chiggerdude

My wife currently has a 2010 JK Wrangler sport. I've lifted it 4" and put on 34" Mickey tires. She loves that thing and I can't get her to let me drive it.
My question is I'm toying with the idea of either a JKU or another JK for me.
What are your thoughts about things you'd do differently or again if you were to buy another one?
I do some interstate driving and with the short wheel base (and lifted) her jeep is too much for the interstate.
Either way I plan on doing some sort of lift and want somewhat of an aggressive stance that's still "highway" worthy. 2.5" lift and maybe? 33" tires?

Any input will be appreciated!


Brian

Smudgeontheglass

I have a 2012 JK Rubicon and have done a 2.5" lift with 35" tires. The stock 4.10 axle ratio makes it so that any steep grade hill forces me to downshift to 4th gear and 6th is not useful in strong winds. Otherwise with the 3.6L it is fine.

I have never had an issue highway driving in the short wheelbase. The seating position in my Jeep makes it so that I do no fatigue as bad as smaller cars.

There have been a lot of occasions that made me wish I had a JKU just for the back seat, but if you don't have those situations I would not even worry. I fixed my space for overlanding this year by purchasing a small utility trailer. The trailer worked well and my Jeep towed it through the Coquihalla in BC in 30C weather just fine.

resharp001

When you say her 2-dr is too much for the interstate, is it just all over the place, doesn't feel stable at high speeds? I presume you guys have some sort of caster correction paired with that 4" of lift?

I have a 4dr, but with 3.5" lift and 37s, it's as solid as can be at interstate speeds. I know folks with similar builds on the short wheel base with no issues as well. My personal opinion is 2.5" and 35's is a nice look. For me, 33's look a bit small on a JK, but that is all subjective to tastes. 35's start getting on the edge of the gearing debate is the one downside.

chiggerdude

It's not really all over the place so much, just rather "twitchy."
I have to drive 2:40 min twice a week. I run 28 psi in her tires, no cruise control and 6th gear almost never gets used. I may re-gear hers with 4:11's and a possible better front stabilizer. I'd like to set mine up a little more comfortable is all.

Thanks for the input fellas!

resharp001

I wouldn't waste time with a front stabilizer. If your caster is addressed, there's no need to have anything other than the factory or other similarly cheap stabilizer on there. You'll find many that will back that statement up. That is just throwing money out the door rather than addressing the issue.

"twitchy" sounds like a caster issue, but I didn't see if you said you had adjusted caster on wife's jeep. If not, that could make a load of difference in her ride......although doesn't really solve your itch for getting yourself a JK. LOL. I know you didn't come for advice on hers.....that statement from the original post just caught my eye.

chiggerdude

Thanks guys. I'll talk to my 4x4 performance shop and schedule an alignment. It's about due anyhow. I'll mention the twitchy steering and the castor. If hers seems to really ride better afterwards... I'll take the plunge on getting a new one for me. I was just thinking it was par for the course running 34"-35" tires.
Thanks again

resharp001

I think a lot of people chalk it up to "it's a jeep" in regards to a rough ride. That doesn't have to be the case. I can tell you that I'm 100% confident in letting go of my steering wheel while doing 80mph on the interstate....and the thing drives as straight as an arrow. I drove my JKU on 4" lift when starting out with no caster adjustment. After adding full set of adjustable arms to my build, I was finally able to dial my caster in, at which point I realized how bad the ride was previously. Drove for little over a year like that before I finished up by flipping my drag link, and that made just as big of a difference as correcting my caster beforehand did. 4" is pretty high, specially for a 2dr. Will be curious to hear alignment specs. I suspect caster is low on hers.

Back to your original post......I'd get a 4dr since there is already a 2dr in the family. Best of both worlds.

realjeep

I myself did a 2008 JKUX build with 4” Rockroller lift, with most of the Tie rod and drag link accessories. I also ran 33” With 1.5 Back spacers all the time.

This ended up costing me about 1500+ a year in replacement parts maintenance IE: ball joints, tie ends, power steering gear box etc. And I wore out those fancy $600+ rebuild-able ball joints twice and once with the Moog ends. Just driving around town normally.

My Jeep is a DD 99.5% of the time.

I decided to trade my 2008 X for a 2015 JKUR. I kept my front and rear bumpers with dueling wenches. Then I put armor on the differentials, Full Synergy armor plates from gas tank to oil pan. That lowered my stock hight about 1” in from and 1.25” in rear so I put 1.75” Synergy spacers on the stock coils. Then I bought a second set of Rims with 5” back spacing and put 35” Kevlars for off road use only and a set of cheep thin fender flares to clear the 35’s (to be upgraded later.)

Basically with the 35” and spacers on I got a real lift of around 4” (front stock) with one of the best under armor kits out there. I’m not sure why I get that much lift my speculation is that the 35” tires are holding their roundness better then the stock tires. And if stock parts ware out they are very cheep to replace compared to aftermarket kits. One of my mechanics told me that driving with large tires and back spacing all the time put tones of extra ware on the system. Even though 33” is only 1 inch size bigger than stock the back spacing really stressed out the axles.

So I DD with the stock Robi Tires. They seem to work better in the snow anyway and I live on the side of a mountain. Either set of tires I get a factory style ride all the time and when I deflate the 35”s down to say 15 LBS I get the same cushy ride I got with the 4” lift and 33” tires.

Of course this limits me to intermediate trails but I’m not looking to do a lot of body damage repairs.

My 2 Cents

PS I spent about $4000 with tires, armor and labor. Keep in mind I already had the bumpers and wenches from the old jeep witch is probably another $2000+. I need to get better rock sliders and fender flares ... have to save for now.

Mark Doiron

I'm with resharp. Really sounds like she has caster problems. And unless you installed adjustable control arms (IOW, went with a quality lift instead of something cheap), there is nothing to align.

Regardless, a four door will be more stable to drive just because of the extended wheelbase (which shouldn't be interpreted as explaining why a two door would be "twitchy"). But tires, lift, etc, should be driven by what you plan to do with the Jeep. Even two door/four door should be considered. I'm single, drive all over North America--U.S./Mexico border to the Arctic Ocean--and found that the four door is packed with gear. I could never fit in a two door. But I carry a lot of photography gear, along with the usual camping/overlanding gear.

If you'd just like a nice stance and aren't worried about off-road performance, then a 2.5" lift, wheel spacers or new wheels with 4.5" (or so) of backspacing, and 33-35" tires would look nice. Even with 2.5" spacer lift, change out the front lower control arms so you can adjust the caster and eliminate that "twitchy" driving. Or install a front end geometry kit like AEV offers. I'd recommend against camber bolts, however. They are notorious for coming loose off road. Even if you never drive off pavement, the next owner of your Jeep might, and he will call you many bad names for installing camber bolts. ;-)

My Jeep years ago, when I had 2.5" spacer lift with 4.5" BS wheels and 33" tires ...



And my Jeep these days, 2.5" coil lift, same wheels, 35" tires ...

Spank

What's the story on the ball joints? If you're running the stock ones and they're going bad, they'll definitely give you that twitchy or flighty feel, especially at higher speeds. Adjusting the caster will certainly help, but good ball joints can make a phenomenal difference.