JeepcoMJ

3.4 liter is the only one that actually bolts in directly. 3800 and 4.3 take ALOT of mods to put in.

I'm going to work, so I don't have much time to dick with this. basically that bracket set DOESN'T FIT RIGHT.

as for my *theory* about RC adjustable control arms... is it ideal? no. is it better than drop brackets? ride-wise, no...trail-wise, yes. is it better than longarms? no. longarms are the biggest improvement you can make on the ride, flex, and overall performance of our unibody vehicles BTW, this isn't *theory*. it's pretty much what I'm running, save a few mods they were cheap, functional. they actually flex way more than you would think. so much so that with 6.5" of lift and trimmed fenders, I was able to wreck a good set of 33x10.50's by flexing them into the fenders and cutting straight to the belts. I just bent my front axle offroading (that was fun BTW) and so I'm trussing up a new one. at the same time, I am removing some of the angle of the short arms by relocating the axle-side control arm mounts up by 2.5". at the same time, I'm also raising the coil buckets by 1". that will cut my operating angles down (albeit minorly) to the angle of a 5" lift, while giving me around 7.5" of lift. remember, my aftermarket adjustable arms are longer than your factory arms so my angle is less severe then yours...thus it is a better ride quality. add my nice edelbrock remote reservoir shocks on (cost was $270 for all 4, but it is normally $239/shock. love those closeout deals!), and I don't hardly feel the negative effects of short arms even at 6.5" operating angles. putting together a lift kit is all about asking questions, and understanding concepts properly...then shopping around instead of buying the first thing you see

as james750 says control arms control rearward/forward forces, trackbar controls side to side force, and the shocks/coils control upward/downward force. when working together, they're making a smooth ride. I have not and never will install anything from Rocky Road. I (sorry to say this but...unlike you) have done many modifications to cherokees/comanches, and recognize chintzy crap lifts when I see them...rough country is the cheapest lift I would go, but to be honest I would go with Rubicon express any day of the week if I could afford it. BTW, my front coils came off of a previous project but cost me $100 new (know RC dealer...got at his cost less as a scratch was on it) control arms I bought new...$300 shipped. spoke directly to jason @ RC and he gave me a paying naxja member discount track bar I bought used...RE with heim upper joint for $60 brake lines (front and rear) were $70 all told. asked for a discount at advance, and they gave me a discount RC shocks I bought the front ones for $70, rear were free from a local jeeper. I've since upgraded to a set of edelbrock extreme remote IAC shocks which were $270 shipped spring perches I got from a jeeper for $5 used a set of chryco 8.25 cherokee rear spring plates for my dana 44, they were free from my scrap pile ubolts were $38 swaybar discos were used RC discos from 89eliminator...$20. IDK what I'm running now...I took them out because they got worn and loud so now there's just a set of nondisco RC's in it which I will modify that's $665 for the original lift, and with the new shocks it's $935. Mind you however that the RC coils and front shocks were used on a previous project which I sold for more than I had invested, so that negates $170 worth of cost. seems like I'm ahead of the game...

