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JK TalkGeneral discussion forum regarding thoughts, opinions and rumors about the Jeep JK Wrangler or related subjects that don't quite fit in the Modified, Stock or Electronics forums.
I say leave it alone. Nothing wrong with a stock Wrangler.
For that I'm glad. Just bought a new JKU (Willys package). Only thing I could afford right now was a hood lock. Heck, had to make my own bug/rock screen out of an old windowscreen I cut down to size and painted black.
I think you are disregarding dynamic forces during braking and steering. All of the steering components will wear earlier and have higher potential of breaking, and wear of those components leads to "death wobble". And you have greatly increased the leverage on the brakes by moving the wheel centerline further from the rotor surface which doesn't just change brake wear but also shear stress on the brake caliper bolts, sleeves/bushings, etc. And that also tremendously increases the wheel bearing stress during braking.
I'm not so much suggesting that there will be a high instance of catastrophic failure, but more suggesting that there will be a reasonably increased chance of catastrophic failure and notably reduced durability along with a constant decrease in performance. There really is no upside, besides someone's subjective idea of the appearance.
And by the way I made this same argument with people running the wrong offset wheels on Miatas just because they like that "wheels stick out" look and would say the same thing about the wire-wheels-sticking-out-from-your-monte-carlo fad of 15 years ago. All of this has the same negative effect on performance and durability for the misguided purpose of different appearance. IMHO.
I say leave it alone. Nothing wrong with a stock Wrangler.
I agree. I didnt mention them as i would rank them fractional compared to the other componants. But you are absolutely correct. I can add though....these kinds of changes to dynamics are not the sole contributor to Death wobble. I had a terrible DW on my 87 wrangler many moons ago and dealer didnt/ couldnt fix it and bought the vehicle back. Back then death wobble wasnt discovered yet, that i know of. Also in relation to dynamics....just about anything you mod on any car directly effects the dynamics. Me personally i enjoy modding my jeep as i dont want my jeep looking like all the rest in town. :/
I have to go with the negative for the daily driving. My 08 JKUX I ran 33's with 1.5 spacers 24/7 with a 4" lift kit and every year had to do front end work. Ball Joints, drag-links tie rods or the gear box. Some years all of them. This time around with my 15 JKUR I put 1.75 inch hockey pucks on the springs and run the stock tires daily. When I go off roading I change the tiers out for the 35's with 4.5" back spacing. My hope is the components will not prematurely ware out. My 2 cents
I think you are disregarding dynamic forces during braking and steering. All of the steering components will wear earlier and have higher potential of breaking, and wear of those components leads to "death wobble". And you have greatly increased the leverage on the brakes by moving the wheel centerline further from the rotor surface which doesn't just change brake wear but also shear stress on the brake caliper bolts, sleeves/bushings, etc. And that also tremendously increases the wheel bearing stress during braking.
I'm not so much suggesting that there will be a high instance of catastrophic failure, but more suggesting that there will be a reasonably increased chance of catastrophic failure and notably reduced durability along with a constant decrease in performance. There really is no upside, besides someone's subjective idea of the appearance.
And by the way I made this same argument with people running the wrong offset wheels on Miatas just because they like that "wheels stick out" look and would say the same thing about the wire-wheels-sticking-out-from-your-monte-carlo fad of 15 years ago. All of this has the same negative effect on performance and durability for the misguided purpose of different appearance. IMHO.
I say leave it alone. Nothing wrong with a stock Wrangler.
Okay... I'll bite science guy. What exactly are the quantitative differences to all that additional stress? By what percentage does this increase catastrophic failure? (and what is your definition of catastrophic failure?) How much does it decrease durability? How tremendously increased is the stress on the wheel bearing hub assemblies? How greatly is the leverage on the brakes increased? How much increase on the shear stress on the caliper bolts?
Or is this just your layman opinion? Or do you have credentials and research to provide?
Okay... I'll bite science guy. What exactly are the quantitative differences to all that additional stress? By what percentage does this increase catastrophic failure? (and what is your definition of catastrophic failure?) How much does it decrease durability? How tremendously increased is the stress on the wheel bearing hub assemblies? How greatly is the leverage on the brakes increased? How much increase on the shear stress on the caliper bolts?
Or is this just your layman opinion? Or do you have credentials and research to provide?
The fact that jeep front ends aren't exploding all over the place says, percentage is not that great. Changing anything will have effects elsewhere, it is just a case of, are they acceptable for the gains elsewhere.
[QUOTE=ToledoDave;4222472]We run 2" spacers. :/ we love the wide stance and no issues. Prior to spacers we rubbed the front air damn/plastic belly pan. At same time changed the bumpers.
Attachment 648946 What size lift do you have? Upgraded my tires (33s) along with fender flares & liners, having some rubbing. Thinking about both 2" spacers and 2.5" lift.
Wheel adapter yes. 2.5" lift is optional, you really don't need it to run 33's as the factory tires are 32". It does not take 2.5" of lift to run 1/2" more tire.
Been running spacers with stock (painted) wheels for 100k miles. Several trips from Ft. Worth to Colorado, wheeling here at home, and a daily driver (75 miles round trip) on the highway.
06-07-2016, 12:50 PM
