Not your usual Cherokee (XJ) expo build

[poischis]

Keep the moabs (best looking stock wheel eveerrrrr), there's something about a stock wheels that really speak to me and sell the MTR and buy an other set of tires, just my ,02.

 

[irish1371]

one thing to keep in mind as far as tires go, the interco's are freaking heavy for their size. This will be a trade off between gas mileage vs toughness. They ate into the gas on my LJ by a good bit

 

[Chi-Town]

The 16x9 weighs in at 24lbs each but the Falken's are a little lighter than most tires that size so I figured it should even out, hopefully.

I have a few other wheel options but I liked the features the bird dog has to offer like the bead retention ring cast into the barrel.

 

[Philagony04WJ]

My $0.02 on those "boomerang shackles". Dont even bother. Since this is a DD and expo based vehicle, go with some HD offroad shackle boxes and slightly longer shackles to get your desired height. Those boxes are pure BEEF and you can set your shackle angle to get the soft ride you are looking for.

www.hdoffroadengineering.com

 

[Chi-Town]

I have looked at them but since the OME leafs have a almost stock eye to eye length I figured the the adjustability was a little over kill for my small lift. Also I have a Detours Tail Bone and a Hitch on the way and was concerned that this may interfere. My thoughts on the RE shackles was to give just a little extra flattening ability to the leaf without hitting the unibody. I may take some measurements once the leafs arrive to see if these may be a better option for me.

 

[Chi-Town]

It was a fairly productive weekend. I installed the JKS Super ACOS and the Rubicon Express Boomerang Rear Shackes and it was quite the learning experience.First up were the JKS ACOS. I picked these because I was looking for the ability to adjust the height of the front end depending on load without having to mess around with spacers and such. I decided on the ones with the hydraulic bump stop over the standard units because of the experience I had in Johnson Valley where the "whoops" are constant and really beat up the standard style foam bump stops.


Next post for more pics.

 

[Chi-Town]

Here it is all buttoned up with about 6 hours invested.

Here is the difference between the stock front spring cushion and the ACOS

The rear was easy simply a parts swap.

Be sure you trim the rear bumper bolt where it protrudes through the spring box so you don't end up with a clunking noise over bumps.

The rear shackles added about 1.5" to the rear height
The Front ACOS system added about 1.75" to the front height but due to saggy front OEM springs I ended up with Jeep with a slight rake forward .

I have my front OME springs but my rear OME leafs are still in transit. so I wasn't able to install them at the same time.
Because the lift was under 2" and I'm not going off road soon I am still on stock JK shocks but I will be doing some research to see what will fit my needs in the realm of dampening.

 

[future rs]

I would recommend bilstein's. 5100 are decent. Depending on your use and desire to build the jeep up, the 5165 series are amazing in my opinion. amazing on and off road with remote reservoirs and they are rebuildable.

 

[Chi-Town]

I do love Bilsteins and have used them for many years. I'm leaning towards an adjustable for the same reason I went with the ACOS, varying loads and uses require different dampening so right now my choices are pretty much King and Fox. I'm thinking King simply because their shop is 15 minutes away from me if I need the valving changed or anything repaired.

 

[Chi-Town]

New wheels and tires. JK snow wheels powder coated white with 255/75/17 BFG Mud T/A KM.

 

[Morticon]

Looking good! cant believe how big the 17s look on the xj.

 

[Chi-Town]

Thanks, yeah me either, I think the white makes them look larger.

 

[91AzXJ]

Just for the record, I had the BFG's before going to the Falken's and while the BFG's wear like iron, they also get hard as rocks after a few years. The Falken's have proven to be a great all around tire with the exception of slick clay.

 

[Chi-Town]

Yeah budget wise these fit the bill for the moment but the mpg factor and road manners will probably lead me to swap to the falkens.

 

[SoCalMonty]

Looking good so far! I greatly prefer A/T to M/T, but they should get you where you need to go just the same. Interested to see what you come up with for cargo/storage solutions. Limited space was one of the downfalls of my old XJ, so it got replaced with something larger. I see you're local too!