Looks like I will be dipping into the dark side and adding an 1999 XJ to the stable

Well my brother has a black 1999 4-dr XJ that has seen better days and given that I am always looking for ways to aggravate my wife it is likely going to come live at our house and become my hunting truck :thumb:
So, now that I've finally got a pretty good handle on many things JK, I need to start a new learning curve on the XJ. It runs well considering 210,000 miles on the I6 but there were a few minor scrapes along the way so some minor body damage like a fender flare scrapped off, and a few wrinkles.

Plan is to keep it somewhat mild but functional.
- Likely a minor lift thinking 2-3"
- Cut out the fenders to accommodate a 32-34" tire
- Add some type of fender flare -- liking the flat-fender look on these
- Sliders to provide some protection and a step up
- Top rack for gear and mounting location for some aux lighting, etc.
- Rear bumper and/or alternate functional spare tire carrier solution
- Front Bumper with winch eventually, but down the road a bit.

Questions:
- What is the wheel stub pattern on these (I'm guessing not at all compatible with my JK so can't use any of my spare JK wheels on it)?
- Are folks typically sticking with/running 15" wheels or would bumping up to a 17" be a reasonable idea (back to thinking that I could share some of my JK 17" cast off tires like stock Rubicon BFGs)
- What type of lift/tire combination given likely not going any bigger than 35" (advertised) height tire
- I thought I read somewhere that the OEM Rubicon shocks work well on these depending on the about of lift -- anyone have any experience/insights into this comment?

We that's enough to start. Will start a build thread once I have it and have had a chance to look it over to determine what else needs to be done. Thanks for any input/comments.

TeamFaust said:

Well my brother has a black 1999 4-dr XJ that has seen better days and given that I am always looking for ways to aggravate my wife it is likely going to come live at our house and become my hunting truck :thumb:
So, now that I've finally got a pretty good handle on many things JK, I need to start a new learning curve on the XJ. It runs well considering 210,000 miles on the I6 but there were a few minor scrapes along the way so some minor body damage like a fender flare scrapped off, and a few wrinkles.

Plan is to keep it somewhat mild but functional.
- Likely a minor lift thinking 2-3"
- Cut out the fenders to accommodate a 32-34" tire
- Add some type of fender flare -- liking the flat-fender look on these
- Sliders to provide some protection and a step up
- Top rack for gear and mounting location for some aux lighting, etc.
- Rear bumper and/or alternate functional spare tire carrier solution
- Front Bumper with winch eventually, but down the road a bit.

Questions:
- What is the wheel stub pattern on these (I'm guessing not at all compatible with my JK so can't use any of my spare JK wheels on it)?
- Are folks typically sticking with/running 15" wheels or would bumping up to a 17" be a reasonable idea (back to thinking that I could share some of my JK 17" cast off tires like stock Rubicon BFGs)
- What type of lift/tire combination given likely not going any bigger than 35" (advertised) height tire
- I thought I read somewhere that the OEM Rubicon shocks work well on these depending on the about of lift -- anyone have any experience/insights into this comment?

We that's enough to start. Will start a build thread once I have it and have had a chance to look it over to determine what else needs to be done. Thanks for any input/comments.

Click to expand...

The pattern is 5x4.5 so you'll need adapters. Lots of xj's in CO are running rubicon takeoffs.

15" or 17". That's your call but 17" gets you access to lots of Rubi tires

4-5" is what I've heard with some cutting.

The Rubi shocks work with a slight modification and are good up to 3" from what I remember. Been a minute since I gave mine away.

TeamFaust said:

Well my brother has a black 1999 4-dr XJ that has seen better days and given that I am always looking for ways to aggravate my wife it is likely going to come live at our house and become my hunting truck :thumb:
So, now that I've finally got a pretty good handle on many things JK, I need to start a new learning curve on the XJ. It runs well considering 210,000 miles on the I6 but there were a few minor scrapes along the way so some minor body damage like a fender flare scrapped off, and a few wrinkles.

Plan is to keep it somewhat mild but functional.
- Likely a minor lift thinking 2-3"
- Cut out the fenders to accommodate a 32-34" tire
- Add some type of fender flare -- liking the flat-fender look on these
- Sliders to provide some protection and a step up
- Top rack for gear and mounting location for some aux lighting, etc.
- Rear bumper and/or alternate functional spare tire carrier solution
- Front Bumper with winch eventually, but down the road a bit.

Questions:
- What is the wheel stub pattern on these (I'm guessing not at all compatible with my JK so can't use any of my spare JK wheels on it)?
- Are folks typically sticking with/running 15" wheels or would bumping up to a 17" be a reasonable idea (back to thinking that I could share some of my JK 17" cast off tires like stock Rubicon BFGs)
- What type of lift/tire combination given likely not going any bigger than 35" (advertised) height tire
- I thought I read somewhere that the OEM Rubicon shocks work well on these depending on the about of lift -- anyone have any experience/insights into this comment?

We that's enough to start. Will start a build thread once I have it and have had a chance to look it over to determine what else needs to be done. Thanks for any input/comments.

Click to expand...

The wheel bolt patter is 5x4.5, without adapters you won't be able to run JK wheels.
I squeezed 33s under my 96 with minimal trimming on a 3 inch budget boost type of lift (pucks and shackles) and was running rubi shocks... the shocks actually were great for the Cherokee, only modification I had to do to get them to fit was removing the sleeve out of the bushing and replacing it with the one from my XJ shocks.

I know the fenders on the 97 and newer XJs are a little different than the 96 I had, all I can say is be prepared to trim some sheet metal if you want to run a shorter lift.

t8er said:

The pattern is 5x4.5 so you'll need adapters. Lots of xj's in CO are running rubicon takeoffs...

Click to expand...

If getting an adaptor (5x4.5 XJ to 5x5 JK) in order to run Rubi takeoffs, it looks like 1.25" thickness is typical -- does this make sense or would there be a need to go thicker for clearance of any components?

I know there are lots of sources for these, any recommendations (or ones to avoid)? -- for example I saw a set by Wheel Adaptors USA (6061-T6 aluminum) on sale for $99 with lug nuts
http://wheeladaptersusa.com/product...-adapts-jeep-jk-wheels-on-tj-yj-kk-sj-xj-mj-1

I used Spidertrax spacers for years without a problem.

www.spidertrax.com

Input appreciated. Decided that too many current projects so not going to proceed with this one at this time. Plan to at some point so will revisit then. Thanks for all the info here and on other posts.

Congratulations!! Post up some pics of your new rig when you get a chance. :yup:

I am so bummed :naw:, as mentioned above looks like I'll not be in a position to take this on right now as I had planned. And as my brother is moving out of country and needs to sell it this XJ will need to find a new home. Here are a couple of pics and I've posted on the "For Sale" thread to see if anyone here might be interested before we list it publically.

http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...o-ready-for-trail-project&p=578957#post578957



Hopefully I'll be in a position to pick up another one in the future when the timing is better. Back to focusing on the JKU for now.