Introduction

Cherokee Lift Basics

TIRES

Without a lift you have two choices as I see it. You can run a 30x9.50 15 in an all-terrain tire or a P255 70R 15 in a street tire. Now my personal favorite is the 255 because it fills out the wheel well better than the 30 does. Lets face it, you are going to be limited to some extent with the type and volume of off-roading you can do with a stock setup. There are some fairly aggressive 235?s on the market but the 255 just looks better and gives you about the same clearance as the 30. With a 3-4 inch lift you can put 31x10.50 15?s on stock rims, this is what I have done. I believe that with a little less negative offset you could run 32?s but you would not have the off-road clearance necessary for proper articulation. Therefore, I suggest staying with the 31?s for 3-4 inch lifts. Now, some will disagree with me, but I think with the stock 4.0 and the stock drive train you should not go over 33? on the Cherokee. This is a personal opinion but I know others who would back me up on this. 33? will require a 5-6 inch lift and some fender trimming and flare relocation. I know a few guys who are running 33?s and love it. I may go to this in the future, but for now the 31?s are adequate for the type of off-roading I do.

NOTE An additional note on larger tires. You should expect some rubbing on the lower control arms at full crank. I have put 40,000 miles on a set of BFG's with no problems from the additional rubbing. It's annoying when the lugs are thumping against the control arm, but not hazardous. 

LIFTS

There are a number of lift kits on the market for the Cherokee. Rancho, Black Diamond, Tomken, Rough Country and Off-Road General Store, although Mark Hinkey at ORGS says that his is a compilation of parts rather than a kit. There are probably others, but these are the ones I know of. Each has its own merits, and flaws. I don?t plan to go into the pro?s and con?s of each lift.

First and foremost, you should decide what your ultimate goal is. If you will be happy with 31?s and only plan on doing moderate off-roading, then a 3-4 inch lift will suffice. But if you ever plan to try to run 32?s or 33?s, get the 5-6 inch lift up front. The reason for this is that most of the lifts, other than the Tomken, do not offer an upgrade to 5-6 inch. Additionally, if you go with a 3-4 inch lift and decide later to go to 5-6 you will have to do a wholesale swap of most or all of the lift components. Tomken does offer an upgrade from their 3-4 inch lift, to their 5-6 inch lift that uses the 3-4 inch lift parts.

I opted for the Rancho 3" lift and added an additional 1" spacer block in the rear. Now that I am older and wiser, I wish I had gone with a 5-6 lift. Of course hind sight is 20/20. What I will advocate in the 3" lift, is its capability for the daily driver. I am happy with my lift and it required no change to accommodate drive line angle. This was a plus for me and it kept my cost down, something very important with 2 kids and a mortgage.

I went the down and dirt route with Rancho front springs, Rancho add-a-leaf?s and spacers in the back and Rancho 5000 shock?s all around. I also added Energy Suspension urethane bushings and covers on the track bar and tie rod ends. Installation was fairly easy. My main suggestion here is to have a buddy help. You will be able to do 90% by yourself, but when it comes to getting the lower control arm?s back in place, you will need help. I will make one comment about the Rancho kit. Although a bit heavier in construction, I opted not to install their lower control arms. I have had no trouble with my lift by doing this. It saved some money at the time and I will most probably get the Tomken angled lower control arms anyhow. I think Tomken?s control arms are probably the best on the market, and with the angle give needed clearance.

The basic lift really only consist of replacing the front springs and adding the rear add-a-leaf?s. All in all it is very easy to do if you are at all mechanically inclined. The only problem I ran into with the lift after putting the rear block?s in place, I found that the 5000?s were too short by about ? of an inch. They will install with the truck on the ground, but it would be a good idea to get either the 9000?s or a different shock that will accommodate the additional lift.

So, what? the bottom line? Well, first off, decide what you plan to use the lift for. If its just for looks then stay with the 3". The 3" is also good for moderate off-roading and on a daily commuter. If you plan to go for heavy off-roading or want to run 32-33?s, get the 5-6 inch lift up front, it will save you effort and cost. Make sure that you get shocks that will accommodate whatever you plan to do. Keep proper articulation of the tires in mind. You can run too big a tire on a small lift, it may work but as soon as you articulate the suspension, the tire will lock up on the wheel well. One last word of caution. With the 4 door, like mine, you need to keep in mind that with 33?s you will need to move the flare up. Due to the back door, your limited to about ? inch of movement before you into the door. This may limit your tire selection.

Whatever you do, keep in mind that any change will have an effect on your Cherokee?s overall performance and handling. Know your Cherokee?s capabilities before and after you do a lift, so that you wont overextend you or your Cherokee?s abilities. 

Large Tire Considerations

To accommodate larger tires i.e., 33 x 12.50's on a Cherokee, it's sometimes necessary to open up the wheel wells by spreading the front and rear fender flares to accommodate the larger tires. This can be done by taking the flares off and relocating the flare bolt holes slightly and then trimming off the excess metal for better clearance. Keep in mind that you can't spread too far since the flares only open-up about one to one and a half inches. Some of the plastic wheel well liner must also be trimmed.

Another tip on installing 33x12.50 tires on the Cherokee is the backspacing of the rims to get the proper clearance between the rear spring and the inside of the rear tires. It is usually necessary to go with a rim that has about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 inches of backspacing. In my case I went with a 15x8 inch rim with 4 1/2 inches of backspacing (Alcoa brand). An added benefit of the 15x8 rim is the ballooning effect of the sidewalls which protects the rims somewhat during rock crawling. I'm running BFG mud terrain's and typically run 25 psi on the street and about 15 psi on the trail with good results.