Built dana44 front vs prorock
11-30-2016, 04:56 AM
#21
JK Super Freak
To be clear, I am not advocating a position that a "built" 44 is just as good as a PR44.
I will, however, take the position that a trussed 44 is leaps and bounds better than a stock 44, even without data.
Since I do not have engineering data of a trussed 44, or the data from experiments comparing a trussed D44 vs a PR44, I cannot make a determination as to a "winner".
I will, however, take the position that a trussed 44 is leaps and bounds better than a stock 44, even without data.
Since I do not have engineering data of a trussed 44, or the data from experiments comparing a trussed D44 vs a PR44, I cannot make a determination as to a "winner".
11-30-2016, 07:32 AM
#22
JK Jedi
Larry nailed it.
Everyone ignores the center section when comparing strength.
The factory axles are not as weak as people make them out to be, but they do have their limitations and were chosen for the size of tire on the factory jeep. Ignoring recommend axle size to tire size will generally result in problems and putting gimmick parts on it is not likely to help.
Again the Artec and other so called trusses out there add very little to the stock housing. They are not a true axle truss that keeps the axle from flexing. All they do is add some strength to the top of each tube. They don't keep the entire axle from flexing at the differential. Sleeves do almost nothing as well and yes I has sleeved and gusseted a rubi front I had. Gussets will help stiffen up the inner C but they do not bullet proof them. IMO the biggest benefit from a PR44 is that you can get it caster corrected.
All that being said I don't recommend the Pro rock 44 to anyone. I also don't recommend building up a front axle. Build or buy a 9" or 60 with extra width and lock out hubs and 35 splined shafts.
Most guys that nickel and dime their rigs (due to reading a lot of poor info on the forums) think I am an ass sometimes. I made that statement with a smile on my face because you guys that think you need all this stuff but don't want to pony up the money to do it post on here to justify it in their own minds.
You even stated this thread was to justify in your mind what you have done was right. This means you have doubt in what you have done and the strength of the mods you have done. I will tell you 99% of those that have gone to a PR44 still want a 60 and many of them make the jump up to 60. Just like the guys that do 33's, 35's to 37's before they get 10,000 miles on the rig.
They don't have an issue spending $100 here or $200 there but on something like an axle or proper suspension it is "no way" and they end up spending lots of money a couple hundreds at a time and in the end do it right and have a pile of junk you can't get rid of in the corner of the garage. These are also the guys that do a build on the cheap because in the future they are going to do something different in the end and spend money twice. You know the guys "my tires are worn out so I am going to get 33's and later going to 35's" or they guys that have to run 37's with a 4" RC lift and say they get good perforce out of the 3.21 gear set they have. Then there is the "new product rage" like the Artec "truss", then that came out everyone though they had to have it and went out and spend 3-5 hundred on something they really didn't need, but hey its cool to say "I have a truss". People drooled for some reason when the 6 pack shock came out even though they had no idea on how they work or how to set them up. They saw a shiny new cool looking shock and lusted after it. The Fox adjustable steering stabilizer, wow when it came out everyone thought they had to have that dumb thing for $300+. RK has the mini stretches they con people into thinking is a great thing they need. While on a 2 door a longer wheel base does help with climbing you get almost nothing from the 1" and spend a lot of time and money on a 3" that gets you a very little in terms of performance. I would say moving from a 35" tire to a 37" tire will give you more all around performance then a 3" stretch will. I can go on and on with examples from the forums that suck people into wasting money on their rigs.
In the end my advise is to figure out what you need and want out of your rig and be realistic about it. Don't plan 42's and a bypass/coilover set up if you are living paycheck to paycheck. Hell if you are making payments not he Jeep I don't recommend doing anything to it because it is not you Jeep. It belongs to the bank or whoever holds the title. If you jeep is a daily driver it is dumb to go over 35" tires and more then about 2" of lift. I know most people do it for looks. IF YOU ARE BUILDING FOR LOOKS YOUR THREADS ON WHAT IS BEST OR HELP ME PICK OUT TIRES OR WHEELS ARE USELESS!
