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?
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.
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