new guy, advise on build

[micahtbyrd]

Hi I am new here and I am looking for some help with my build. I have a 98 XJ with 2inch lift, 31inch rubber, SYE, 8.25 rear and 30 in the front, stock gears, 231 Tcase, stock shocks, tcase skid, discos, no rear sway, rear hitch, and other odd and ends. I have a gas tank skid in the works hopefully get it fabed up sometime before summer, as well as new front and rear bumpers.

Thats pretty much the mods, I don't do much hardcore rock crawling, mostly weekend trips between missouri, and ohio, to take pictures, explore, and antique shop. I currently live in Missouri, finishing my secondary ed degree in history. My wife an I are interested in some longer weekend trips to explore and take pictures, and such before we have kids, and settle down.

So I have a small budget o work with and this site has been a great help to my build so far. so give me you advise and help. thanks so much Micah.

 

[Grim Reaper]

First off Welcome to the Forum.

As for the truck. Its a good foundation with a lot of aftermarket.

Really what you have already done is a pretty good start. Unlike rockcrawling bigger is not always better. Xj's being unit body start ripping mounts loose when you put a lot of lift on them. The Trackbar being the big problem. The low lift you have should limit or eliminate any issues with that. Start looking around and seeing what others have had problems with and what they did to fix or prevent them on your model truck. Its always better to be proactive on common problems.

Some rocker and under body protection would be something to look at. A winch is always nice item but if budget is a concern then a hand winch and HiLift will do the job in most cases just at a much slower rate.

Where you are is really just making the truck a little more comfortable and organized.

I would start exploring some navigation options such as GPS if you don't already have one. Communications is something to look at as well. On the Eastern US you can usually get to a high point and get out on a Cell phone with a reasonable hike. Not so out west so you might want to concider satellite phone or getting into a "Ham" set up where you can communicate long distance.

After that look into organizing options that keeps things easy to get at but easily secured. Make it very passive so you don't get lazy and stop doing it. In the event of a roll you don't want your gear to become the thing that injures or kills you. If you are not planning on sleeping in the truck then a storage draw system would be a good start. Easy to organize and passive to use so your gear is always secured.

Start thinking about how long you plan to be out and what sort of needs you will have. Things like water needs like Bathing and drinking water, food storage and prep. Then plan your storage system around that and the gear needed. As always try to keep the weight low and between the axles. If you have no need for rear seat passengers then a water tank mounted on the floor behind the front seats would be an option. Then a deck over it for storage.

Looks around and do some searches. Key words and terms like "sleeping platform", "storage drawer", "XJ", "Cherokee" etc will pull up hundreds of posts and ideas others have had and executed.

 

[micahtbyrd]

thanks for the help. should I think about gears in the future i currently have 3.55 gears with 31's. new shocks and control arms are on my list too. I def need some storage so I will start looking at others builds. thanks.

 

[Grim Reaper]

thanks for the help. should I think about gears in the future i currently have 3.55 gears with 31's. new shocks and control arms are on my list too. I def need some storage so I will start looking at others builds. thanks.

As weight goes up it is certainly something to concider. What is the stock size tire? 1-2 inches over stock with the I6 is usually not a big deal on that truck. As I recall that truck came with a tire that was close to 29. Should be OK for a while.

 

[micahtbyrd]

stock size was 225/75/15 Its not too bad right now, a little bit of down shifting on hills. My reason for also thinking about gears is if I ever wanted more lift and a larger tire size i would need lower gears. Will 31 inch tires get me most of the places every one else gets or should i plan to upgrade later.

 

[cnskate]

I've heard that 31's are the point at which regearing is a good idea, and that's why I have 30's For an expedition type vehicle versus a rock crawler, I think smaller tires are more appropriate because of reliability issues. You put a lot of strain on the drivetrain etc with bigger tires. If you can afford to upgrade axles and steering then go for it, I guess. It depends on where you need to go. I'd get better shocks like OME definitely, and maybe a selectable locker if you are looking to spend $$.

 

[micahtbyrd]

Thanks OME shocks are a good idea, thanks for all the help.