I originally purchased an '07 2 dr. Sahara, but, quickly grew tired of the lack of space. So, last month, I traded it in on an '08 Unlimited Sahara w/ all the options including the Nav and MyGig.... anyways, I am looking to do a small amount of work to it. I commute about 60 miles a day round trip, but do plan on taking it offroad occasionally, so, with that in mind, I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Lift:
2" Budget Boost or 4"

Tires:
33" A/T or 35" A/T (Pros vs. Cons)

Wheels:
I'd like to stay with my stock 18's, I like the look, however, I've noticed that by doing this, I limit choices in tires.

If anyone has done similar mods, let me know your opinion. Also, does anyone know of any off-road shops in the Northern VA/D.C. area?
Thanks

 

It depends upon WHY you want the larger tires and lift...

The suspension lift raises the frame......the tires lift the entire jeep, diffs, frame, etc.

Depending upon your terrain, you might benefit more from tires, or more from ground clearance for the frame alone....considering its also a DD.

A BL may make more sense and save a ton of $ for example if its mostly to fit larger tires, etc.

So - What are you offroading on once in a while that makes you want more either tire and/or frame clearance?

 

Most of my off-roading will be done in and around "strip-ins" or old coal mines in Western PA. Also, back trails w/ small streams and creeks, nothing serious. Most of it will be done on my property in Western PA. I hope that helps.
Thanks

 

OK, if the Western PA coal mines/crossings are like the eastern coal mines and water crossings, like Ashville, etc...and you need to drive every day on it as well...you probably want 35's., and a BB/BL.

That would mean 35" AT's, like a BFG AT ko or equivalent....a Teraflex 2.5" BB with either the shock extensions or with new longer shocks (I'd do it with the longer shocks...), and a 1" BL.

The 1" BL will allow 2" larger tires to stuff w/o hitting all by itself, and is small enough aesthetically to not be noticeable, etc.

The 2.5" TF BB with longer shocks comes with the same shocks as the 3" Suspension Lift, so you can flex well, and get your ride height as high as you need it, w/o needing longer drive shafts or other things that start to kick in as you get over 3" of SL, etc.



As the 35's will pick you up by about 1.5-2.5" over stock tires, and the 2.5" TF BB will pick you up another 2.5", your frame will be 4 - 5" higher than stock....and your diffs will be about 1.5-2" higher than stock.


That should be plenty for your purposes. The larger tires will give a longer footprint and better flotation on crossings, and the approach and departure angles for those coal ridges, etc, will be much improved.

Ride and handling should be about the same or better than stock, as the BL doesn't change your COG enough to notice, and the 2.5" SL is short enough to be quite stable.

 

So.... running a 2.5" lift w/ 35's will not require any driveline modifications? Also, are there 35's out there that will safely fit the stock 18" wheel width of 7.5"?

 

Yes, all true.



For example, check out the Toyo Open Country AT, etc...lots of 18" rim choices, including 35x12.5/18, 35x11.5/18, etc.

 

If you are going to go that big of a tire you really should upgrade your wheels. Putting a 11.5 or a 12.5" wide tire on a 7.5" rim is not recommended by the tire or the Wheel manufacture.

 

And yet every one does it, and its always fine.



For example, Jeep.

Or, say, a tire maker like Toyo:

LT285/75R16 126P E/10 360280 7.5-8.0-9.0 68 19 33.0 11.6 15.4 3740 80 628 3P+2S+2N 3P
(33X11.50R16)

(A 33 x 11.5/16 tire that lists 11.6" section width tire as approved for a 7.5" rim)






I've been running 33x12.5's on 7" rims for 5 yrs now, one set of tires has gone about 80 k so far alone on them.

For a street application, they like it a bit wider ratio'd on the rims, but off road rigs can get away with the extra tire.

So far, 7" rims seem to have no problem upto about 12.5's, with maybe 13.5's ok as well for many. 8" rims seem ok for 15's, etc.

You can of course tighten the sidewall roll control with a wider rim...when we set up race cars, we like the rim under the tread patch for support, etc...so the rims are much wider proportionally than on the offroad rigs.

Essentially, there's a lot of fudge factor in the recommended rim widths.



You get into FAR more trouble when not paying attention to the load capacities of the tires than to the rim widths.....esp when people use the same psi for different load tires, etc.

 

Got it... Thanks for all the help!

 

You're welcome.