Rustys is awesome, on my 02 TJ i have the long arms and rx 300 shocks, springs and wow, what an awesome ride on and off the road, i never had to connect my front sway bar since installing the Rustys suspension!!, support is awesome, I also called with questions and spoke to Rusty, didnt ask for him when they transferred me to tech support he answered the phone...installed it all in my garage over a weekend...no welding....if you can drill, grind and turn a wrench you can do this too!!!!
Sounds like a great setup! We never reconnected the swaybar on the XJ either. Rusty and his team have the best customer service we have ever experienced.
Can't say I'm a big fan of radius arms, but if they work for ya, they work for ya. The few things I have ordered from Rusty's (their trail bumper where the winch is hidden and a transfer case skid) have been top notch. I'm at 6.5 inches now but you guys have me wanting to go to 8/8.5 and run 37's, although I won't be going past 4.56.
Josh B the radius arms work well for me. This jeep is my daily driver. I have a backup truck in my driveway in case I break the jeep while wheeling I can still get to work but yes I daily the jeep and it works great. I love the 8 inch lift and 37s one thing though I'm running jk axles so im 5 inches wider than most xj's and I honestly love it. It does great. I thought 8 inches and 37s would be to tall but it's not. I wheel it a lot and I'm not at all worried about the height. Watch our other Moab videos to see how it performs, our latest, the Kane creek video has some great action in it.
One can build a dc 1310 shaft in about 20 minutes for $30 that includes the front jeep shaft from parts yard and few bucks In dom tube re sleeve to length ... I like the wj dc shaft it is usually 1.75 of tube it cuts and slips tightly into 2.0 .120 dom and runs true enough not to vibe without final balance , which I find pointless on a crawler where the shaft hits rocks and can't possibly remain 100% true anyway .
I always suggest things from Rusty's to people I got to do is to research you and Rubicon Express have been around the longest making stuff for xjs if either company made garbage they wouldn't have survived every Rusty part I bought has been Top Notch love it and I bought a used Rubicon Express track bar once it was awesome too really appreciate having some really good quality part makers out there and stand behind their stuff and make really good quality parts that don't cost an arm and three legs
Yall men are great..awsome info and insight..definitely thinking about replacing upper/lower control arms with rustys stuff..got Rubicon express now ..not crazy aboit their arm bushings
Yea there are easier options out there, but the higher you go, the more components you add, and anytime long arms are included, the complexity goes up. We still enjoy the lift and how it performs. Hope you do to.
@@SWActiveExplorers I'm used to motorcycles and muscle cars never lifted anything before but did it in a couple weekends with a floor Jack and some 4x4 blocks 😂 I'll have to post an after video on my channel after a bit
Thank you. The rims are desert rat brand rims and the tires are Cooper stt pros. We just recently finished the rear end of this build. We outfitted it with a Rusty’s gas tank skid, we did a cut and fold using the Rusty’s cut and fold panels, and we finished it off with the Rusty’s high clearance cut and fold rear bumper. We are really impressed with how it turned out. We will be doing a walk around video soon so be sure to subscribe to see that or check it out on our Instagram.
Okay I have a question what is your cruising speed with us for 88 and I'm 37 and FYI you still can get better deal and driveshaft then what you pay for
Yes, we did a slip yoke eliminator and a drive shaft. Anything about 4" or more on an XJ typically requires that. Rustys Off Road has a package deal for the SYE and drive shaft that's a pretty good deal.
Where did you get the vents for your hood? I gotta get some heat outta my engine bay too. Sweet lift man, I hope to be runnin 7s before too long. 33s are only cool for a little while
hooah69er I made the hood vents myself. Just made a paper template of the shape we wanted, cut it out of the hood, put rubber trim molding from auto zone on the edges, and cut out some extruded metal a little bigger than the hole and weld it to the back side of the hood and paint it black. I like them, it works ok. Could have gone a little bigger. It seems to work some. I will say I'm not excited about all the water that goes in when it rains. I love the 37s by the way. We went straight from stock to on 37s and I'm so glad I did it. If i had gone 35s I would have been disappointed.