james, don't steal my thunder. I AM trying to be a fool :thumbsup: :rotfl2: mnkyboy, your geometry is way wrong. bending a long arm is going to do nothing but gain you ground clearance. the point of a long arm is that the mounting points (let's call them A...axle side, and B....body side) are further apart than with the factory short arms. the point of a control arm (other than keeping the axle on and centered) is to transfer road forces from point A to point B. the goal is to transfer it back along the frame rails, rather than up into them. at stock height to mild lift (mild being less than 2"), they do this fairly well. however, as lift increases, they act in the opposite way of what they were designed for...i.e. transfering road forces from A to B and up into the frame rail rather than back along it. this makes for a bumpy ride. the reason that you want road forces transferred rearward, is that the entire length of the frame rail takes the stress. by the whole frame taking stress, less forces are sent directly up and into the driver area, which makes the bumps less noticeable. there are no differences in the transfer of road forces from point A to point B in a bent vs. straight long arm. as stated, the only benefit is ground clearance. long arms decrease the angle from point A to point B and allow transfer of said road forces to flow as it is supposed to...back along the frame rail, not up as for piecing together a lift... RC 6.5" coils run roughly $130 to $160, depending on how good you are at getting deals, what kind of sales they are having, etc. RC fully adjustable 4.5" to 6.5" upper and lower control arms run $350 to most, but again, depending on how well you know people, you can get them for $300. RC adjustable 6.5" track bar is right around $120. again, same thing as the previous two 1995 YJ front brake hoses (quite a bit longer than stock) are $50 early 90's dodge dakota rear brake hose is around $25 spring perches around $25 Ubolts around $40 having perches welded is around $50, but free/case of beer if you know a cool local who can do it for rear shocks you can re-use your factory rear shock plates, modified to be between the spring perch and the spring (of course you will need a longer center bolt for your rear springs, to keep it from hopping). this allows you to retain stock rear shocks....not ideal, but easy to upgrade to a different mounting system at a later date. the spring plate to go above the rear springs can be had out of any cherokee at the junkyard for next to nothing, or free from someone like me with tons of parts...I'm sure you have a local or someone closer to you who can accomodate RC front shocks are around $70 to $100 depending on which ones you get so that puts us at $884 at most, and the kit is DONE on the first try. no real need (other than addiction) to alter it. it's complete, finished, with every aspect of the lift taken account for. The only upgrade from here that should be done is extended bumpstops and maybe a better rear shock setup in the future. However, it will ride well enough and be perfectly useable. So, you're at $650 with perfectly functional rear SOA bolt-on plates (as stated, functional but less than ideal), a set of shocks, I'm guessing a track bar, front coils, and brake hoses? ... for another $234 you could have been done already. you're gonna dump another $250 into control arm drops and have yet another thing to hang on. not to mention that the only place which makes braces for MJ drop brackets produces braces and brackets that don't even fit right, and have poor customer service. *shrug* to each his own....but from those of us who have been there, done that, it sure is nice having about $300 invested in a 6.5" lift using a little time, inginuity, and some cheap, used parts.

if you don't have the access to a welder, then you will want to stick with a comanche rear axle. frankly though, your best bet is a 97 or 98+ cherokee 8.25 rear end. get the proper perches for it, position them, and since you can't tac-weld them just braze the corners in then remove the axle and bring it to a local welder....they will weld it for less than $50. an 8.25 is an upgrade from a dana 35. IIRC it's 97 or 98+ that uses 29 spline axle shafts, making it roughly as strong as a dana 44. they're also more likely to be 3.55 gears than not.

longarms only screw up your geometry if you're an idiot who couldn't design them to have proper operating angles. longarms take road forces, which at stock height push back on the frame but with short arms and a lift push UP on the frame, and set them back to factory characteristics. they make for better handling, a more comfortable ride, more flexibility. based off of your ignorance of longarms as well, I'm going to completely blow off everything you've said about RRO.....you have no idea what you are talking about. moral of the story, don't buy RRO regardless. it's not a complete kit, what it lacks is what you need the most, and what it has you can buy for cheaper and better. I know of only one person who is happy with RRO....mnkyboy

yes, I have. the factory lower shock bracket hangs down too low. it's one of the first things I toss, every time I work on a wheeling rig.

turn the key to the on position and have someone wiggle the steering wheel while you're looking underneath....I'm betting that the trackbar TRE upper or rubber lower joint is loose. otherwise, it could be any of the tie rod ends on your drag link or tie rod, or ball joints. the tie rod ends can be tested via the same method as above, but the ball joints you just grab the wheels by the top of the wheel and shake them back and forth. if there is play, then chances are that's your issue. the ball joint test could also show bad wheel bearings up front. you may have a spindle type wheel bearing, but all of my 2wd 86's actually used 4wd hubs with stub shafts in them (stub shafts are necessary to keep it together btw) after that, how are your tires? old? worn? worn funny? are they balanced out?....all things to look for. and if none of that is it, check your driveshaft ujoints for play.

God, is there anything he doesn't have? Only person in the world lucky enough to fall upon an ultra rare renault diesel on the side of the road, AND pay only $75 for it. :roll: Lucky sonofa... :fs1: Rob L. ;) i don't have that, and never seen them. the stock 98+ exhaust manifolds do split tho, and I have a set of those. but they're no good for true duals because they aren't tubed to the proper firing order....the 98+ just has two up-streem cats in the y-pipe.

