Hello my name is Josh, this is my first time posting to the forums. I'm from Auburn, California and I love spending time up here in the woods and on the trails of nor cal. I casually cruise jk forums but haven't had any money to put into the Jeep for a few months. So I haven't needed to do any posting. But I have been researching parts, planning my build, and budgeting imaginary money in my head! Now I've got the money and the plans and I'd like to share my idea and get any input I can from you guys.

So here it is. I bought a Dune 2014 JKU sport hardtop back in January and have done a few minor things to it. First thing I did was get some mickey thompson classic 3's in 17x9. In spring I ordered the Offroad-heroes (california tops) fastback soft top. Since I had a soft top on in the summer I wanted to make sure and protect the seats when the top came off, so I ordered trek-armors front and back in all back. And finally I put a rugged ridge modular bumper on the front with the double x striker bar. Here's a little shot of my jeep so far out at lake Fordyce. And that's it! So far...



Now I want to get into the bigger stuff, the lift, tires, gears, etc. So after staying up way too late countless nights reading up on lifts and member builds, here's what I want to do and if you see any gaping flaws let me know!

For starters this is my daily driver so I need to keep it "somewhat" practical but more importantly reliable. That being said this will by no means be a hardcore rock crawler, I have buddies I can ride with who have yotas and love to beat them up for that haha. I'd like to get the metal cloak True Dual-Rate Lift Kit with fox shocks. I'm not sure if I want to go with the 2.5 or 3.5, that is one of the questions I was going to propose to you guys. I'm also really leaning towards 37's simply because of looks I'm not gonna lie. Everytime see a JK on 35's I feel like I'd wish I went with 37's if I were to order the 35's like the ones I see around town. As for the tires I'd like to get the new toyo open country RT's.

Next I figured running huge tires I'd either need to get axle trusses with C-gusset braces or the synergy inner axle sleeves, or both. I'm not sure yet, what are your guys thoughts? I also plan on getting it regeared, probably 4.88's. And I plan on running flat fenders, I'm just not sure what brand I'll go with yet.

And that's it for my future plans for now because they are going to cost a lot of money haha. So thanks for reading and let me know what you guys think!

 

With your sport, Running 37's on just a truss or gussets is bad news, you should really consider upgrading your axle if seriously considering 37's. 35's look great by the way, no reason to go to 37's if just for looks. As for running 37's on a 2.5" lift, this is possible with flat flares such as Metal Cloak Overline or MCE Gen III Fenders. Heck, you can run 35's on no lift and flat fenders, but I don't really suggest that because the stock suspension isn't the best.

If for whatever reason you decide on 35's over 37's, 4.56 gears are good. They are not needed right away, if you can't afford them for budget reasons. Running a Superchips will help gain you some power back.

Here is a pic of my JK with 2.5" (Teraflex) lift on 35's (BFG KM2) tires for reference.



Hope this helps, looking forward to seeing your decision.