Rubicon XJ Extreme-Duty Long-Arm System - Absolute Improvement

Remember what we said about the rust on our Cherokee's underbody? The leaf springs appeared to have received the worst of the damage and reflected every bit of it in their stubbornness in being removed.

We were lucky to not have damaged too many of the threads in the factory nut tabs in the unibody. Those that were damaged we were able to salvage by tapping the threads, and only one required alternative measures. Here, the new lifted leaf spring is installed in the forward mount on the unibody.

The new longer shackles were secured to the unibody mount, and the leaf spring was bolted to the shackle. Note that the shackle bushing features a grease fitting. The leaf springs use preinstalled rubber bushings.

J.E. Reel Drive Line Specialists provided new CV driveshafts to accommodate our rebuilt NP231 T-case.

With the leaf springs in place, the rear RE monotube shocks were installed. We also installed the new rear-brake hard-line section from Metro Fluid Connectors to replace the rusted and leaking factory line that we discovered after beginning the installation. The new rear RE brake hose was also installed, as were the rear sway-bar drop brackets.

With the new wheels and tires in place, the vehicle was set on the ground so the new adjustable track bar could be installed.

The RE Extreme-Duty long-arm system permits fitment of 33x12.50 tires. We elected to use BFG Baja T/A tires mounted to a set of 15x8 American Racing Chamber Teflon-coated wheels with 3-3/4 inches of backspacing. The Baja T/A offers a classic and proven tread pattern and compound to ensure durability and longevity in the harshest of conditions. The American Racing Chamber wheels were modified to accept Champion beadlocks. The wheel/tire combo is a perfect fit to the new suspension and will provide good crossover ability as the vehicle is used to tackle varying types of terrain.

Though the RE kit is called a 5.5-inch system, it afforded our sacked Cherokee an increase in elevation of more than 10 inches. This created a lot of space under the fenders for the 33x12.50R15 BFGs and required very little fender-shaving to achieve full articulation of the springs.