My name is Tony and i'm looking to put at least a 3inch lift in my 2001 tj. Ive been told i would have to make some modifications. The jeep will soon be my son's after the spring. i'm looking forward to doing some offraoding with the jeep so i would also like 33inch tires. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated on what kind of lift kits i should be looking at or anything else. Thank you

                                                                           Tony Barone

        There are a lot of realy good kits on the market now, you can't turn around with out tripping on one. Superlirt, Skyjacker, Teraflex, Black Diamond, and it goes on and on. Then you have long arm and short arm kits, depending on what you want to spend and how much suspension travel you need. Long arm, more money, more flex. There are a few things you need to look for, that these kits handle in differant ways. To start, your rear drive shaft at 3inchs will be to short. Some kits will send hardware to lower your skidplate and transfer case. So you just did a 3" lift, now they want the skid plate dropped an 1". I don't get it myself, sounds counter productive. The best way to deal with this is a "slip-yoke eliminator kit, or short- shaft kit. This changes the rear out put of the t-case to a fixed yoke, and lets you run a rear saft about 6" longer than the factory shaft. Again, $$$$$, About $800 total in parts, for a good set, no place the skimp here. Next would be the front track-bar. Make sure they send you a way to relocate it or a new one comes with the kit. If you don't the bump steer will drive you out of your mind. The last thing would be sway bar disconnects. Will make a huge differants off road. Not all kits come with them, if yours dosn't I think Superlift has the slickest set going now, no pins to line up. There are other ways you can go also. You could do a 2" lift with a 1 or 2" body lift, I wouldn't go any more than 2" on the body. Even with a 3" lift you may have to do a 1" body lift to keep your tires out of the sheet metal. As I said it just goes on and on. And from this point, you may want to think about regearing it. From say a 27" toa 33" tire, power will be down. Every one has a differant way of thinking about it, some will and some won't regear. It depends on how you feel about it after you drive it with the bigger skins under it and what you use it for. I guess what you realy need to know is once you start this project ......... you may never be done with it. I'm not selling anything, or saying you have to do it this way because I did. Hell reading this back it all most sounds like I'm trying to talk you out of it, but thats not the case. get all the info you can and just take your time and do it right the frist time. Hope this was some help, and good luck.   

       I was thinking, not to fast sometimes. About your axels. The Dana 35c. Yea, that mess between your rear tires. Jeep blew it with this axel. But you can keep them alive. I'm still living with mine at 110k, but the day is coming, it'll be gone. A few buddies of mine that work at a local Jeep dealership have all told me, Mopar says that a 33" tire is the limit for this axel, and the use of alloy wheels to keep the weight down is recomended. You said you were going to do some wheeling. If you were thinking about a locker for it, I wouldn't. Because it will go from, will it blow up? To, when it will blow up. You could get away with a posi, but thats about it, if you want to keep stuff together. I have an posi and have broken, one of the splined center gears in the diff. on 32 x11.5 on steel wheels. If you're just doing some light wheeling, that thing could live a long life, and it should be fine. Keep after the lube in it, they do take on water. The rubber fill plug it the cover lets it in. I wouldn't waist a lot of time on that axel. As I said, regear it if you feel the need, but other than that, let it be. Spend the money on a winch. On the other end, The Dana 30 in the front, For what, and as small as it is, its a dam good axel. Again, watch your lube for water, gearing if ya want, and don't lock it. I've replaced 1 oil seal, 2 set of u-joints' and all four ball joints. I'd say thats fair for the mileage on them. I should know this, but late 2001, you could get the Dana 44 rear. I think? Check it, if you have it, you're all set, lock it, beat it, what ever ya need. Best of luck.