Once you get your overall plan in place execute it, if you can't do it all at once save and do it in thought out planned stages. That does not mean if you want to run 37's that you go out and buy them first and make them fit. Some mods are almost impossible to do in stages unless you like doing stuff multiple times. Like a coil over stretch with tons. You are best off to do it all at once and expect your rig to be down for months while you are doing it.
I highly recommend getting out on the trails as much as you can, join a club, run with people that have more experience then you do. Ride along with those people as well. Watch and learn. Most JK's are totally overbuilt for what they are doing. You don't need 37's and a giant lift to run around Badlands or the Rubicon or Moab or Windrock. 35's, lockers, proper gears, and a mild lift will run over 90% of the trails at these spots. If you have unlimited funds for your toys and don't care about throwing away money then build that shit up to your hearts desire.
Don't take this rant as a personal attack on you, it is not. I am just blunt and I am not a pc snowflake. I will answer questions and help anyone out with a build, they can take my advise or not, really does not matter to me. Its there jeep. My shop is always open to those that need help with repairs or just need a hand with a suspension set up just like it was when I was in Champaign.
Good luck with the mods.
Everyone ignores the center section when comparing strength.
The factory axles are not as weak as people make them out to be, but they do have their limitations and were chosen for the size of tire on the factory jeep. Ignoring recommend axle size to tire size will generally result in problems and putting gimmick parts on it is not likely to help.
Again the Artec and other so called trusses out there add very little to the stock housing. They are not a true axle truss that keeps the axle from flexing. All they do is add some strength to the top of each tube. They don't keep the entire axle from flexing at the differential. Sleeves do almost nothing as well and yes I has sleeved and gusseted a rubi front I had. Gussets will help stiffen up the inner C but they do not bullet proof them. IMO the biggest benefit from a PR44 is that you can get it caster corrected.
All that being said I don't recommend the Pro rock 44 to anyone. I also don't recommend building up a front axle. Build or buy a 9" or 60 with extra width and lock out hubs and 35 splined shafts.
Most guys that nickel and dime their rigs (due to reading a lot of poor info on the forums) think I am an ass sometimes. I made that statement with a smile on my face because you guys that think you need all this stuff but don't want to pony up the money to do it post on here to justify it in their own minds.
You even stated this thread was to justify in your mind what you have done was right. This means you have doubt in what you have done and the strength of the mods you have done. I will tell you 99% of those that have gone to a PR44 still want a 60 and many of them make the jump up to 60. Just like the guys that do 33's, 35's to 37's before they get 10,000 miles on the rig.
They don't have an issue spending $100 here or $200 there but on something like an axle or proper suspension it is "no way" and they end up spending lots of money a couple hundreds at a time and in the end do it right and have a pile of junk you can't get rid of in the corner of the garage. These are also the guys that do a build on the cheap because in the future they are going to do something different in the end and spend money twice. You know the guys "my tires are worn out so I am going to get 33's and later going to 35's" or they guys that have to run 37's with a 4" RC lift and say they get good perforce out of the 3.21 gear set they have. Then there is the "new product rage" like the Artec "truss", then that came out everyone though they had to have it and went out and spend 3-5 hundred on something they really didn't need, but hey its cool to say "I have a truss". People drooled for some reason when the 6 pack shock came out even though they had no idea on how they work or how to set them up. They saw a shiny new cool looking shock and lusted after it. The Fox adjustable steering stabilizer, wow when it came out everyone thought they had to have that dumb thing for $300+. RK has the mini stretches they con people into thinking is a great thing they need. While on a 2 door a longer wheel base does help with climbing you get almost nothing from the 1" and spend a lot of time and money on a 3" that gets you a very little in terms of performance. I would say moving from a 35" tire to a 37" tire will give you more all around performance then a 3" stretch will. I can go on and on with examples from the forums that suck people into wasting money on their rigs.