Right on. I like the shape of em. I'm honestly just thinkin of doin the same thing. I'll go buy some magnetic sheet before I do though! I had worried about the water issue. Never in Arizona.lol but, livin here in Colorado we seem to get plenty of it.. I think I'm gonna go 4.88s as well for when I go 37s. I'm keepin a 15" rim though so I'll hopefully keep a somewhat soft ride
Depends... if you plan on a ton of highway driving, maybe. How heavy is the jeep? (Body armor, skids) does the jeep still have the stock axles in it? If so, I wouldn't go any higher that a 4.88 the pinion gear gets really small with 5.13 & 5.38s. We run 4.88 in the XJ with 37s and it cruises the highway pretty well. If you wanna do some serious or technical crawling I'd go with 4.88s with your 35s. Otherwise, 4.56 is a great all around combo.
@@SWActiveExplorers right now the jeep is stock. I’m in the middle of putting IRO Long Arm Rock Link on. It a 97 2-Door Sport with Auto and 8.25. Okay, I’ll probably be going with 4.56 for an all around great combo.👍 Thanks for your help!
No worries and good luck with the build! I had a 97 TJ with the 4.0 and 5 speed manual. Regeared it to 4.56 with 35s and it was a sweet all around combo.
It came with shims but we didnt need them. It also helped I did an axle swap and welded the perches on myself so I was able to angle them properly. You dont need much though.
The jk rear 44 is coil sprung so you need to put leaf spring mounts on it and you need to change the pinion yoke. Also the jk axles are 5 inches wider so id do both front and rear at the same time.
It is a Dana 30 out of a JK. The JK Dana 30 is stronger than what was in the XJ. The JK axle has a larger ring and pinion and is all around built better. From there it had sleeves put in the axle tubes, a truss installed, C gussets, lower control arm skids, and upgraded ball joints. It also has an E locker and 4:88 gears. And lastly we did the smart driver mod installation. If anything binds up we let off and try another line, if it starts hopping we let off and try another line. Overall it's worked great for us.
Awesome and good luck with the build. Obviously one ton axles are the way to go if you can find them and have the coin. We came across the JK axles for a very good deal and couldn't pass it up, so we went with them as an upgrade.
Dakota Ortiz I do, I run 10 psi regularly. I just didn't air down that day because we only went it for an hour to get the shots needed for the video. I didn't want to waste co2 on airing back up after that.
Gotta risk it to get the biscuit. Nah man, with everything I swapped the stuff I had wasn't gonna work for one so I'd have to fabricate mounts and just never got around to it. It's in a box in the garage somewhere. Just never felt like it.
Hello I’m in the process of swapping jk dana 44s in to my xj. I’ve already got the front done now just need to swap the rear hopefully in the next week or 2. Any advice on how to get my measurements and calculations for the new leaf spring perches to have the axle centered correctly. This is the only part I’m questioning myself. As I don’t want screw up and the spring perches not centered correctly. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated on how to go about figuring out the measurements to properly center rear axle with new spring perches. Thanks again.
The rear end is the easiest part. Ideally you've got the old axle as a template. Measure how far apart the spring pearches are on the old axle. Set the new perches that far apart. You can also temp install the springs and let them hang and verify that measurement looks roughly correct. Now to center them choose a known point on both sides like the brake disk or a bracket. Measure in from that point to your perch on both sides. Shift them side to side until it's the same length. Then Measure from one perch to the other to reverify they are the same width as what you had on the old axle. Now your in the ball park. Mark the axle and hold them in place with magnets and you can move on to setting how the perches are clocked which is pretty easy to do. During this process you can set the axle under the jeep and springs and mock things up and Measure a bunch. Measure as many times as it takes to be confident, no such thing as over measuring. Hope that helps. Feel free to comment more if you have more questions.
I owned a Cherokee with a 4.5” rough country long arm kit that I didn’t take care of at all the the jam but came loose on the control arm so bad to the point where it actually ripped the threads out of the control arm and the whole kit fell apart. Never again.
