XJ bodylift and other questions:

arupton

New Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Location
raleigh
hey guys, i have searched for this but cannot find any answers. please help:

first, i have heard you cannot get a body lift on a 88 cherokee b/c its solid frame, but i see them being sold, so which is it?

also, i have searched so dont flame me, i have searched and cannot find any decent write ups on fender cutting/mods. are there any on this site or other sites that show a good write up on it?
 
you CANNOT do a body lift on a Cherokee(xj), it is a uniframe. Now if it is the FULL SIZE one(FSJ), then yes, you can.
As for fender trimming/cutting, i know a friend that's done a few cherokees and would be glad to help, show you some pictures and what not. PM me if you'd like his email address.

i'm not a jeep guy, i just hang out with a bunch of them, so someone correct me if i am wrong
 
you are correct... XJs are unibodies... no body lift possible... unless you put the body on a frame of a different vehicle...

what you might be seeing is a budget boost or coil spacers....
you could search over at NAXJA.org for some pics of trimmed fenders....
 
hey guys, thanks for the posts......can you do a puck lift on an xj? is that what a 'budget lift' is? also, how would you go about doing a lift in the back if so?
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
you are correct... XJs are unibodies... no body lift possible... unless you put the body on a frame of a different vehicle...
what you might be seeing is a budget boost or coil spacers....
you could search over at NAXJA.org for some pics of trimmed fenders....
Click to expand...

WHAT! when did this happen?

for XJ information... give www.NAXJA.org a try.. It's your best bet.

Fender cutting.. up front really nothing to worry about... out back if you cut above the pinch seam you'll have a void. I cut as high as possible.. then did the "cut & fold" method after that to get another 3/4" or so...

There are different types of BB for XJ's out back:

Front = spacers
Rear = shackles OR blocks OR Add a Leafs
 
i feel dumb, but again, searched and couldnt find an answer: what is a pinch seam? also, what, if anything, does anyone know about "We Do Trucks" in raleigh. good/bad?

also, what would you do in reference to cutting upfront and leaving the wheel well plastic attached (or how do you keep it attached if youre chopping away?)

thanks again
 
Check out these forums, they'll have tons more XJ info.
Jeepforum.com
Jeepsunlimited.com
NAXJA.org
 
.

we do trucks is overpriced and does shotty work. its pretty much an autozone with several lifts in the back with highschool kids trying to put lift kits on between oil changes.
 
I cut my fenders and threw away the fender flares. for the front I cut an inch into the fender in about 5 places then rolled it under with a baseball bat. For the rear it was mostly the same. You can relocate the flares up if you do not cut too much, just redrill the holes. Or get 4 rear flares off of a TJ and fit those with a little cutting. I am fitting 33's on 4in of lift, with decent flex so I am a fan of fender cutting.

+1 on NAXJA.org all kinds of info there. However, for the love of god, search before you ask a question there. They are ridiculous about it to the point of fanaticism. I have never understood why they are so uptite about it, especially when all half of that board cares about is post count.
 
hey thanks for the help. do you have any pics of your fenders? were you able to get the fenders even when rolling? im afraid that once i cut into it and start rolling it its going to look like crap, of course, youre right i can just drill the flares back on, but id like to just have them off and have it rolled clean.

how hard is it to roll them in?
 
it was really easy to roll them, hit them from the outside the just keep thumping on them till they roll under. I think I got some photobucket shots somewhere ill dig up the url. I just sprayed them with a light grey paint to kinda match the trim.
 
ok here are the pics. these are on mine which was kinda a rush job done at the tire shop so I could drive home(got a great deal on the 33's couldnt pass it up). I did a much better job on my friends cherokee.
ai180.photobucket.com_albums_x10_wolfpackjeeper_1991_20Jeep_20Cherokee_DSC00941.jpg

if you need I can try for some better shots tomorrow
 
ai182.photobucket.com_albums_x267_bjharding_2007_mud_20mower_wills_20xj_DSCN0174.jpg

ai182.photobucket.com_albums_x267_bjharding_2007_mud_20mower_wills_20xj_DSCN0175.jpg

ai182.photobucket.com_albums_x267_bjharding_2007_mud_20mower_wills_20xj_DSCN0179.jpg

ai182.photobucket.com_albums_x267_bjharding_2007_mud_20mower_wills_20xj_DSCN0185.jpg

ai182.photobucket.com_albums_x267_bjharding_2007_mud_20mower_wills_20xj_DSCN0190.jpg


that's how we did it, it was a quick job but a little touch up later and it looks great. Then repainted the rear and it looked good, that's just the paint flaking off from being bent around.
 
you made more cuts than I did, I probably should have. At least someone else is leaving a little bit of lip sticking out. Looks better
 
hey man, thanks a lot for the pics. awesome job! i was able to take one fender off today (Just pulled it off) b/c it had previous damage from when i bought it. i cant figure out how to take any of the others off. ive bent back the hard plastic inside the fender (wheel well) but cant find any screws.
 
There are nuts holding them on. There is a really good write up on NAXJA about fender trimming and doing a cut and fold on the rear quarters(I wish I had done mine).
 
For the fronts, you can go almost as high as you want.

For the rear, as shown- make relief cuts between the pinch welds and then fold them up. I used a rubber mallet on mine.

You don't always have to roll the metal edges up, people have used door trim and I used a strip of chrome look fender accent (you know, its a mex-j now). Just do something to cover up the metal edge. You'll be glad you did when you go reaching your head under the wheelwell to look at something.

As for relocating the stock flares... I personally wouldn't worry about it. Some people do it and it looks cool, but the law in NC won't hassle you about fenders until you've got some serious meats sticking out. Once it gets to that point, you'll figure something out. I'm making up a set that will wingnut on for roadtrips through other states *cough virginia cough* where the laws aren't so rig-friendly.
 
colosusabbott said:
no law in NC currently regarding tires sticking out of fenders. they just passed the 6 inch lift law however
Click to expand...

As I understood it, the 6 inch thing doesn't apply to vehicles with "special provisions for offroad use."

And you'd be surprised how many cops don't know the general statutes that well. I had one tell me that there was a fender law about a month ago. I tried to tell him that there was no law about tire coverage, I was getting ticketed for something else so the point was moot. That's why I said get hassled by the law rather than ticketed, an officer "misremembering" a law doesn't mean he can't pull you over.
 
Archdukeferdinand said:
As I understood it, the 6 inch thing doesn't apply to vehicles with "special provisions for offroad use."
And you'd be surprised how many cops don't know the general statutes that well. I had one tell me that there was a fender law about a month ago. I tried to tell him that there was no law about tire coverage, I was getting ticketed for something else so the point was moot. That's why I said get hassled by the law rather than ticketed, an officer "misremembering" a law doesn't mean he can't pull you over.
Click to expand...

either way, its now illegal in nc for your vehicle to sit 6 inches above factory height
 
I think that lift law is only enforced in certain places by those that know the law. Around here we have a bunch of guys running around on 44's and the police don't seem to care. I got 38's on my lil Cherokee and they haven't stopped me yet, key word "YET".
 
i have no problem with 23 inches of lift and 49 inch tires in henderson where im from. but as soon as i drove it to greenville i got a warning ticket for exceeding 6 inches. the cop was so dumb the ticket says " 91 ford pickup" he put i was from hendersonville, which is in the mountains. im in henderson. he put 2008 on the ticket and this was back last summer. the ticket read at the bottom "exceeding 6 inches above factory height and modified mufflers" dumb cop
 
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