In the end my advise is to figure out what you need and want out of your rig and be realistic about it. Don't plan 42's and a bypass/coilover set up if you are living paycheck to paycheck. Hell if you are making payments not he Jeep I don't recommend doing anything to it because it is not you Jeep. It belongs to the bank or whoever holds the title. If you jeep is a daily driver it is dumb to go over 35" tires and more then about 2" of lift. I know most people do it for looks. IF YOU ARE BUILDING FOR LOOKS YOUR THREADS ON WHAT IS BEST OR HELP ME PICK OUT TIRES OR WHEELS ARE USELESS!
Once you get your overall plan in place execute it, if you can't do it all at once save and do it in thought out planned stages. That does not mean if you want to run 37's that you go out and buy them first and make them fit. Some mods are almost impossible to do in stages unless you like doing stuff multiple times. Like a coil over stretch with tons. You are best off to do it all at once and expect your rig to be down for months while you are doing it.
I highly recommend getting out on the trails as much as you can, join a club, run with people that have more experience then you do. Ride along with those people as well. Watch and learn. Most JK's are totally overbuilt for what they are doing. You don't need 37's and a giant lift to run around Badlands or the Rubicon or Moab or Windrock. 35's, lockers, proper gears, and a mild lift will run over 90% of the trails at these spots. If you have unlimited funds for your toys and don't care about throwing away money then build that shit up to your hearts desire.
Don't take this rant as a personal attack on you, it is not. I am just blunt and I am not a pc snowflake. I will answer questions and help anyone out with a build, they can take my advise or not, really does not matter to me. Its there jeep. My shop is always open to those that need help with repairs or just need a hand with a suspension set up just like it was when I was in Champaign.
Good luck with the mods.
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NevadaZielmeister (12-24-2017)
11-30-2016, 08:17 AM
#23
JK Junkie
Join Date: Jan 2013
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Theres a thread in JKO comparing strength truss, Vs tubes vs something else i forget. Let me see if i can find it.
A friend welded my truss and gussets on for $300 plus parts = $500. I think it matters how much is being spent on a stock axle.
A friend welded my truss and gussets on for $300 plus parts = $500. I think it matters how much is being spent on a stock axle.
11-30-2016, 08:23 AM
#24
This!
If you're able to do the work yourself (welding, light fabricating) it makes a little more sense
11-30-2016, 09:43 AM
#25
JK Super Freak
Larry nailed it.
Everyone ignores the center section when comparing strength.
The factory axles are not as weak as people make them out to be, but they do have their limitations and were chosen for the size of tire on the factory jeep. Ignoring recommend axle size to tire size will generally result in problems and putting gimmick parts on it is not likely to help.
Again the Artec and other so called trusses out there add very little to the stock housing. They are not a true axle truss that keeps the axle from flexing. All they do is add some strength to the top of each tube. They don't keep the entire axle from flexing at the differential. Sleeves do almost nothing as well and yes I has sleeved and gusseted a rubi front I had. Gussets will help stiffen up the inner C but they do not bullet proof them. IMO the biggest benefit from a PR44 is that you can get it caster corrected.
All that being said I don't recommend the Pro rock 44 to anyone. I also don't recommend building up a front axle. Build or buy a 9" or 60 with extra width and lock out hubs and 35 splined shafts.
Most guys that nickel and dime their rigs (due to reading a lot of poor info on the forums) think I am an ass sometimes. I made that statement with a smile on my face because you guys that think you need all this stuff but don't want to pony up the money to do it post on here to justify it in their own minds.
You even stated this thread was to justify in your mind what you have done was right. This means you have doubt in what you have done and the strength of the mods you have done. I will tell you 99% of those that have gone to a PR44 still want a 60 and many of them make the jump up to 60. Just like the guys that do 33's, 35's to 37's before they get 10,000 miles on the rig.