Rusty's off road, tell them SW Active Explorers sent you. www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-suspension/jeep-suspension-lift-kits/xj-cherokee-84-01-jeep-suspension-lift-kits/rustys-xj-cherokee-8-long-travel-kit.html
It's got the factory 4 liter which is completely stock. With gearing it's enough. My driving style is more that of crawling. I honestly believe if I had a stronger engine and a heavier foot that I would break more parts so it balances out pretty well. If it binds up or starts hoping I normally stop and try another line instead of pushing it harder.
I cant speak for a WJ as I've never had one but please feel free to analyze the videos of the XJ for proof. The 4:88 gears certainly contribute to that.
If you’re only going up to a 35” y’all tire, we would recommend the 6.5” lift. Any higher and the Jeep will look like it skipped leg day. We daily drive this XJ as it is and have even taken it on long highway trips. It drives just fine.
What axles are you running to handle those 37 13.50 tires? I have 35 12.50 stt pro tires and with a front locker the stock steering gear is lacking without hydro assist. I'd love some 37s tho
SW Active Explorers Ohh.. That makes sense! Those Jk axles are beefier. Even the stock d30 Jk axle is stronger than the xj. Not by much, but like you said, the pinion is larger.
Nice shades guys.!! Did you two go buy them together? It totally looks like you should be skiing.!!! Not wheeling.!! Jeep looks great, can't say the same about you two.! Those fucking ridiculous shades...lol 😂😂
We love our shades. Bought them for each other, at the same time. We don’t ski either, that’s for old folks and dudes who like other dudes. Glad you like the Jeep, lucky for you our videos feature it more than our ugly mugs.
@@SWActiveExplorers That was an awesome way to react lol... A lot of people really care about your sunglasses. I thought I was watching a lift review. Great video!
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 76 | คู่เอก "ผึ้งหลวง vs สมิงดำ"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9SBshmGQOIM/mqdefault.jpg)
Rustys is awesome, on my 02 TJ i have the long arms and rx 300 shocks, springs and wow, what an awesome ride on and off the road, i never had to connect my front sway bar since installing the Rustys suspension!!, support is awesome, I also called with questions and spoke to Rusty, didnt ask for him when they transferred me to tech support he answered the phone...installed it all in my garage over a weekend...no welding....if you can drill, grind and turn a wrench you can do this too!!!!
Sounds like a great setup! We never reconnected the swaybar on the XJ either. Rusty and his team have the best customer service we have ever experienced.
Great video made me change my mind on what I wanted to do with my 2001 xj .
Glad you enjoyed the video!
I’ve been looking into a long arm kit for my 01 XJ. Thanks for the review, looks like a solid kit.
Can't say I'm a big fan of radius arms, but if they work for ya, they work for ya. The few things I have ordered from Rusty's (their trail bumper where the winch is hidden and a transfer case skid) have been top notch.
I'm at 6.5 inches now but you guys have me wanting to go to 8/8.5 and run 37's, although I won't be going past 4.56.
Josh B the radius arms work well for me. This jeep is my daily driver. I have a backup truck in my driveway in case I break the jeep while wheeling I can still get to work but yes I daily the jeep and it works great. I love the 8 inch lift and 37s one thing though I'm running jk axles so im 5 inches wider than most xj's and I honestly love it. It does great. I thought 8 inches and 37s would be to tall but it's not. I wheel it a lot and I'm not at all worried about the height. Watch our other Moab videos to see how it performs, our latest, the Kane creek video has some great action in it.
This was a great help for me in making a decision on who to go with. Awesome video I will be going with Rusty’s
Thanks for watching! We are still enjoying all the rustys products.
YOO this is so cool! Yeah it’s 4 years later but I have a 5” lift kit not a long arm. But I live in ABQ too!
Small world man!
Was gonna buy the 8” skyjacker but I totally just changed my mind thank you!
We are still loving our kit after years of use. Good luck with the build!
SW Active Explorers do you gues have an Instagram? Would love you show you a picture when it’s done!
We sure do. Its SW Active Explorers on Instagram as well.
Must agree Rusty's customers service is the best have zero Complaints
Have a drink everytime he says "amazing".
Its the end of the video.... I'm drunk
Good review...and,.thanks for your service.
Thank you!
and anyone watching this... when its over i promise you COULD not be happier with the results.
