Well, you can run 33's with the Rubicon 6" lift(i thought it was 5.5"), either way, or any other lift. I believe there is only 3 company's out there right now selling a 6" lift, rubicon express, rusty's offroad, and skyjacker. Forget about skyjacker, too pricey, rusty's or rubicon are the best. Unless you have a way of getting good deals on items, you'd be best buying a complete kit than rather try to customize your own. If your willing to, i'd go with the rubicon, definitely worth your money. As far as tires, 33's work with 6" of lift, you just have to fender trim, which is a good mod because it allows more flex. With 33's and a 6" lift, you shouldn't have to do too much. But XJ's are bad for driveline angles. Anything abouve 3or4" and you might need to get shims, drop the t-case or get a SYE. T-case the cheapest, but counter productive, SYE-best buy, but expensive. 87-89 XJ's some have a D44 in the rear, like me
and the D44 came with the towing package. Standards are 3.07 and autos 3.55. Both liveable with 33's, but only for awhile, i'd recommend 4.10's or 4.56.
Your front axle, D30, should hold up fine with the 33's along as your not heavy on the gas, and your rear axle should too, whether its the D35, D35C, or 8.25. I have 4" of lift some fender trimming, and i could run 32's, so you 33's should run fine with 6".
The best thing to do, decide what you want, first the jeep(don't get the 2.8L V6), than what lift and tires you want to run. Remembering that you have to regear if you want to use the fifth gear, and crawl off road. But take it slowly, get to know your jeep first, how it handles and so on. Save up and get the lift and tires, maybe drive with that for awhile, than go for the gears and to save money do the lockers at the same time.
Hope this helps, any other questions, there is tons of help here, so ask
Cheers
Jordan
P.S. I've got a 1.5" Budget boost, so you could look at 4.5" lifts(rubicon, rusty's) and then buy my budget boost and you'd get 6"
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87 XJ: 4" lift, 31x10.50 BFG's, roof rack, ramsey 8000 winch, hi lift jack, cb radio, swaybars disconnected, and some other stuff
[This message has been edited by XJman (edited October 25, 2001).]