They don't have an issue spending $100 here or $200 there but on something like an axle or proper suspension it is "no way" and they end up spending lots of money a couple hundreds at a time and in the end do it right and have a pile of junk you can't get rid of in the corner of the garage. These are also the guys that do a build on the cheap because in the future they are going to do something different in the end and spend money twice. You know the guys "my tires are worn out so I am going to get 33's and later going to 35's" or they guys that have to run 37's with a 4" RC lift and say they get good perforce out of the 3.21 gear set they have. Then there is the "new product rage" like the Artec "truss", then that came out everyone though they had to have it and went out and spend 3-5 hundred on something they really didn't need, but hey its cool to say "I have a truss". People drooled for some reason when the 6 pack shock came out even though they had no idea on how they work or how to set them up. They saw a shiny new cool looking shock and lusted after it. The Fox adjustable steering stabilizer, wow when it came out everyone thought they had to have that dumb thing for $300+. RK has the mini stretches they con people into thinking is a great thing they need. While on a 2 door a longer wheel base does help with climbing you get almost nothing from the 1" and spend a lot of time and money on a 3" that gets you a very little in terms of performance. I would say moving from a 35" tire to a 37" tire will give you more all around performance then a 3" stretch will. I can go on and on with examples from the forums that suck people into wasting money on their rigs.
In the end my advise is to figure out what you need and want out of your rig and be realistic about it. Don't plan 42's and a bypass/coilover set up if you are living paycheck to paycheck. Hell if you are making payments not he Jeep I don't recommend doing anything to it because it is not you Jeep. It belongs to the bank or whoever holds the title. If you jeep is a daily driver it is dumb to go over 35" tires and more then about 2" of lift. I know most people do it for looks. IF YOU ARE BUILDING FOR LOOKS YOUR THREADS ON WHAT IS BEST OR HELP ME PICK OUT TIRES OR WHEELS ARE USELESS!
Once you get your overall plan in place execute it, if you can't do it all at once save and do it in thought out planned stages. That does not mean if you want to run 37's that you go out and buy them first and make them fit. Some mods are almost impossible to do in stages unless you like doing stuff multiple times. Like a coil over stretch with tons. You are best off to do it all at once and expect your rig to be down for months while you are doing it.
I highly recommend getting out on the trails as much as you can, join a club, run with people that have more experience then you do. Ride along with those people as well. Watch and learn. Most JK's are totally overbuilt for what they are doing. You don't need 37's and a giant lift to run around Badlands or the Rubicon or Moab or Windrock. 35's, lockers, proper gears, and a mild lift will run over 90% of the trails at these spots. If you have unlimited funds for your toys and don't care about throwing away money then build that shit up to your hearts desire.
Don't take this rant as a personal attack on you, it is not. I am just blunt and I am not a pc snowflake. I will answer questions and help anyone out with a build, they can take my advise or not, really does not matter to me. Its there jeep. My shop is always open to those that need help with repairs or just need a hand with a suspension set up just like it was when I was in Champaign.
Good luck with the mods.
Everyone ignores the center section when comparing strength.
The factory axles are not as weak as people make them out to be, but they do have their limitations and were chosen for the size of tire on the factory jeep. Ignoring recommend axle size to tire size will generally result in problems and putting gimmick parts on it is not likely to help.
Again the Artec and other so called trusses out there add very little to the stock housing. They are not a true axle truss that keeps the axle from flexing. All they do is add some strength to the top of each tube. They don't keep the entire axle from flexing at the differential. Sleeves do almost nothing as well and yes I has sleeved and gusseted a rubi front I had. Gussets will help stiffen up the inner C but they do not bullet proof them. IMO the biggest benefit from a PR44 is that you can get it caster corrected.
All that being said I don't recommend the Pro rock 44 to anyone. I also don't recommend building up a front axle. Build or buy a 9" or 60 with extra width and lock out hubs and 35 splined shafts.
Most guys that nickel and dime their rigs (due to reading a lot of poor info on the forums) think I am an ass sometimes. I made that statement with a smile on my face because you guys that think you need all this stuff but don't want to pony up the money to do it post on here to justify it in their own minds.
You even stated this thread was to justify in your mind what you have done was right. This means you have doubt in what you have done and the strength of the mods you have done. I will tell you 99% of those that have gone to a PR44 still want a 60 and many of them make the jump up to 60. Just like the guys that do 33's, 35's to 37's before they get 10,000 miles on the rig.