Thanks Moza! We are still enjoying the lift to this day.
Could not be happier right? 😂
What degree shims were used in the rear ?
One can build a dc 1310 shaft in about 20 minutes for $30 that includes the front jeep shaft from parts yard and few bucks In dom tube re sleeve to length ... I like the wj dc shaft it is usually 1.75 of tube it cuts and slips tightly into 2.0 .120 dom and runs true enough not to vibe without final balance , which I find pointless on a crawler where the shaft hits rocks and can't possibly remain 100% true anyway .
Great job, guys! Thanks!
I always suggest things from Rusty's to people I got to do is to research you and Rubicon Express have been around the longest making stuff for xjs if either company made garbage they wouldn't have survived every Rusty part I bought has been Top Notch love it and I bought a used Rubicon Express track bar once it was awesome too really appreciate having some really good quality part makers out there and stand behind their stuff and make really good quality parts that don't cost an arm and three legs
Yall men are great..awsome info and insight..definitely thinking about replacing upper/lower control arms with rustys stuff..got Rubicon express now ..not crazy aboit their arm bushings
+Adam Taft Thanks! Rusty’s will have what you need for sure. We run their arms with flex joints and love them.
Cool thanks
Love the Xj! Come wheel with us! Love the setup!
I havw a rustys 3 inch it is a sturdy nice kit.
I bent the hell out of their longarm lowers on my xj. Both were bent after a summer of wheeling rocks.
Gonna have to hand it to ya there. 2" .250 wall DOM is hard to bend. You must have really hammered them.
Was there a sale on cheesy glasses at auto zone?
I fucking love your comment. I was thinking along the same lines as you. Lol 😂
They both got cheesy glasses. The little guy glassea are cheezier.
Amazing
Putting this lift on now kinda a pain in a driveway but doable
Yea there are easier options out there, but the higher you go, the more components you add, and anytime long arms are included, the complexity goes up. We still enjoy the lift and how it performs. Hope you do to.
@@SWActiveExplorers I'm used to motorcycles and muscle cars never lifted anything before but did it in a couple weekends with a floor Jack and some 4x4 blocks 😂 I'll have to post an after video on my channel after a bit
Anything over 3 you need a slip yoke
How match Kit attached Jeep Cherokee
Surprised you don't have a steering box brace iorn man 4x4 has one that seems to work great
I do, I must have forgot to mention it. I have a Rusty's Off Road steering gearbox brace with my lift.
Can you just tack the jam nuts to the arms once everything is set or is that not recommended?
Yea I never thought of that but yea if a guy really had to I don't see why not.
Where in NM are y'all? I'm in El Paso.
We are located in Albuquerque, NM.
Nice rims and tires..what rear bumper plans you guys have?
Thank you. The rims are desert rat brand rims and the tires are Cooper stt pros. We just recently finished the rear end of this build. We outfitted it with a Rusty’s gas tank skid, we did a cut and fold using the Rusty’s cut and fold panels, and we finished it off with the Rusty’s high clearance cut and fold rear bumper. We are really impressed with how it turned out. We will be doing a walk around video soon so be sure to subscribe to see that or check it out on our Instagram.
Are you guys cold lol Nice video
Great video guy👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸
+Chris Migl Thank you!
Did you guys swap axels or keep the 30 in the front and the 35 in the back?
It has a set of JK axles in it. It's a JK dana 30 front and JK dana 44 rear. We did a full walk around video as well you can check out.
Okay I have a question what is your cruising speed with us for 88 and I'm 37 and FYI you still can get better deal and driveshaft then what you pay for
Did you haft to get a longer drive shaft ?
Yes, we did a slip yoke eliminator and a drive shaft. Anything about 4" or more on an XJ typically requires that. Rustys Off Road has a package deal for the SYE and drive shaft that's a pretty good deal.