the bolt-on kit's lower plate, which goes under the factory SUA perch, hangs down a TON compared to 2 mere ubolts with a welded on SOA perch. trust me, weld-on is better hands down and cheaper. you went with what you could....but that by no means means that it was the best option (longarms are best option btw IMHO....but out of most people's reach $$$-wise)

cherokee rear axle to comanche rear requires perches welded on as cherokees are SOA and comanches are SUA from factory. the spring width is also different so the perches on an xj axle are nowhere near close enough to bolt to a comanche

couple of things about your point mmkyboy 1. stock comanche rear proportioning valves are JUNK. toss it. 2. the ebrake lines are long enough, just get some longer bolts and some short chunks of conduit to drop the body side bracket down if you think you must. 3. rear brake hose is $23 4. spring perches...$20, but potentially less 5. U bolts $7.85 each...qty 4 6. angle finding gauge $8 but potentially less 7. welded professionally after you tac-weld and (carefully) drive it into be full welded...$25 so that puts me at maybe $90 at most. that's with all new parts....I usually just drop the brake hose mount using scrap steel, already have the gauge, and make my own spring perches out of 2x2, which I have free scrap chunks of. only thing I really see as necessity is new ubolts. some time involved (not much) and a welder goes a long way towards making a 100% bullet-proof setup. it is superior to a bolt on kit in most every way

i could care less if it's got bolts or u-bolts. point is, it is not near as good of quality as something that costs half as much, and you don't lose ground clearance by doing the SOA properly either. Some people do things like slip-yoke eliminators as well, and I can tell you now that your "bolt-on" kit WILL NOT work with an SYE. the angle will be wrong. this is why weld-on is better. it's cheaper, higher quality, less likely to fail, and allows for the EXACT pinion angle that you need.

yeah, but it does NOTHING for proper pinion angle. you also should be constantly checking torque on your ubolts as it's not tight. you're relying solely on 4 ubolts to hold 3 pieces of steel that are under constant stress together. not grade A quality in my book. so, $200 for bolt on SOA or $60 for a proper SOA setup using long spring perches which also eliminate axle-wrap, and that includes having a local professional welder weld it for you. from what I have heard, their front lift kit parts are, from what I've gathered, less than superior fabrication with poor fit and finish. try rough country, rubicon express, etc. but stay away from rusty's for the same reasons. I'd also not suggest motion offroad, or at the very least I would research the lift kit parts that adam at MO. includes, and be aware that they are not motion offroad products but a combination of parts from different manufacturers.

cruise control computer. same part 84 through 94

4 cyl auto is either 3.73, 4.10, or 4.56 gears. 4 cyl 4 speed is 3.55 or 3.73 gears 4 cyl 5 speed is 4.10 gears with possibility of 3.73's or 3.55's.

nice! I have one of those too! ....except, mine is aftermarket. but it's on a brand new motor too :P

I agree. no tears shed on my part.

and your 177 posts here makes you an expert on the subject? I've stripped more than 15 cherokees and comanches, and saved the dashes from over half of them, and they all had sun-faded paint so I guess the dashes should have cracked? Sorry, but I completely disagree. I've only seen a few dashes that were to that point of cracking. ironically, the vehicles they were in weren't sun-faded.

it didn't fall apart until someone used a power tool on it. that damage looks like the blade got stuck and the sawzall kept moving, jabbint into the blade. anyways 87comanchelb....you're really being a jerk. just because the truck doesn't look all shiny and new doesn't mean that it's not in good shape. yes, sun fades paint. yes, it causes dashes to become brittle. but if it is not cracked before it was worked on, and is when it's done being worked on, it is the person who did the works fault.

87, you're wrong. let's put it this way... my 86 comanche looked nice before it got smashed into. it no longer looks nice. and because it wasn't my fault, the other people should have had to pay for it. I see no difference between my scenario with the 86, and the scenario with his dash. fact of matter is yes, it is old. but it looks nice. who are you to say that it looks now as it should have then. that doesn't make any sense.

87comanchelb, I disagree with you as well. there are members here with plenty of spare dashes/parts xj's who'd be happy to give him a dash for little to nothing....and then walk him through a proper install. so why would he want to make any "deal" with them. aemsee, I think you underestimate the likelihood of a mechanic being willing to put a lien on a title.

I disagree it is a rare vehicle, and no matter whether or not it was "ready to go", it had not, in fact, "gone" by that point in time. the owner of the vehicle did not cause it to "go", someone else did....and that someone else was doing a job that had NOTHING to do with being inside the vehicle with a sawzall and attachment. the guy was obviously in a hurry and didn't care too much. to use that windshield blade and sawzall requires one to cut the top and sides first, then pull up on the windshield and cut the bottom....which can be done without getting in the vehicle at all. that said, there's ZERO reason for the owner to just bend over and take it.