They don't have an issue spending $100 here or $200 there but on something like an axle or proper suspension it is "no way" and they end up spending lots of money a couple hundreds at a time and in the end do it right and have a pile of junk you can't get rid of in the corner of the garage. These are also the guys that do a build on the cheap because in the future they are going to do something different in the end and spend money twice. You know the guys "my tires are worn out so I am going to get 33's and later going to 35's" or they guys that have to run 37's with a 4" RC lift and say they get good perforce out of the 3.21 gear set they have. Then there is the "new product rage" like the Artec "truss", then that came out everyone though they had to have it and went out and spend 3-5 hundred on something they really didn't need, but hey its cool to say "I have a truss". People drooled for some reason when the 6 pack shock came out even though they had no idea on how they work or how to set them up. They saw a shiny new cool looking shock and lusted after it. The Fox adjustable steering stabilizer, wow when it came out everyone thought they had to have that dumb thing for $300+. RK has the mini stretches they con people into thinking is a great thing they need. While on a 2 door a longer wheel base does help with climbing you get almost nothing from the 1" and spend a lot of time and money on a 3" that gets you a very little in terms of performance. I would say moving from a 35" tire to a 37" tire will give you more all around performance then a 3" stretch will. I can go on and on with examples from the forums that suck people into wasting money on their rigs.
In the end my advise is to figure out what you need and want out of your rig and be realistic about it. Don't plan 42's and a bypass/coilover set up if you are living paycheck to paycheck. Hell if you are making payments not he Jeep I don't recommend doing anything to it because it is not you Jeep. It belongs to the bank or whoever holds the title. If you jeep is a daily driver it is dumb to go over 35" tires and more then about 2" of lift. I know most people do it for looks. IF YOU ARE BUILDING FOR LOOKS YOUR THREADS ON WHAT IS BEST OR HELP ME PICK OUT TIRES OR WHEELS ARE USELESS!
Once you get your overall plan in place execute it, if you can't do it all at once save and do it in thought out planned stages. That does not mean if you want to run 37's that you go out and buy them first and make them fit. Some mods are almost impossible to do in stages unless you like doing stuff multiple times. Like a coil over stretch with tons. You are best off to do it all at once and expect your rig to be down for months while you are doing it.
I highly recommend getting out on the trails as much as you can, join a club, run with people that have more experience then you do. Ride along with those people as well. Watch and learn. Most JK's are totally overbuilt for what they are doing. You don't need 37's and a giant lift to run around Badlands or the Rubicon or Moab or Windrock. 35's, lockers, proper gears, and a mild lift will run over 90% of the trails at these spots. If you have unlimited funds for your toys and don't care about throwing away money then build that shit up to your hearts desire.
Don't take this rant as a personal attack on you, it is not. I am just blunt and I am not a pc snowflake. I will answer questions and help anyone out with a build, they can take my advise or not, really does not matter to me. Its there jeep. My shop is always open to those that need help with repairs or just need a hand with a suspension set up just like it was when I was in Champaign.
Good luck with the mods.
11-30-2016, 11:16 AM
#26
JK Super Freak
The ProRock tubes and housing are substantially stronger. The larger diameter does a shit ton more to resisting deflection than your silly sleeves (about worthless), and yes your "truss" (not a real truss) also helps, it's nothing like a larger diameter pipe does, and combine that with a 1/2" wall thickness large diameter pipe and your playing in entirely different ball field.
The housing.... the casting... on a ProRock it is specifically engineered to resist flexing under extreme loads that the factory distorts at.
The tubes flexing causes the shafts to attempt to move the carrier. The center section flex allows the ring to walk away from the pinion. All of this flexing combined makes that perfect gear mesh go to hell once you get loaded up and applying stress. Axle shafts bust at the ends of the splines from this. Ring and pinion failure happens from this.
If you want some form of laymans proof, spend time searching for ProRock 44 ring and pinion failures. I know of 3 documented cases on the planet earth that I was able to dig up in hours of searching. Why do almost no ProRock 44 axles have ring/pinion failure? Because they DO NOT FLEX.
