I came here for a bit of advice on my current build: " The Minimum Wage" build ( I'm a 16 year old lifeguard". My 07 2dr JK was my first car. I've been hooked on wheeling ever since my Grandpa took me out to KY to go 4 wheeling when I was younger. I love wheeling my JK and am wondering what I could do to give it some better offroad capability. As of right now, I'm on stock suspension and 32in Dick Cepeks. It's been my dream to go up to 35s and get nice 2.5 in lift but as everyone knows that can be expensive (labor, wheels, regearing). I am currently thinking of doing the teraflex spring leveling kit and keeping the same sized tires. I'd love some advice on what I could do to make my rig more capable and be able to run tougher trails with the bigger rigs on 35s. Yes I do understand Jks are amazing offroad barebone stock, I just want to beef it up a little bit and give it some leverage.

 

You can run 35s with minimal lift on these things. One you would need wheel spacers or different rims with at least 4.5 backspacing. Trimming your fenders will help be able to run a bigger tire, while maintaining a lower center of gravity, and not having to add more lift to fit them. You can easily trim your stock fenders with a dremal or other tools. Of course though when you add any type of lift, cut fenders, or add bigger or smaller tires you want to double check your other suspension components. Read the sticky thread up top from Dirtman about lifts.


I bought a lift that came with all new stuff. So others who went this route can probably explain a little better as to what is needed to be replaced or can be kept by adding minimal lift to run 35s.

 

IMO a 2 door on 33's can go just about anywhere a 4 door on 35's can. Maybe look at some tall skinny tires (like 285/75/17) and trim the fenders. Maybe just put some 1" pucks up front to level it out. Then you would have no steering geometry or driveline issues but would still improve your performance while keeping it low.

 

Interesting thoughts. I had been thinking 33s in the past but I figured if I was going to spend that much money on tires, I might as well go with 35s.

 

I will be trimming fenders and my stock bumper soon.

 

Biggest improvement I thought when I first went through this process was disconnects.

You can throw a TF leveling kit on there for 100 bucks. Another 50 for disconnects, trim your fenders, and you're good to go. You can look at getting some longer shocks depending on what kind of wheeling you do as well as tires/spacers or different rims to get enough backspace as others mentioned.

Don't forget to air down!

 

Infuriated go to 35's you need a bunch of upgrades.

On the 3.8 auto you will hate them if you have anything less than 4:10 gears. 4:88 is ideal

C gussets are a must.

On a d30 sleeve or truss the axle.

This will also increase the wear on bearings and such.

It is a slippery slope. If your not ready to start investing I would not advise 35"tires.

Northridge 4x4

 

I have what I feel is the perfect budget setup for off roading. Not everyone is rock crawling and that is a huge ball of wax there. IF you are off roading and not crawling all the time, I would highly recommend my 2" setup. Teraflex leveling kit, Monroe reflex monotube shocks ( way better ride and control), 33" AT tread tires, great on and off road, and beef up the joints, arms and steering parts. I have NAPA gold/spicer tie rod, drag link, ball joints, new Monroe steering stabilizer, teraflex lower control arms, found my steering flighty after the lift, and a few other items. I go ANYWHERE I want, never had to regear, still get great milage on the 33's with pro comp wheels, and I also have airbags in the rear to take more weight. I hate the look of aftermarket and trimmed fenders....looks cheap and horrible. I have been going back and forth on getting new bumpers but keeping my stock wth VDP high clearance end caps as they are light and I keep my milage.

 

All you need is a 2.5" lift for 35s ... All that other stuff is optional. Easy on the skinny pedal and you can get by like that for years. You can do gears later if you feel the need.
I wheeled on 35 and 37" Pitbulls for 7 years on a factory D30 with 3.73 no breakage.

 

32" vs 33" - no real advantage. If you NEED new tires, 33s would be the better option. Going to 35s MIGHT (and I do mean might) have other implications (gearing, wheel spacers, etc.)

Save yourself some money and get a spacer lift (leveling kit) and quick disconnects. You can do that for $150 or less.

A step up would be maybe some new front shocks to increase some droop. You can make yourself a set of brake line extension brackets, too, for less than $5.00.

I wheeled by '14 for a year on a Rock Krawler budget boost (spacers and disconnects) with 33" tires and loved it. I kept my front shocks, so I didn't worry about the brake lines.

No need to break the bank. Once you start getting into 2.5" and above, you start getting into a lot of other steering geometry issues, plus increased wear on thinks like tie rods, drag links and ball joints.