. Rotate the drive shaft so that the slip
yoke arms are vertically aligned and measure the front-rear slope of the
flat surface on the lower yoke arm. Then put your angle finder on the
back edge of the rear differential housing to get the pinion angle.

The t-case angle can be increased by lowering the t-case cross member.
Support it with a jack and insert spacers (washers will work) on the
four bolts, between cross member and frame. The rear pinion angle can be
increased by inserting shims between spring and perch. In addition to
matching the angles, dropping the t-case and/or raising the rear pinion
have the additional desirable effect of reducing the relative angle of
the drive shaft itself.

Other things you might need to consider if you go 3.5": longer slip yoke
and drop pitman arm. With my 4.5" lift, the rear drive shaft would bind
in the crotch of the slip yoke when the vehicle was on the hoist and the
rear end was hanging at full extent. To prevent this from happening on
the trail (nasty) I could have spent $50 on the RE1822 long slip yoke.
Instead, I ground out a small bevel on each side of the yoke so the
shaft could turn free at full drop. Easy. As for the pitman arm, I added
the RE2500 to my kit to improve the steering linkage angles. It might
help on a 3.5" lift too.

Good luck,

Steve
90 XJ: 4.5" RE lift, OME Nitro, 33x10.50 BFG MT, D30/4.10, D35C/4.11