That guy is an idiot. Run and hide.

 

That guy is a dumbass and obviously has zero knowledge of Jeeps. I would go with the setup you mentioned but I would do a Rusty's 3.25" lift that comes with front and rear adjustable track bars and skip the body lift. And fyi the Nittos are great tires and balance good

 

Not gonna throw slings at this guy but I do not think he gave you great advice. I currently am running a RC 2.5" lift with 285/75's (32.8x11.2 but these actually measure about 32" ) and chopped stock fenders, with my setup at full flex I definitely still have room for 35's, even when I was running the stock fenders (non chopped) at full flex I still had room (was a little tight in the rear). I am looking at upgrading to 35's very soon. As far as with the stock (non-chopped) fender, there are plenty of people on and off this forum that will tell you that they run them with 35's no problem. There maybe some rubbing depending on your wheel size (backspacing) but do some more research (that's part of the fun of owning a Jeep). Remember, just because someone is nice doesn't mean they know what they are talking about and/or are giving you the best advice (not that mine is awesome advice either, I can only speak to my experience). Also check out the "sticky" thread in the modified JK tech under suspension for some answers to some of the basic lift questions and might help you in your research/learning journey. Best of luck and don't forget to post pics of what you end up doing!

Here are some pics to help illustrate:
Before, middle, and after lift (non chopped fenders)

Fenders chopped

Flexin w/ chopped fenders

 

Some more of stock (non chopped) fenders and flexin':

 

Can't call the guy an idiot. He may be justified. Overall lift height w tires on my lift was approx 5 inches measured. I also run 35's on a TJ and I'm on 4 coil and 1bl. So if he's referring to previous experiences he may be thinking differently. As for jk's we can run 35's without a lift. (Search planman) if he's not familiar I wouldn't deal with him. It's an easy install but i guarantee he's never dealt or heard of death wobble. Recommend dealing with someone familiar or do it yourself. Not a hard job and accomplishment in itself is great. Good luck.

 

Ohh don't worry. I've been researching forever. That's how I was able to ask all these questions of him and literally every single one of the answers he gave directly contradicted everything I've read. He mostly lifts trucks, so maybe that works for that. I won't be going to him, don't worry.

 

And as usual when deciding on lifts, I tend to go back and forth over and over. Someone here mentioned Rusty's, but I would rather not push drive shaft issues just yet. The highest most people can go on here is a 2.5 TF lift and I've not heard of any stock driveshaft problems (Correct me please). So it only makes sense to get the largest amount of suspension possible and couple it with a small body lift. Since RC comes with a bumper lift and is only 100 dollars, it makes the most sense. So I think I'm going to go with TF 2.5 lift w/shock adapters (For now), RC 1.25 BL, and some sort of front adj. trac bar. I'm buying everything in stages, so it will be a while before I actually get it on the jeep.

 

That's the key point right there. Older wranglers/trucks need more lift than a JK to fit bigger tires. So while 5 inches may be appropriate for them, a small lift or flat flares will suffice for us.

Same with the gears. Jk's have different gearing needs than other models. With 35's, re-gearing is a very good thing, especially for those of us with auto's.

There are a lot of different options and different ways to go, but the build plan in your initial post will work just fine.


Also, keep an eye on RC's website. I haven't seen the JK BL's come up on the daily sale this year, so it'll be an easy way to save $30 on it. (assuming I didn't miss it and the BL will be one of the dailies...)

 

I have a 2.5" bb with 35's works perfectly. No rubbing

 

I'd think you'd be able to get away with just the TF 2.5 and 35s. If you do end up with some rubbing it will be minor and easily solved with minor trimming or bump-stops. Planman also show how to adjust your steering stops to eliminate rubbing. 2.5" also won't look too weird if you end up running stock tires for a while before you can afford or need to upgrade.

When you do get tires/wheels I'd stick to the 17-18" wheel range, which are probably the most common rim sizes on here. Some guys on here even run 15" rims from certain brands that can still clear the brakes. The larger the rim, the more expensive the tires get, too.

I don't think you'll end up needing the body lift either. The track-bar is good to get. I'd also plan on upgrading your steering stabilizer, or at least watch your stock one closely as they always seem to blow and bleed out and bigger tires will accelerate that.