I am eating my words...

[duneslider]

We took the kids to Moab this last weekend. I decided to take the Commander instead of the JK. We were just planning on easy trails since we didn't know how the kids would handle a whole days riding dirt roads. Kids had a great time. We didn't do anything really difficult, probably could have done almost everything in a car. We did Gemini Bridges, Long Canyon, stopped by Dead Horse Point state park, and Tusher Tunnel. I only had one pic on my camera phone but I will try to post a few more once the wife gets them off the camera.

We had three car seats, kids 5,3,1. I also downloaded a bunch of geocaches to my GPS before and used that as a way to make the riding more interesting, we were treasure hunting! My 3 year old son is into pirates right now so he loved treasure hunting. There are lots of caches along the trails.

I didn't think I would ever wheel a IFS anything but the Commander sure fit the family better. Now I have to decide how I am going to build up two jeeps. The 4" superlift is starting to look like a need now. I am also very interested in the post I read a while back about someone who put a QDII front diff in and a locker in the back.

I also wonder if the struts aren't tightened down correctly, I get a pretty good clunk in the front end while offroading.

Pic is along the Gemini Bridges trail where we stopped to find a geocache and eat a snack.



2013-05-03 10.49.05 by duneslider, on Flickr

[Matt]

Time for a good lift and more family XK wheeling!

Your son obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates too?? Thats all my boy watches. We have a similar family..... this time next year my kids will be 4.5, 3 and 1. My XKs gonna get a whole lot of family wheeling trips in

[duneslider]

Obsessed with anything pirate. His favorite saying is "Argh, matey, Sail the seven seas". We picked up the XK since three car seats in the JK was tight! I still was intending to spend all my money working on the JK but now I have to figure out how to build both.

I might be able to make do with a heavy duty OME lift but the superlift sure seems nice. Mat, your XK looks nice. I really wanted to hold out for a white one, and QDII but in the end the wife said she liked the black one and I wasn't gonna wheel the XK.

If anyone sees a QDII front diff around let me know!

[07JeepXK]

Im the one with the front and rear lockers. Well worth the $$ if you ask me. Total cost for both was around $1500 for everything. I did they install myself

[duneslider]

I couldn't remember who it was that had done it. The wiring of the ELSD is the only thing I am unsure of, if you have any info on that portion I could handle the rest pretty easy. I would still love to go with a solid axle but I just don't think it makes sense financially, if it is even possible. It would probably need 6-8" of lift to make it happen.

I've got some feelers out for a QDII but they don't seem too common.

[07JeepXK]

Let me know if you get your hands on one and I'll help you out with the wiring. It's very easy to wire up

[Matt]

I might be able to make do with a heavy duty OME lift but the superlift sure seems nice. Mat, your XK looks nice. I really wanted to hold out for a white one, and QDII but in the end the wife said she liked the black one and I wasn't gonna wheel the XK.

Thanks man. But trust me on this one, especially with all the great wheeling where you live, go with the superlift over the OME if you can. My 2nd daughter is due in a few weeks... and im hoping to upgrade to the superlift when she's ~2yrs old (or in a forward facing car seat) to make it easier for my wife to get the kids all belted in.

[lekmedm]

Thanks man. But trust me on this one, especially with all the great wheeling where you live, go with the superlift over the OME if you can. My 2nd daughter is due in a few weeks... and im hoping to upgrade to the superlift when she's ~2yrs old (or in a forward facing car seat) to make it easier for my wife to get the kids all belted in.

I thought I'd toss in my 2 cents on the subject along with a couple of pictures.

Put simply, I went with the Superlift because it corrects for stock geometry. And if you go with some other lift, I'm not convinced that things work out all that much cheaper. I think most who don't want to spend the $$$ for the Superlift want to go with OME instead of a spacer lift. I believe that the OME lift still runs several hundred dollars. Maybe someone who knows real numbers will chime in. Regardless, OME or spacers will result in changes in geometry. This means most likely premature wear of various components. Now, you can compensate for these things, but that means buying more parts and spending nice money for the fix. Well, JBA upper control arms can correct ball joint angles, but how much have you spent now? I can't find a picture of someone's stock upper control arm after an OME or spacer lift, but here is a picture of mine after the SL:



So you can fix that one, but what are you going to do about the steering rack tie rod end?

You can see a really rough steering tie rod angle here.

Here is a picture of mine after the SL:



I wouldn't want to have to keep replacing tie rod ends, or even worse, steering racks ($$$!!!).

So, while the mod bug can keep you forever throwing cash at your Jeep, I felt that the SL gives the best platform. I can stop here, or I can more easily upgrade as the fever consumes me.

[Matt]

Exactly ^^^

Side note... Mark you gotta fix that WSS line hanging near your CV.

[07JeepXK]

You can see a really rough steering tie rod angle here.

Here is a picture of mine after the SL:



I wouldn't want to have to keep replacing tie rod ends, or even worse, steering racks ($$$!!!).

So, while the mod bug can keep you forever throwing cash at your Jeep, I felt that the SL gives the best platform. I can stop here, or I can more easily upgrade as the fever consumes me.

You can't use oleblue's tie rods as a reference. He is double lifted with both OME HD coils and RC spacer lift up front.