Hello, I recently bought a 1997 XJ Cherokee it's solid, no rust, and only 105,000 on the 4.0L. I was wondering what the maxium tire clearance was for it. I work on a farm and i dont make all that much money. I've heard that 30's will rub with no lift and 29's are close to stock height. Does the rim height or width matter. I plan on doing mild off roading and mainly on road driving. Any suggestions? Thanks - Matt   

You are pretty much limited to your stock tires, as the wheel wells are very small on a cherokee. You could trim the front fenders some, and if you have a two door version you might be able to trim the rear fenders a little bit to fit maybe a 30x9.50x15 tire or you could buy the Daystar poly lift spacers for your XJ for a lift of 1.75" for the front for $37.00 a set available at National Tire & wheel to fit the 30's and buy add a-leafs or blocks for the rear. You could also consider a 3 inch suspension lift to clear 31x10.50x15 tires. Look in Petersons 4 wheel off road magazine to find varius lift kits for your vehicle. Look in the ad. for National Tire & Wheel, as there are some very affordable lifts for your XJ.

Alright thanks alot fro the info. Are there any brands of lifts that you'd reccomend? - Matt  

I really don't know what is the best brand to buy. It sometimes depends on what you want to spend and what kind of wheeling you do. My friend and I put a 3 inch Skyjacker lift on his 97 Grand Cherokee and it works pretty well. When you do find a lift that you want make sure the lift includes everything you need to properly lift it. Some kits don't always have all the nessesary parts. When my friend bought his lift it didn't include the extended track bar for the rear axle. There are also lifts that say it is a kit or a system like the ones Skyjacker makes. I think the systems include everything that you need. In my April 06 mag. of 4Wheel Offroad there is an ad for National Tire & Wheel for Skyjacker lifts, 3" kit $321 or 3" system $622  Hope this helps you out.

How big of a tire do you want to run. If you are on an extreme budget I believe that there are comapnies that make coil spacers for the front then you could do blocks in teh rear, yeild 2" max though.  

I have an XJ with a 3" Rough Country Lift, and 30X9.5 A/T's. I had to do a little fender trimming (about 3/4 inch) because even with a lift, when the suspension is totally compressed, you can still wipe out a fender.... I learned that one the hard way! One other note is, after you lift it you might have to get some relocation brackets, or something, because you may have clearance issues between the coil springs and the anti-sway bar.