I ran all over much of Moab on 33s and 2.5" of lift--Fins and Things, and Poison Spider Mesa come to mind. I would not go any taller for 33s. Many lifts, including some BBs, include what you'll need to be okay. Add front LCAs to eliminate that "driving on ice" feel and call it "complete".

 

Here is my 2009 with 4" Rancho Sport

 

A quality 2.5 will clear your 33s with ease and allow up to 35s later should you desire. In your terrain that's all you need in my opinion

 

Sweet. 2.5 it will be.

 

Ive also got a 2010 JKU and I want to run 35s with 3.5 lift. Would I have to make additional changes before I take that step?

 

For street use you'll be fine for a while, though depending on the kit you may not like the steering feel. To fix that, add adjustable front lower control arms and reset the caster. Eventually you may find that your driveshafts give up the ghost. For off roading, it would depend on terrain, but the driveshafts are at risk. I'd also extend the breather tubes (if you ford deep water, they should be extended all of the way to the engine air intake anyway), replace the brake lines with longer ones, and reroute the wheel sensor wiring. If the kit doesn't come with front lower control arms and front and rear trackbars, I'd also include those.

Remember: A great many of these kits are sold for street use. Therefore, it is assumed that you won't need to articulate much; that you won't disconnect the front steering stabilizer. Also remember that 3.5" of lift gives you very little improvement over 2.5" of lift with 35s. It's slightly less hassle eliminating the minor rubbing you'll encounter. You'll have very slightly improved approach and departure angles. You'll have ZERO improvement in clearance. None, zip, nada. If you want to improve clearance, you'll need bigger tires. You'll also have a higher center of gravity, and reduced reliability of components. Honest, I go all over the country, tackling all manor of off-road terrain--and have found 35" tires and a 2.5" lift plenty suitable for all but the most demanding rock crawling. And if I were interested in that, I would be installing larger than 35" tires. Check out some of my videos to see what I mean ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQHYl2Kp5ww http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLkNU8d8w-c And, this isn't my Jeep, but the one I'm riding in is a 2012 with virtually identical mods (after this trip, because the rear sagged, he would replace his TF 2.5" springs with OME HDs, making his lift completely the same as mine) ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFjr3hSzEu4

 

^ Well said Mark.

Yes you can run 33s with no lift, (with correct BS on your wheels) for your width of choice. IMHO this makes the wheel wells look a bit stuffed.

Same tire size and add a leveling kit gives you a bit of lift and puts the jeep into per portion with the wheel and tires.

Same wheel and tires on a 2.5" lift might put it out of per portion for some people. Depends on how much lift you get from your coils, if you run OEM bumpers, weight of Jeep, 2 door 4 door, tire width and their aggressive or non-aggressive look. Comes down to personal choice

There's lots of show and tell threads here to help.

For my use I'm very happy with the level kit I put in. I may upgrade to the TF performance kit and experiment with some spacers to get the height I want, within per potion of my tire size and allow for some new bumpers.