JKU Daily Driver, Want to build. Visited local parts accessory shop and heard nothing what i was expecting.

Leveling Kits are unsafe they'll ruin your tires and stress on jeep components. You should install a 2.5" lift
and do it right.

Not what i wanted to hear. Am i getting the run around to spend more?

I know exactly what i want to run: 285x70x17's with 17x9 KMC XD801 Crank wheels, offset? back spacing?
NEVER going any bigger.
I also want to get rid of factory rake and make sure the 285's don't rub. Considered 275's so this doesn't happen.
That's it. Not interested in a lift at all. Want to use that lift money on other cosmetic accessories.

Was looking at the TeraFlex leveling kit.

 

Extremely unsafe

 

I think they meant a spacer lift rather than purely leveling, and in that case they are probably right.

But you can get rid of the rake with a 0.75" or 1" spacer up front without having any significant impact on suspension geometry. I won't comment about your tire/wheel choice and whether it will rub but Dirtman has a great write-up on lifts and more importantly, how to do it "right" without a lift.

 

Lower the better. In fact a spacer 2.5 will net 2.5 whereas a coil lift can net more.

 

A 2" spacer lift is fine for 285's.

Ditch that local shop that is obviously mis-informed and spewing bad advice.

Purchase your parts from one of sponsors and install it yourself if you are even moderately handy.

 

I suspect that your parts store was more interested in selling you an expensive lift kit than giving you factual advice.
I, like thousands of JK owners, have run a TF leveling kit (for 3+ years) without any problems. I run 255/80/17 pizza cutter tires and it's the right amount of lift for my uses. Added RockHard skid plates a year ago and now can wheel in moderately-challenging rocks without worrying about the undercarriage (just got back from Canyonlands/Moab and didn't have any problems at all).

 

Mods should merge this thread with the same thread started at 9:51am

 

Yes, certainly trust anecdotal evidence from some random dude on the internet more than a shop who works on Jeeps and knows what they are talking about.

It's all a matter of opinion and perspective anyway. There are very good factual reasons why the JK stock suspension geometry is less than ideal and adding a 2" spacer lift makes the less than ideal geometry worse enough to classify it as "bad" in many people's minds. Personally I classify it as "bad" in stock form and then "even worse" with a 2" spacer "lift", particularly in the front. But I come from a whole different school of suspension tuning than most Jeep guys, so I understand why many Jeepers would consider a 2" spacer lift totally OK.

Read TheDirtman's post: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...-lifts-288269/
It's a good one.

Understand that by changing the ride height with a spacer, you are changing the angle of lots of stuff and you will be putting static stresses on the suspension that it was not intended to have on it all the time. And you will be reducing what already is a way-too-low caster angle.

Now, whether I would classify all of this as "unsafe"... well, I think stock JK suspension is only borderline safe to begin with so yeah, I guess I can understand why a shop would call that "unsafe". I agree the shop is hoping to sell you something better (and more expensive), but I am sure they think that it will also perform better and they are probably right.

All that said, most of the mods new Jeep JK owners do are absolutely unsafe for a street-driven vehicle, and virtually all JK owners think that it's perfectly fine and dandy to do these mods and care far more about appearance and their own sense of "off-road performance" than they do about road-going safety of their vehicles and other drivers who share the road with them. Among the range of mods you could (and probably will) do that diminish the JK's safety, a 2" spacer lift has to be about the least bad.

Do whatever you want with your own Jeep, but I just hope you become informed first. I would imagine your shop was trying to help you in that regard.

 

You can run 285/70/17 without any lift or leveling kits. You just gotta make sure your wheels got 4.5 or less backspace.

 

So you are saying that shop dude knows more about Geometry than MOPAR Jeep engineers? On a serious not, what is a 2 inch Teraflex spacer going to change other than the track bar and drag link (which can be corrected with a slight adjustment)?