Originally Posted by Mark Doiron

As I added weight it was the rear that sagged. So I ended up with a mixed bag on the springs: 2.5" TF on the front, 2.5" OME HD on the rear. It is a stiff ride because of the OME springs, but I'm okay with it. With a little trimming here and there and 4.5" BS wheels, I have no rubbing. It did take a while to find all of the places that needed trimming, though (because the rubbing was only under certain conditions, not because there was so much of it). Don't believe those people who say to trim the pinch seams only for 37s and larger: They are wrong. Driveshafts: I wheel pretty hard sometimes, and after 125K miles or so my front driveshaft Rzeppa joint failed. I installed a Tom Woods.

BTW: You may have seen the Jeep that is very similar to mine in some of my videos/pictures--it's very dark green (really looks black) '12, and has a different roof rack (AEV), but otherwise very similar to mine. He also had to replace his rear 2.5" TF springs with OME HD to level the rig and keep it from riding on the bump stops. He runs 33" Duratracs, BTW (I run 35s). He replaced the front driveshaft because it was recommended by David at Northridge.

My suspicion from all of this: Once you install your lift and load your rig up, the rear may sag. AEV seems to have a better handle on this, however. I have a friend (the white '12 JK in the videos) who is running the 2.5" AEV lift with control arm relocation brackets. It doesn't sag, but uses a trailer rather than an overhead rack for a large portion of his gear. He has kept his stock driveshafts and has had no issues.

To be honest, if I was building another rig, I'd probably go 2.5" AEV with TF front lower control arms on 35" tires. I would go no larger on tires, and there's no overlanding performance reason to go any taller on the lift. I would definitely stay away from 37" tires because even with the 35s I find myself in places where gas becomes critical. If you're not used to some of the remote places around even the U.S., you can become complacent about gas. A couple vignettes:

1. Colorado. Planned to gas up before crossing Medano Pass. Except the only gas station for 35 miles (one way) according to our GPS closed six months ago.

2. Texas Big Bend. The only gas station for 50 miles burned down last week. On top of that, the few towns in the area are suffering major power outages because recent weather has knocked out much of the power distribution system. If you arrive at a gas station, you may spend your time waiting for power to be restored before you can continue your trip.

Gas range is important--very much so. And so is carrying extra gas.

Originally Posted by toxicity_27

I've already trimmed my pinch seams, so I'm good there. I'm going to be looking into different wheels. I wish I wouldn't have gone with the 20" wheels, but of course hindsight is 20/20. I'm still running stock driveshafts, but will look into changing those out eventually. For some reason I'm still leaning towards the AEV 3.5". I think I just like the look a little bit more, and some of what comes in the kit I've been looking to get anyway, and I can sell what I won't need (procal, correction brackets, etc.). I've got the TF front lower control arms, but have yet to install them. I'm not really planning on purchasing a trailer anytime soon, plus what I've read from you, the consensus is that they are great, but they really slow you down on the trail. I'm 95% certain I will now no longer go bigger than a 35" tire. What kind of gas range do you get? I've got the TF carrier, and accessory mount so I'll have a spot to put a rotopax (which I need to do some searching on to see how big of a rotopax I can carry), however if it's not going to give me enough range I'll be looking into a rear bumper with a tire carrier and all the jerry can mounts (most likely LoD) instead of just the rear bumper. I don't plan on changing out my stubby front bumper, as I prefer the look of it over a mid width or a full width. I've looked into some racks, and since I live in salt country some of them shy me away, especially since I run my soft top all summer, so I don't want to have to switch back to a hardtop just to get a rack, and I'm not a fan of having to drill through the hard top. I also wish I could find one where I could do a 50" bar across the front, but I haven't been able to find one that I like yet. I may just end up getting a light bar and forgoing the rack altogether. Though I'm planning on getting limb risers too, so I need to see if I can get them to hook up to a light bar mount. I've also been looking at adding a rear table to my tailgate, and I'm looking at the TF one. Though I'll want to add my tools to it (shovel, axe, etc.). I really need to start getting my list and pricing together so I can keep track of all this.

Originally Posted by Mark Doiron

I get about 15 MPG if I keep my speed at 65 MPH, and the wind isn't too bad. It drops quickly to 12 or so if I go 75 and the wind kicks up. Range ... Well, at about 200 miles I'm starting to think about that next tank of gas. I've never put more than 19 gallons, even when I thought all I had left was fumes. That was at about 240 miles.

Originally Posted by horrocks007

I have a Gobi rack, no drilling, has a light bar. You should look at them if you haven't. I run a soft top all summer, takes an extra 5 minutes to take down with the rack.

Mark, that's great gas mileage with 35's. I also have a saggy rear end (lol). My hard top+rack has it sagging at least 1/2 inch of where it should be.

I am looking at the upgrading to Rock Krawler 1.5" coils. Not sure if it's wise or not. Just waiting to see if I'd still have the sagging with their coils over my factory ones +leveling pucks. If not AEV might be in my future.

Originally Posted by toxicity_27

I've already trimmed my pinch seams, so I'm good there. ...

Originally Posted by toxicity_27

Good to know. I'm sitting at about the same range as my DD. Definitely need to get a little lower and get rid of these 20s. I was originally thinking of replacing them with beadlocks, but I've given that up since I know for sure that I want to do an expedition JK. Now to look into different wheels.

Originally Posted by horrocks007

I have a Gobi rack, no drilling, has a light bar. You should look at them if you haven't. I run a soft top all summer, takes an extra 5 minutes to take down with the rack.

Mark, that's great gas mileage with 35's. I also have a saggy rear end (lol). My hard top+rack has it sagging at least 1/2 inch of where it should be.

I am looking at the upgrading to Rock Krawler 1.5" coils. Not sure if it's wise or not. Just waiting to see if I'd still have the sagging with their coils over my factory ones +leveling pucks. If not AEV might be in my future.

Originally Posted by Mark Doiron

Yeah, for expedition type travel 18-20 PSI is about as low as you want to go on tire pressure--you don't want the sidewall too exposed from letting too much air out (that is personal experience speaking there). So, beadlocks come with a few maintenance hassles with no real benefit for that type of use. The only possible exceptions might be if you're crossing snow/sand. Then you'd probably go way lower. But, you're probably not that concerned about the tire taking a hit and breaking the bead.