To the guy that says:
The axle shaft U-Joints are the same on the 30 and 44. The yokes are the same as well on the axles. The D44 is larger at the shaft to spline interface where the D30 necks down.
Basically, the D44 and D30 are the same axle once outside of the axle splines, with the 44 having a larger ring/pinion and larger splined shaft area. Everything outside of that is identical on the late model Dana 30 (I believe it was 2012+ that the D30 got the D44 shaft yokes and joints).
The housing.... the casting... on a ProRock it is specifically engineered to resist flexing under extreme loads that the factory distorts at.
The tubes flexing causes the shafts to attempt to move the carrier. The center section flex allows the ring to walk away from the pinion. All of this flexing combined makes that perfect gear mesh go to hell once you get loaded up and applying stress. Axle shafts bust at the ends of the splines from this. Ring and pinion failure happens from this.
If you want some form of laymans proof, spend time searching for ProRock 44 ring and pinion failures. I know of 3 documented cases on the planet earth that I was able to dig up in hours of searching. Why do almost no ProRock 44 axles have ring/pinion failure? Because they DO NOT FLEX.
To the guy that says:
The axle shaft U-Joints are the same on the 30 and 44. The yokes are the same as well on the axles. The D44 is larger at the shaft to spline interface where the D30 necks down.
Basically, the D44 and D30 are the same axle once outside of the axle splines, with the 44 having a larger ring/pinion and larger splined shaft area. Everything outside of that is identical on the late model Dana 30 (I believe it was 2012+ that the D30 got the D44 shaft yokes and joints).
Respectfully you are incorrect on the last part about the ujoints being the same size. Both the ears and the ujoints are larger on both the rubi 44 and any aftermarket 44 than the dana 30 ears and ujoints. If you look at them side by side you would have to be a little "slow" to see the 44 ujoints and ears are bigger. Why do they have different part numbers by spicer? The rubi 44 ujoint part number is 7166x and the 30 part number is 760x. This was all model rubicons not just after 2012 although in 2013 they made the ears on all shafts a bit beefier but still use different size ujoints. You don't have to take my word for it and frankly don't care just see for yourself the next time you get the chance
11-30-2016, 11:26 AM
#27
JK Super Freak
So I came across this thread on another forum:
All New Fusion JK D60/44 Reverse Hybrid - Pre-Orders Start Now! - JKowners.com : Jeep Wrangler JK Forum
This looks pretty interesting to me. A 60 center section with 44 outers. No need to buy new wheels.
For $5100, you can get a Dana 60 center section, 3.5" x 7/16" tubes, heavy duty inner Cs, uses stock steering knuckles and brakes, all standard brackets, and ARB locker and Yukon gears. And you can set it at whatever caster you want.
PR44's are nice, but I think this beats it for pretty much the same price.
All New Fusion JK D60/44 Reverse Hybrid - Pre-Orders Start Now! - JKowners.com : Jeep Wrangler JK Forum
This looks pretty interesting to me. A 60 center section with 44 outers. No need to buy new wheels.
For $5100, you can get a Dana 60 center section, 3.5" x 7/16" tubes, heavy duty inner Cs, uses stock steering knuckles and brakes, all standard brackets, and ARB locker and Yukon gears. And you can set it at whatever caster you want.
PR44's are nice, but I think this beats it for pretty much the same price.
Last edited by ShutterBug; 11-30-2016 at 11:32 AM.
