Ah, yes, the inevitable and everlasting question of inches. What is enough? How much is too much? What if I want 33-inch tires for now, but wish to upgrade to 35-inchers down the road? Will something I can afford right now suffice for the trails I want to drive? Jeep Cherokee owners ask questions like these everywhere, every day, and for good reason – it is an important decision!
The first thing to ask yourself is why you need to lift your Cherokee. Is it because you like the way they look with bigger tires? Or is it because you need the ground clearance and flex to conquer trails that your Jeep Cherokee isn’t fit to run at the moment? If you would simply like the Jeep to look better, you can get a budget boost and rims. If you need performance, however, it’s a whole other ball game.
The most common lift by far with the Cherokee crowd is a 4.5″ full-spring lift. Both the front coils and rear leaf springs are replaced completely in these applications. The brand you go with is mostly a matter of what you can afford mixed with personal taste. Most Jeep Cherokee owners will tell you that Rubicon Express (RE) is the best brand. I have also run trails alongside Jeeps outfitted with Rusty’s or Rough Country lifts that did just fine.
With 4.5″ of lift, your Jeep Cherokee can easily and safely run a 33-inch mud tire, although you may need to trim the fenders a tad for maximum flex clearance. And, a Cherokee lifted 4.5″ on 33-inch mudders looks really cool! So, what’s the problem? Well, there is a phenomenon known as “Inchitis“, and it strikes us all at some point.
A 4.5” lift with 33-inch tires will get you through 95% of the trails out there. It’s when we would like to conquer the other 5% that things get “inchy”. Suddenly, we need 6″ or more of lift with at least 35-inch tires to rock-crawl with the big boys. But that much tire snaps axles like twigs, so we need to go with alloys and ditch the Dana 35 rear altogether. Then we need to re-gear, and it goes on and on.
Short answer: If your Jeep Cherokee is a weekend warrior that hits mild trails with a local group, a 3″ lift with 31-inch tires will be just fine. If you would like to tackle just about everything in the area with no body damage, you’ll need to go with the 4.5″ lift and 33s. If you wish to go where the extreme buggies and off-road monsters play, you’ll need at least 5.5″ of lift and 35-inch tires, and it only gets wilder from there. My personal Jeep Cherokee (see article photo) runs a Rusty’s 4.5″ full-spring lift with 33-inch tires, and I have never been left behind.
