im new to the jeep community and pretty much offroading in general. ive had hondas my whole life but just bought my 1st jeep. a 2009 4 door with 50K miles on it. im not to sure on what exactly is best but i have an idea of what i'd like. i want to run 37's and 4" lift. im not sure what kind of terrain ill be in mostly seeings im in the navy and bounce around every few years. i will most likely be in VA but Southern Cali is always a possibility. i just want build it right the 1st time and have a rig that can take just about everything ill but it threw. i like the EVO lifts just not sure which one i should go with. would the Short Arm be good enough being that i wont be wheeling it all the time or should i just save up a little more $$$ and go with the Long Arm? or any other lifts for that matter. i would just like to get some good insight from all your guys that have did this. thanks

 

If i were you with the money... i'll stay with the 37 Tires and 4" long arm Lift (those that came with everything (Quality Shocks/ New Trackbar/ Quick Disconnects/ SpeedBumps etc)... those offer more stability that short arms... because the center of gravity on long arm kits offer more stability that short arms.

Of couse you will need a ECU Programmer in order to perform the best of your setup

Also maybe an upgrade on ur gears...cause of the larger tires!

But personally im digging a a lot with Teraflex Pre Runner JK Lift kit... its just awesome.. you can search of it in youtube and you will see what im talking about

In the end it depends of whats is gonna be your style!

Welcome to JK forum!

 

After years of replacing cheap lifts that did not live up to my expectation and spending much more $$$$ than I should have I would suggest you buy the best suspension you can afford and I would save /wait to get that if necessary. I love the feel and performance of the EVOLever rear and front coils along with EVO long arm kit of my JK and recommend that setup to anyone.

 

If you dont have a Rubicon if you want 37's u will need to buy a new axle like a pro rock 44 or something

 

Are you serious? 37's can be run on a sport model.

 

No if u have a Rubicon your still like pushing it to its limits and you have to do a bunch of upgrades like axles shafts ball joints sleeves c2 gussets diff cover maybe regear and beef up the steering components..thats all i can think of you should ask wayolife or off road evolution see what they tell you.

 

Thats why im going with a 2.5 lift and 35's on my 30 with sleeves c2 gussets and maybe axle shafts until i can afford a new axle

 

Man, it just depends what you really want to use your JK for. Mall crawler? Easy trails? Highway friendly? Hardcore stuff? Everybody will have an opinion on this, and all will be valid, but only YOU know what you really (REALLY) are going to do with this rig.

A lot of people base their mods on an image they have in their mind of what they want their Jeep to LOOK like, and then get disappointed when that image doesn't work in the real world they use it in.

My advice is, take the time to do an honest assessment of what YOU need before you spend a dime and regret it later.

It's easy to over-build a Jeep. You rarely see somebody spending time and money to UN-build a Jeep after they've built it up. Many of the off-road mods you see out there are just that: OFF road mods. That usually comes at the price of highway and street manners. It's a trade-off. Be realistic.

Good luck!

 

I completely agree. I (and my husband) messed up several Wranglers before my '12 JKUR. I was going mostly for looks, not performance. Honestly, my JK is a daily driver and is used occasionally for moderate trails and ski trips. Went through the process several times of buying budget boosts, piecing together just what I thought I needed. Just to be big and look cool. Well...they ended up driving crappy and wearing u-joints and other parts where the angles were wrong because I was too cheap to get a GOOD lift.

If you want a big JK, take the time to invest in a good lift and have it installed by an experienced shop. There's nothing worse than loving your JK, but hating to drive it because it's not safe.

 

Yea I've seen that prerunner kit. Seems like it would be pretty cool but looks like its ment for more wide open wheeling. Do you do any crawling or moderately difficult wheeling?