i bought a '99 jeep cherokee a few months ago and ive taken it on several local trails that its held up fine. recently, i've taken it on harder ones that i havent felt comfortable driving it stock on (steep muddy hills, deep ruts, and pits) and ended up turning back. ive been wondering where to start on making it more trail capable. wheres the best place to start? a lift, or fender flares and tires? and to run larger tires what other work is required (gear ratios, differential work)?  

well it all depends on the kind of trails u wheel at...but in my opinion u should get maybe a 8 inch lift or a 6 inch lift,some truxus mt and a locker maybe...........but thats just my opinion about that.  

fender flares and 31" M/T's unless your ready to do some major suspension mods..  

how do those unibody jeeps stand up to suspension lifts and trail use??  

yeah i'll either start with the lift or flares for some 31s or 32s. but isnt there a lot of extra work involved to run bigger tires correctly? gear ratios, differential, speedometer recalibration  

im 99% the cherokee come with lockers stock that are used in partime 4wd and 4lo  

yep, with larger tires, ya need lower gears...
on the xj's you can use tj fender flares to make room for 31" tires without a lift. with flares and a 2" budget boost (bb) 32" tires will fit nicely under there and perform very good with 4.56 gears.

31" tires is about the largest you wanna run without swaping gears, the best ratio for 31's is 4.10. when you keep your corrected ratio for the larger tires in the range of the stock tire size/ratio combo the speedo is only off a little.

the cherokee could have a limited slip rear differential. they don't come stock with lockers. the only jeeps that do are the wrangler rubicon models.

and the cherokee xj is nothing to go laughin about on the trail or extreme off roading, they hold up very very well and have the most cost effective aftermarket options of all the cherokee models  

http://www.jpmagazine.com/featuredvehicles/154_0706_jeep_cherokee_laredo/index.html  

well aren't lockers the things that lock the differentials so that each wheels spins the same amount as the other wheels for added traction? my jeep has the selec-trac 4wd system that has warnings not to drive in part-time and 4lo in non-offroad conditions because it locks the differentials. idk maybe im wrong.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selec-Trac#Selec-Trac

its wikipedia, but the best article i could find on it fast  

actually i read more up on it and youre probably right. but is it even worth getting lockers when you already have limited slip differential?  

to cut corners ya got to ask yourself how big ya wont to go I starded with a 3in lift and 2 years later swaped it all out for 6+ and now content. so do it right and dont buy 2 of them cause you can only have one on at a time and youll have spent twice the money and never use the old one leving you more coin for gear,lockers. and tires  

we all love the outdoors like you! customize your xj go exploring learn your new capability of your rig becom a better offroad driver(hence customizing your driving capabilitys to your xj) repeat then repeat then repeat and before you know it ya got geared and locked big axles mad nobbies and the like. since most of us here like would be tikeled to wheel a rock or mud buggy but its potential would be limited to the driver undestanding of the personal carictoristics of that sesific buggy. punumatic locking hubs and locked diffs are compleatly diferant locked diffs are awsume and pricey making the rig more capable than ever many here would speculate witch one should come first a set of lockers and gears or a suspencion with tons of articulation(that would be a thread with tons of activity) but i would say some of both would be beuitiful since your probably biulding for everything that you inconter  

You have just bought one the best 4x4s ever.  To make it trail worthy is somewhat of a battle, but hang in there, the end result is well worth it. The axles you have are plenty strong enough to run up to a 34 with lockers.  I recommend starting at at least 4.5" of lift, maybe even 6". Rough country makes the best 4.5 and 6.5" lift systems for the money. (under $1000 ).  It includes just about everything you need.  For tires, go with a radial, but stay away from tires that weigh more than 60lbs.  Lock rights are good affordable lockers and are barely noticeable on the highway. Have fun!!  

The factory limited-slip (posi)units they used in these axles is really a weak unit, compared to others. lockers will be a good investment, as far as lift, you only need to go high enough to clear your tires. You need to determine what you are wanting to use it for. The higher you go, and more mods you do, streetability will probably decrease. I would suggest, for a dual purpose rig, to go with a 4.5" and lockers,and tires. I feel this would be the best investment.