hey Chris seems you have most of your answers already.

as far as the lift. I personaly am going to be running Rubicon Express 5.5 long arm , seems to be the most complete kit. Less shocks. Your 33's would work well with it and still allow to run something bigger later. Keep in mind you will have to install a slip yoke elem. kit also.
Rubi Exp also has them.

As far as what to pack? From experiance soft sided bag of tools , U-joints, extra air filter, jumpers, zip ties , elec tape, duct tape, rags, fueses, copy of elec scemitic, extra valve stems, couple lug nuts, couple spark plugs, tire plug kit , large garbage bag, bottle of water,
tire iron, full size spare, hi lift , shovel, maybe fluids, d-rings , tow straps, if using winch bring a tree saver strap. ect. I'm sure not every trip needs all of this but you would be amazed at what you may need to help yourself and others. If the trip is an over nighter load up your camping gear.

I moved this to tech as I feel it's more a tech question than anything else...

As to answer your questions.

1) Fitting the 33's really depends on how much trimming you want to do. If you do not want to trim at all, your going to need 5-6" of lift. If your willing to trim it depends on how much. I'd personally put 33's on 3-4" of lift and trim a bit to fit them. A key thing that a lot of people don't take into consideration is properly bumpstopping. If you bumpstop correctly and trim a bit, you can fit the 33's on 3" of lift without any issues and it'll still flex very well. Uptravel is not everything when it comes to offroading, it's more about down travel. So if you bumpstop correctly, run the correct length shocks and address other things like brakeline length, correct tracbar/steering etc. you'll have a very capable rig offroad.

2) You can go broke doing lockers, or you can not go broke doing lockers. It really depends on what you want to spend, and how you want to go about doing it. Lockers also depend on how your going to drive the rig. If your going to daily drive it than you may want to look into a selectable locker over a manual one. Selectables (arb, ox, etc) are very expensive, where a lunchbox locker is not as expensive.

I'd look into the Aussie lockers as they are very reasonably priced (around $250 a locker on MotionOffroad.com) and perform very well. Nice thing about the Aussie is you do not have to replace the carrier to install them (thus not having to remove the gears) and install can be done in about 2-3 hours with normal tools. They perform very well offroad as well as on. They are very popular and have a very good reputation.

3) Armoring up your rig is very important. I'd definatly do rock rails as well as a transfer case skid if yours did not come with one from the factory. Rock rails anymore are very reasonably priced, and save your rig from dented rockers (ask Wade about that). I can't tell you how many times I've came down hard on my rails and it's nice to just have the peice of mind that they will stand up and not trash my rig. A TC skid you can buy from less than $100 and it's also a nice thing to have so you know you won't trash your TC. Their are many different kinds, some cheap and than some more expensive. Some cover the entire belly and than some just cover the TC. Next thing after the rock rails and TC skid would be a gas tank skid. Many rigs from the factory come with one, but some don't. Not as big of an issue where we wheel, but also nice peice of mind.

4) I wouldn't get a winch personally. Spend the $ on the stuff above. Their are enough of us with winches that you won't need one. Plus the majority of the time it's easier to just hook a strap on ya and pull ya.

5) One thing that you did not bring up that I think is very important is recovery. A set of tow hooks on the front (weather with an aftermarket bumper or a set of tow hooks) and than a hitch on the rear is key. I'd spend the $$ on these 2 things over anything else first. Their is nothing worse than being stuck and not being able to hook onto ya to pull ya out without damaging something. C4x4 makes a very nice set of tow hooks/brackets (the only one's I'd spend my $$ on) for under $100. A hitch can be bought new for $150 or used for less than $100. Once again I feel that this stuff should come 1st.

6) Normal camping stuff is fine. The majoriy of us just camp (some of us in tents, some of us in campers), but we all get 1 place together and just camp and have a fire etc. Food for the trail, and than to eat at night. Besides normal camping stuff some stuff for the trails (tow strap, a few tools, maybe some extra parts if you have them, etc.) Most of us have spare parts and lots of tools that we'll get you taken care of if needed. That being said, I should probally put a good GLXJ list together that I'd recomend on things to bring, maybe I'll do that sometime this week...

I agree with what most everyone has said, Except the lift part. Give that Cherokee a couple of shots on the trail show room stock. You will learn more about it and see what your preferences are for up grades. Yes in due time you will enjoy a lift and lockers and winches and door removals and the list goes on FOREVER. Just get out there any time you can and enjoy it.
Cardboard

Like cardboard said, i would take it out and see how it does stock first. When i first went out with everyone from here i was only at 3" of lift and loved everyminute of it. Just take it out stock and see exactly how tall you think it should be. Cause i was first wanting to put 33's under mine but now that i have gone everywhere everyone else has on 31's, i am just gona stick with them. Pretty much like everyone else has said, the most important thing is to have some type of recovery and to have a good time while you are out there.

Yodwinder wrote:

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What would be the best 5"-6" lift based on Price:Quality, Ride Quality, adding some flex, and versatility for a daily driver?

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In my opinion anything over 5" should be longarm'd. Once your talking longarms your talking a lot more money.

The best bang for the buck lift in my opinion is the Rubicon Express 4.5" with the superflex joints. Upgrade to the RE1660 Tracbar and run a set of OME shocks and you'll be very happy. It's one of the more complete lifts on the market, and for the $ I don't think you can get anything better. You can run 33's with this lift with no trimming, or 35's with very minor trimming.

If you want to go larger, RE sells a 5.5" lift that includes control arm drop brackets. It's the same as the above, but uses larger coils/leafs and than has the drop brackets to help keep the control arm angels betters.

Other than that, higher you'd need to look into longarm setups.

Just my penny and a half worth...

 

Yodwinder wrote:

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Got a link to either of those?

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4.5" - CLICK ME

5.5" - CLICK ME

90% of the time is can be purchased for cheaper via a vendor than directly from RE. Check the the vendors who support GLXJ 1st!

 

LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW wrote:

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Yodwinder wrote:

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Got a link to either of those?

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4.5" - CLICK ME

5.5" - CLICK ME

90% of the time is can be purchased for cheaper via a vendor than directly from RE. Check the the vendors who support GLXJ 1st!

 

 

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Sweet. Didn't know certain vendors endorsed groups and such. How do I go about figuring out which vendors support?