Where did you get the vents for your hood? I gotta get some heat outta my engine bay too. Sweet lift man, I hope to be runnin 7s before too long. 33s are only cool for a little while
hooah69er I made the hood vents myself. Just made a paper template of the shape we wanted, cut it out of the hood, put rubber trim molding from auto zone on the edges, and cut out some extruded metal a little bigger than the hole and weld it to the back side of the hood and paint it black. I like them, it works ok. Could have gone a little bigger. It seems to work some. I will say I'm not excited about all the water that goes in when it rains. I love the 37s by the way. We went straight from stock to on 37s and I'm so glad I did it. If i had gone 35s I would have been disappointed.
Right on. I like the shape of em. I'm honestly just thinkin of doin the same thing. I'll go buy some magnetic sheet before I do though! I had worried about the water issue. Never in Arizona.lol but, livin here in Colorado we seem to get plenty of it.. I think I'm gonna go 4.88s as well for when I go 37s. I'm keepin a 15" rim though so I'll hopefully keep a somewhat soft ride
Would 4.88 gears be too much for 35s?
Depends... if you plan on a ton of highway driving, maybe. How heavy is the jeep? (Body armor, skids) does the jeep still have the stock axles in it? If so, I wouldn't go any higher that a 4.88 the pinion gear gets really small with 5.13 & 5.38s. We run 4.88 in the XJ with 37s and it cruises the highway pretty well. If you wanna do some serious or technical crawling I'd go with 4.88s with your 35s. Otherwise, 4.56 is a great all around combo.
@@SWActiveExplorers right now the jeep is stock. I’m in the middle of putting IRO Long Arm Rock Link on. It a 97 2-Door Sport with Auto and 8.25. Okay, I’ll probably be going with 4.56 for an all around great combo.👍 Thanks for your help!
No worries and good luck with the build! I had a 97 TJ with the 4.0 and 5 speed manual. Regeared it to 4.56 with 35s and it was a sweet all around combo.
What degree shims in the rear were required for the 8" lift.
It came with shims but we didnt need them. It also helped I did an axle swap and welded the perches on myself so I was able to angle them properly. You dont need much though.
If I swap in the jk 44 axle do I have to mod anything else?
The jk rear 44 is coil sprung so you need to put leaf spring mounts on it and you need to change the pinion yoke. Also the jk axles are 5 inches wider so id do both front and rear at the same time.
Had it for a year... Now? You mean now, not earlier, not layer but now right?
Had it on the Jeep for one year at the time the video was posted.
what was done to the dana 30 to make it survive 37" tires?
It is a Dana 30 out of a JK. The JK Dana 30 is stronger than what was in the XJ. The JK axle has a larger ring and pinion and is all around built better. From there it had sleeves put in the axle tubes, a truss installed, C gussets, lower control arm skids, and upgraded ball joints. It also has an E locker and 4:88 gears. And lastly we did the smart driver mod installation. If anything binds up we let off and try another line, if it starts hopping we let off and try another line. Overall it's worked great for us.
@@SWActiveExplorers Cool. thanks for the reply. Looking to get a 96 to 99 xj soon. I am putting my "path" together now.
Awesome and good luck with the build. Obviously one ton axles are the way to go if you can find them and have the coin. We came across the JK axles for a very good deal and couldn't pass it up, so we went with them as an upgrade.
Why dont you air down your tires
Dakota Ortiz I do, I run 10 psi regularly. I just didn't air down that day because we only went it for an hour to get the shots needed for the video. I didn't want to waste co2 on airing back up after that.
Hey man, why no steering stabilizer?
Gotta risk it to get the biscuit. Nah man, with everything I swapped the stuff I had wasn't gonna work for one so I'd have to fabricate mounts and just never got around to it. It's in a box in the garage somewhere. Just never felt like it.
What about the front drive shaft? I went 8.5 long arm but the front drive shaft is almost come off.. U make the front drive shaft long ?
Stock front drive shaft. Never had any issues.
Thanks nice jeep btw
Hello I’m in the process of swapping jk dana 44s in to my xj. I’ve already got the front done now just need to swap the rear hopefully in the next week or 2.
Any advice on how to get my measurements and calculations for the new leaf spring perches to have the axle centered correctly. This is the only part I’m questioning myself. As I don’t want screw up and the spring perches not centered correctly. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated on how to go about figuring out the measurements to properly center rear axle with new spring perches. Thanks again.
