20 Jp jpmagazine.com OCTOBER 2019
MOVING UP
All the bushings and steering rod ends were
in need of replacement. The tr ackbar bushing
was cracking and showed signs of wallowing
out. We used an air hammer to knock it out
and replaced it with an OEM bushing. If hard
four-wheeling is in the plan, it might be good
to install a bushing that allows more flexibility.
The lift requires the removal of the OEM
tr ansfer case to have a slip -yoke eliminator kit
installed, which is one of the necessities when
going to a bigger lift, especially on short-wheel-
base vehicles. That, in turn, requires a custom
driveshaft, which Tom Wood’s built for us.
Years of dirt and rust
can do a number on
exposed boltholes in
the Unitbody “frame,”
which required
tapping the three
OEM holes where the
new BDS crossmem-
ber mounted and
removing the rusted
stud that held the
transmission/transfer
case crossmember.
New 10x30mm bolts
were used.BDS provides initial measurements for the
new control arms. We adjusted the lower
control arms lengths to 32.75 inches eye
to eye. The upper s were adjusted to 28.125
inches per the instructions.The BDS transfer case crossmember locates
the longer control arms in the correct position
for optimum ride and handling with the
6.5-inch suspension lift. It bolts into existing
holes in the Unitbody frame.
Additional reinforcement comes from the
side plates. This requires drilling holes
through the frame and inserting anti-crush
spacers over the through-bolts before tight-
ening them down.We rebuilt our ’98 XJ’s Dana 30 with new 4.88
gears, an ARB Air Locker, and Yukon Axle &
Gear’s chromoly shafts and free-spin hub
kit before installing the new BDS coils and
longer control arms.The BDS long-arm kit doesn’t require removal
of the lower factory control arm pockets from
the Unitbody. But we cut them off for a cleaner
look, and removing the pockets eliminates
any chance of the longer arms contacting the
old mounts in extreme off-road conditions.Once we had the transfer case bolted back in
place after the SYE conversion and the cross-
member snug, Richard went about hanging
the new control arms, which have greaseable
ends. The quality of the materials and fabri-
cation BDS uses is excellent.BDS teamed up with Fox for 2.0 Series
shocks tuned specifically for the Jeep XJ
Cherokee’s 6.5-inch suspension lift. The
Fox-tuned shocks are an option, but worth
every penny when it comes getting the best in
ride and handling—on- and off-road.