Jp Magazine – October 2019

22 Jp jpmagazine.com OCTOBER 2019

MOVING UP

Sources

BDS Suspension, 517/279-2135,

bds-suspension.com

Dunks Performance, 541/726-

1006, dunksperformance.com

PSC Motorsports, 817/270-0102,

pscmotorsports.com

Tom Wood’s Custom Drive

Shafts, 877/497-4238, 4xshaft.com

Another upgrade we did was install PSC
Motorsports’ new Big Bore steering gearbox
and high-flow power steering pump kit, both
bolt-on replacements for the OEM parts.
Upgrading the power steering makes it much
easier to maneuver the 35s on our XJ in tight
confines, especially when rockcrawling or
trying to get out of deep ruts.

The BDS 6.5-inch long-arm lift gives the
front suspension an entirely different look
from factory. It’s clean and robust, and the
suspension geometry provides excellent
steering manners with 35-inch tires.

The BDS 6.5-inch long-travel suspension and

35-inch BFG Mud Terrains mounted on KMC

XD129 Holeshot wheels work well for the

light to moderate wheeling this XJ owner will

be doing. ARB Air Lockers in both ends also

help, especially when trail-running in the wet

Pacific Northwest.

Dunks fabricated custom rear-shock mount-

ing brackets to mount Fox 2.0 BDS shocks on

the Ford 8.8 housing and used the donor Ford

Explorer’s rear brake lines to simplify setting

up the rear disc brakes system.

Our ’98 XJ Cherokee’s rear suspension
was looking sad. The Up Country Trac-Lok
limited slip in the Chrysler 8.25-inch axle
housing wasn’t working, the leaf springs were
showing the typical wear signs of 165,000
miles, and the shocks were shot. It took a
big breaker bar to get the rusted bolts and
bushings to pop loose.

The BDS long-travel kit lowers the steer-

ing linkage to keep the geometry close to

factory. The dual Fox steering stabilizers are

one of several options BDS offers. The JKS

quick-disconnects for the front sway bar

help add a little more suspension articula-

tion when it’s needed.

Instead of rebuilding the weak Chrysler 8.25,

we set the BDS leaf-spring pack on a beefier

Ford 8.8-inch from a ’98 Ford Explorer. Dunks

Performance had rebuilt the 8.8 with the Yukon

Gear & Axle chromoly shafts, a C-clip elimina-

tor kit, and an ARB Air Locker with 4.88s. The

Ford disc brakes and stronger Yukon axles will

handle the bigger tires and heavy off-roading

loads the OEM setup was sure to fail.

We went to Tom Wood’s Custom Drive Shaf ts

to get the driveshafts. The front is a multiple

double-Cardan style, while the rear is a

double-Cardan with heavy-duty U-joints. The

lift requires an SYE kit for the transfer case.

Wood’s recommends “minimal joint angle”

at the differential so the driveshaft is pointed

directly at the transfer case output shaft.