08 Sahara 4-door automatic. Thinking about 4" lift with 35s. I was told I would not have to re-gear or chip if I stay under 6" lift. Any truth to this? I plan on light offroading in the near future, nothing too extreme. Plus I love the look of the JK lifted. This is also my daily driver, as well as only travel on freeway once a month, about 400 miles roundtrip.

 

I don't think it's the lift itself that would make you want to regear/chip, it's the tires. They weigh more, and there's a lot more surface area on them making contact with the road.

I have a 4-door automatic Rubicon. I was never impressed with its get-up-and-go when I was running the stock 32" mud-terrain tires. Upgrading to 35" mud-terrain tires made it significantly worse in that area.

In regards to "chips", once you get bigger tires, you need some tool to tell your JK exactly how big those tires are, otherwise your speedometer is off.

I went with the Superchips Flashpaq. In addition to using it to set the tire size, I'm also running its "87 tune", which has completely changed the shift points on the automatic transmission. I can now accelerate more quickly with 35s than I could with stock 32s.

I'm still going to re-gear at some point. The Superchips "87 tune" has helped with acceleration, but MPG is still poor, especially highway. Any incline or headwind that I run into, and the Jeep will shift out of over-drive, which really kills the MPG.

My Jeep is my daily driver, although I don't have to go far for my daily commute -- 20 miles round-trip. I also usually do one big freeway trip a month (usually to a Jeep run). I'm running the AEV 3.5" lift and 35" KM2s, and on-street it handles better than it did stock (at least the way I whip around corners).

I love the setup, and with the Superchips flash, I'm not dying to get new gears. They're def. towards the top of the mod list, but life isn't miserable without them.

 

If you want to run 35's, then you can use either a TeraFlex 2.5" or 3" kit. A TeraFlex 4" will allow for 37's. Larger tires will have you wanting to regear/update the ECU.

 

I always love it when planman posts on these things - there should be a sticky for his "what every newbie who's jk is a daily driver should know" thread. If I'd had the advice you give when I first bought my Jeep, I wouldn't have got a crappy lift, tires, or wheels...oh well. lessons learned - and when that 40K warranty on the pro comps runs out, I'm running to discount for duratracs and 15s.

 

35's 373's and automatic here and life isn't to bad. it's all subjective.

 

Hey thanks for the advice! I honestly never realized the lift had so little to do with re-gearing. I knew bigger tires would account for a difference, but I guess I figured it was fairly minimal. Good to know.
Probably gonna blow at least $3K in the next several months on lift/tires/rims alone (kinda peeved about stock 18" rims... almost nothing fits them!) and another couple grand for a new front & rear bumper....

I have had my eye on those Bushwacker fender flares and a new winch too... get another Dana44.... ummm.... I hope my wife doesn't read this

 

I am also going to be pulling the trigger on some Mods soon. From your experience what specifically would you stay away from if you had it to do all over again?

 

Just do a search for planman's budget plan - i know he posted it recently b/c I checked it out...basically, the plan involved the TF budget boost, some 35s from goodyear (i think), some 15" steelies, spydertrax spacers, and a re-gear...i wish i had started that way.

I always laugh, I knew nothing about modding initially, and I thought I HAD to maintain 18" wheels b/c that was what was stock...ended up paying $100/tire more than if I'd gone with the more bad ass look of 15s...oh well, you live, ya learn.

 

Thanks for your input I did a search and that info definitely helps!

 

True.



I'd be happier with 4:10's and over drive off then 3:73's " ".

There is a subjective opinion in there...