11-30-2016, 01:06 PM
#29
JK Freak
Thread Starter
Larry nailed it. Everyone ignores the center section when comparing strength. The factory axles are not as weak as people make them out to be, but they do have their limitations and were chosen for the size of tire on the factory jeep. Ignoring recommend axle size to tire size will generally result in problems and putting gimmick parts on it is not likely to help. Again the Artec and other so called trusses out there add very little to the stock housing. They are not a true axle truss that keeps the axle from flexing. All they do is add some strength to the top of each tube. They don't keep the entire axle from flexing at the differential. Sleeves do almost nothing as well and yes I has sleeved and gusseted a rubi front I had. Gussets will help stiffen up the inner C but they do not bullet proof them. IMO the biggest benefit from a PR44 is that you can get it caster corrected. All that being said I don't recommend the Pro rock 44 to anyone. I also don't recommend building up a front axle. Build or buy a 9" or 60 with extra width and lock out hubs and 35 splined shafts. Most guys that nickel and dime their rigs (due to reading a lot of poor info on the forums) think I am an ass sometimes. I made that statement with a smile on my face because you guys that think you need all this stuff but don't want to pony up the money to do it post on here to justify it in their own minds. You even stated this thread was to justify in your mind what you have done was right. This means you have doubt in what you have done and the strength of the mods you have done. I will tell you 99% of those that have gone to a PR44 still want a 60 and many of them make the jump up to 60. Just like the guys that do 33's, 35's to 37's before they get 10,000 miles on the rig. They don't have an issue spending $100 here or $200 there but on something like an axle or proper suspension it is "no way" and they end up spending lots of money a couple hundreds at a time and in the end do it right and have a pile of junk you can't get rid of in the corner of the garage. These are also the guys that do a build on the cheap because in the future they are going to do something different in the end and spend money twice. You know the guys "my tires are worn out so I am going to get 33's and later going to 35's" or they guys that have to run 37's with a 4" RC lift and say they get good perforce out of the 3.21 gear set they have. Then there is the "new product rage" like the Artec "truss", then that came out everyone though they had to have it and went out and spend 3-5 hundred on something they really didn't need, but hey its cool to say "I have a truss". People drooled for some reason when the 6 pack shock came out even though they had no idea on how they work or how to set them up. They saw a shiny new cool looking shock and lusted after it. The Fox adjustable steering stabilizer, wow when it came out everyone thought they had to have that dumb thing for $300+. RK has the mini stretches they con people into thinking is a great thing they need. While on a 2 door a longer wheel base does help with climbing you get almost nothing from the 1" and spend a lot of time and money on a 3" that gets you a very little in terms of performance. I would say moving from a 35" tire to a 37" tire will give you more all around performance then a 3" stretch will. I can go on and on with examples from the forums that suck people into wasting money on their rigs. In the end my advise is to figure out what you need and want out of your rig and be realistic about it. Don't plan 42's and a bypass/coilover set up if you are living paycheck to paycheck. Hell if you are making payments not he Jeep I don't recommend doing anything to it because it is not you Jeep. It belongs to the bank or whoever holds the title. If you jeep is a daily driver it is dumb to go over 35" tires and more then about 2" of lift. I know most people do it for looks. IF YOU ARE BUILDING FOR LOOKS YOUR THREADS ON WHAT IS BEST OR HELP ME PICK OUT TIRES OR WHEELS ARE USELESS! Once you get your overall plan in place execute it, if you can't do it all at once save and do it in thought out planned stages. That does not mean if you want to run 37's that you go out and buy them first and make them fit. Some mods are almost impossible to do in stages unless you like doing stuff multiple times. Like a coil over stretch with tons. You are best off to do it all at once and expect your rig to be down for months while you are doing it. I highly recommend getting out on the trails as much as you can, join a club, run with people that have more experience then you do. Ride along with those people as well. Watch and learn. Most JK's are totally overbuilt for what they are doing. You don't need 37's and a giant lift to run around Badlands or the Rubicon or Moab or Windrock. 35's, lockers, proper gears, and a mild lift will run over 90% of the trails at these spots. If you have unlimited funds for your toys and don't care about throwing away money then build that shit up to your hearts desire. Don't take this rant as a personal attack on you, it is not. I am just blunt and I am not a pc snowflake. I will answer questions and help anyone out with a build, they can take my advise or not, really does not matter to me. Its there jeep. My shop is always open to those that need help with repairs or just need a hand with a suspension set up just like it was when I was in Champaign. Good luck with the mods.
Northridge 4x4