Batts65

First, thank you all of you for posting info on here, I started shopping in early august for my first Jeep and began lurking here at the same time. I test drove a 2011 and decided to wait on the 2012. Test drove one last week and now I am just waiting on the dealer to find a close match to what I want.

It will be a JKU Sport, Black.

Some questions:
-What is the largest tire I can fit on a Sport without any mod's? Looking at 33's
-If needed is the Teraflex budget boost worth it? I cannot tell if this is something that is more for leveling or to give extra room for bigger tires.
-I will admit it is mostly for looks at this point, eventually I will be going off road but that may be a year away.
-I am looking for one with the Max Tow package, what is the max towing capacity on a JKU?? The Jeep website say 2000lbs, that seems very low. I am not looking to tow much, just a small open trailer with a couple of dirt bikes, only about 1000lbs but may look into a pop up camper down the road.
-The one the dealer found does not have step bars, I am thinking of getting the Smittybilt SRC rails that have the step built in but I have been reading some horror stories about these, they do not bolt on and require some drilling, not comfortable with that. The price is right but I am concerned about my abilities in fabrication.

I know the mod's are coming, it is just a question of what to start with, will most likely get new wheels (black of course) and use the stock tires until next year.

Hopefully the dealer has it here by next week, they sound they found 2 or 3 that are close to what I want but the dealers are not willing to give them up.

Thanks for the all the input.

SebasCbass

First of, welcome to the forum and welcome to the Jeep family!

If you are not going to be doing any heavy offroading, and the jeep is mostly for show, you can go with the teraflex 2.5 Budget Boost. This will give you enough clearance for the 33's that you want to put on your Jeep. Stock Jeeps are very capable of doing some impressive stuff offroading so you wouldn't need to worry much. I would personally get a 2.5 inch Teraflex Coil Lift with some new shocks. You can look around for Rubi shocks and you will notice the difference right away from the Sport shocks.

It really depends on what you want to do with the Jeep, there are a ton of different modifications one can do and everyone has their own styles and setups. Before you do anything, read up and do some research, listen to other forum members and get a good idea on what it is that you want. Good luck with your new Jeep and have fun!!!!

MikekiM

Welcome aboard.. I am still pretty new, though this is my second JK.. My first one was black and I will never do that again. Just gets nasty looking too quickly. Your miles may vary..

33's should fit no problem.. Much depends on the offset of the wheel and cross section of the tire. You might need to trim the air dam, or add spacers, but I ran DT 33x12.5 on a 15x10 wheel with 4" backspace on an otherwise stock Sport and had no problem.

TeraFlex makes a kit specifically for leveling called.... a Leveling Kit. That's what I have installed. Takes the rake out of the JK and adds a touch of lift. Cheap and easy. That said, even if you think you won't be off-road soon, the chances are good that you'll get bit by the mod bug and will want to go higher. Welcome to my world. I've already started to research better lift options. At a minimum, I will be doing the Rubi JKU springs and shocks, but who knows if I'll be able restrain myself from doing more.

Can't help you on this one...

I have these side rails and I opted to have the dealer install them. That made the headache theirs not mine. We worked it into the purchase. In retrospect, while I still like the look of them, I would have opted for something different had I take more time to research more hard-core options. Like anything else, it pays to do your research and buy the best first rather than replace it later. The SRC rails are kind of bulky; I worry about my daughter slipping while standing on the rail and have her leg get mangled between the multiple tubes; I lost the spot on the stock steps where I used to put my coffee cup while opening the door..

Hmmm... I know it sucks to chuck something that is new, but I would opt to go with tires before wheels. All of the stock wheels are far more capable than the stock rubber IMHO. You could sell off the stock rubber while it has low miles on it, and bedline your stock wheels. Lots of posts here on painted stock wheels.

Good luck finding what you want!!!

Take it slow. These rigs are entirely capable with next to no mods. Just figure out what you want to do with it and mod towards that end.

Check out my pic poster (click on the Mango in my sig).. there are pics of the rails, 33's, TF leveling kit etc....

Batts65

Thanks for the input guys.

Mike, I like you bumper mod, looks great.

Cannot wait to get started.

MikekiM

Easy and cheap!!



The best combination!

robsjeep9

WHAT!!! Black all the way A JEEP LOOKS good nasty...... DIRTY!!

robsjeep9

You'll be addicted to mods in no time... Start saving $$$$$$

Lighting Guy

We seem to have many of the same views. I have a '12 black Sport S with max tow with about 3200 miles on it. Haven't gotten it offroad yet (not really any places around here, and no time) but I want to paint the stock wheels black soon.

If you get an unlimited with max tow it will have the 3.73 axle ratio, which will allow you to tow 3500 lbs max.

I'm not too familiar with the Smittybilts, but I have the ACE rails and love them. Lifetime warranty if you destroy them on the trail, and they look sweet.

Hope this helps, have fun.

Irish Jeep

Welcome to the forum!!!

Batts65

I guess the one thing I like about the Smittybilt's is they double as a step. My wife wants to make sure she can get in and out as it gets higher off the groud.

Thanks for all the welcomes too the forum.

Go G-men, should be 4-1 after Seattle this weekend, notice how I said should.