chiapeteater

So at some point in time I am thinking I would like to put a Metalcloak 2.5" Overland Elite lift on my 2017 JKUR.

My Jeep currently has 17x9 wheels with 5.5" backspacing and I have Nitto Ridge Grapplers on them that are 305/70/17. Nitto's website says they measure out to 33.86" dia. x 12.25" wide. My tape measure with calipers measures 33.25" x 12.25. I also have a Teraflex performance leveling kit on it (coil springs, not the puck spacers). There is no rubbing at all right now.

Now, my problem is that my tires just baaaaaaaaarely stick out of the factory fenders and if I had gone with 4.5" backspacing or if I put wheel spacers on, the f-ing HOA at my condo may give me massive amounts of sh*t for wheels sticking too far out of the fenders. The reason I bought my Jeep was because my HOA suddenly decided that I was no longer allowed to park my truck at my residence(2012 Ford F-350 4 door full size bed, diesel) or anyone else driving any kind of pick up truck for that matter.

I know that 4.5" bs would be optimal for this suspension.

I am wanting to build this Jeep as an overland/expedition Jeep for camping/fishing, etc so my offroad trips will be extended lengths of time and not the type of thing where I go to an OHV park for a day or two and then return home. I.E. I am not building a rock crawler per se.

I would only be going offroading one to two times a year for a couple of weeks at a time, the rest of the time the Jeep would be a daily driver when I am home from work.

My question is.........would I be able to run this suspension as a daily driver under normal road conditions with the wheels and tires I have on it (no spacers), and when planing on going offroad, install some Spidertrax wheel spacers, go offroading, and then take them off when I get back from offroading.

nthinuf

Maybe I'm not completely understanding this. You are running those tires now, with a leveling kit, and they do not rub. Correct? But, if you add another inch or two of height, they will suddenly start rubbing and you will need spacers?

chiapeteater

I am running those wheels and tires right now on the leveling kit and there is no rubbing.

I do not know if there would be rubbing with this wheel and tire combination if I installed the Metalcloak kit under normal on highway/road driving conditions. That, in essence is the question. Would there be rubbing or would spacers be required even under normal driving conditions. If spacers or more wheel offset is required, then I would not be able to install this kit at this time.

TheDirtman

No, you would not need spacers to run that lift. Wheel backspacing really has nothing to do with lift. Backspacing has to do with tire clearance. You dont need the metal cloak lift and will gain nothing by installing it. You would basically be throwing money away.

WaterRat72

And there it is in a nutshell. I run spacers because I am on a stock JK wheel. If you're not rubbing... don't fix what ain't broke. As for overlanding, that's basically what I do and both the stock Rubicon suspension that I had including the 2.5" Rubicon Express lift that I currently have (with .75" pucks added) are more than adiquate including a couple trips in some pretty rough sh*t. No need to shell out big bucks for bling factor unless you really want that sort of thing. Save the dough and upgrade brakes imo.

jadmt

the only thing I would say is while the teraflex 1.5" performance coil kit rides nice if you really are going to be loaded you will be sagged in the back as they don't handle excessive weight well. I had the kit and it will look like a dog squatting. The MC overland kit will handle the excessive weight better.

cidd

I have the 1" 1/2 lift from metal cloak it will give you 2" of lift without steel bumpers and winch. All there lifts are rated for a loaded up jeep so they will be taller if you go stock. I love mine it rides great and it came with everything it needs to work properly and took me 7 hours to install and I took my time doing it.

chiapeteater

This was along the lines of my thinking for getting the 2.5" lift.

I have already added a heavier spare tire carrier, a heavier spare tire, and put a winch on the front.
I will be adding a few Rotopax's or Jerry cans full of gas, a few that will be full of water. I plan on putting an ARB fridge in the back, some form of fridge slider, camping gear, an overhead rack (probably the Maximus-3) for carrying two Jackson Kayaks (one weighs 45 pounds the other weighs 35 pounds). Possibly a dual battery system. Air compressor w/tank. Looking real hard at purchasing a Shockworks rear bumper and also 99% sure that I will be adding the full Metalcloak Undercloak armor system.

That is a lot of weight.

cabmak4life78

You have plans to build an incredibly capable rig for only going out 30 days out of the year. Seems a bit overbuilt to me for your use as described above.

BRinSCupstate

With all that, you'll definitely be bottoming out stock. Before adding the 3.5 MC, we loaded up coming from beach and rubbed rear fenders with my 33 bfg.