The rear end is the easiest part. Ideally you've got the old axle as a template. Measure how far apart the spring pearches are on the old axle. Set the new perches that far apart. You can also temp install the springs and let them hang and verify that measurement looks roughly correct. Now to center them choose a known point on both sides like the brake disk or a bracket. Measure in from that point to your perch on both sides. Shift them side to side until it's the same length. Then Measure from one perch to the other to reverify they are the same width as what you had on the old axle. Now your in the ball park. Mark the axle and hold them in place with magnets and you can move on to setting how the perches are clocked which is pretty easy to do. During this process you can set the axle under the jeep and springs and mock things up and Measure a bunch. Measure as many times as it takes to be confident, no such thing as over measuring. Hope that helps. Feel free to comment more if you have more questions.
I owned a Cherokee with a 4.5” rough country long arm kit that I didn’t take care of at all the the jam but came loose on the control arm so bad to the point where it actually ripped the threads out of the control arm and the whole kit fell apart. Never again.
Where can I purchase this kit?
Rusty's off road, tell them SW Active Explorers sent you. www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-suspension/jeep-suspension-lift-kits/xj-cherokee-84-01-jeep-suspension-lift-kits/rustys-xj-cherokee-8-long-travel-kit.html
Dude where in NM? I grew up there.
What kind of engine are you running to pull 37s ???
It's got the factory 4 liter which is completely stock. With gearing it's enough. My driving style is more that of crawling. I honestly believe if I had a stronger engine and a heavier foot that I would break more parts so it balances out pretty well. If it binds up or starts hoping I normally stop and try another line instead of pushing it harder.
@@SWActiveExplorers I have a 99 wj 4.0 and don't know if it's possible to run 37s on a 4.0 ????
I cant speak for a WJ as I've never had one but please feel free to analyze the videos of the XJ for proof. The 4:88 gears certainly contribute to that.
would you daily a lift this high? lol cant decide weather to get the 8" or 6.5" i just wanna run 35's
If you’re only going up to a 35” y’all tire, we would recommend the 6.5” lift. Any higher and the Jeep will look like it skipped leg day. We daily drive this XJ as it is and have even taken it on long highway trips. It drives just fine.
I have 35s with a 4.5 inch lift and I don't rub (trimmed fenders of course)
I dd my xj 8.5in lift,35s,3 linked with no sway bars of any kind locked front and rear
What axles are you running to handle those 37 13.50 tires? I have 35 12.50 stt pro tires and with a front locker the stock steering gear is lacking without hydro assist. I'd love some 37s tho
Watupal I'm running jk axles, they have a larger ring and pinion which makes them stronger and I'm running 4:88 gears.
SW Active Explorers Ohh.. That makes sense! Those Jk axles are beefier. Even the stock d30 Jk axle is stronger than the xj. Not by much, but like you said, the pinion is larger.
Watupal I also did everything possible to beef up the axle, sleeves, truss, c gussets, lockers, chromolly axle shafts, ball joints.
SW Active Explorers nice. Plus the xj is probabaly 1000lbs lighter than a Jk so that should help
Dont they make a 12"?
Rusty’s doesn’t make anything larger than an 8” for the XJ
How much up travel on your rear axle? 3 inches or so? Thx
yes, roughly 3 inches.
Roger that, thanks. Your XJ seems to get around pretty with that, subscribed and been watching the vids. Good stuff!
what wheels you running
im running a set of 37x13.50x17 cooper discoverer stt pro's on a set of desert rattler moab str5's from desert rat
Don’t trust people that talk with their hands...
Or wear skiing shades while wheeling.!! 😂😂
Nice shades guys.!! Did you two go buy them together? It totally looks like you should be skiing.!!! Not wheeling.!! Jeep looks great, can't say the same about you two.! Those fucking ridiculous shades...lol 😂😂
We love our shades. Bought them for each other, at the same time. We don’t ski either, that’s for old folks and dudes who like other dudes. Glad you like the Jeep, lucky for you our videos feature it more than our ugly mugs.
@@SWActiveExplorers That was an awesome way to react lol... A lot of people really care about your sunglasses. I thought I was watching a lift review. Great video!
I call bullshit.
On?