Not what you asked for, but reading the 1st 2 posts that are stickied to the top of this forum would provide you a lot of useful information, so you can start asking more specific questions of why certain components are needed/suggested.

Going to a 2.5 lift would definitely bring you closer to your target price and be able to fit 35's but you likely would have learned that in the 1st 2 posts.

 

Thanks Rednroll. So I did some googling and found teraflex budget boost at 2.5. Looks nice with 35s, good fit. What is the difference in this vs suspension lift in terms of performance/setup. Why would anyone go with a suspension lift (I know there must be a good reason to justify that). My overall budget was $2k including tires still need to do something about my interior to eliminate border collie/aussie hair.

My off-roading experience was all trail, ruts and small hills. No rock crawling at all.

Also, would going with 35s on stock rims end up with too narrow a tire for functional trail contact?

 

no but you will get lots of rubbing since you need to push the tires out due to the extra height and width. If you want to run 35's on factory wheels you should be adding some 1.75" wheel adapters to your list. They typically run about $200

 

IMO- If ur planning on adding a lot of weight such as bumpers, skid plates, winches, etc then a suspension lift would be better suited as they usually come with stiffer springs to accommodate the extra weight. And yes if ur planning on running stock rims, wheel adapters are a must for 35" tires. Then trying to find someone to mount the 35" tires to stock rims may be difficult but not impossible. Most BIG tire places like discount tire ,etc won't do them for u so u would have to look for private business to install them for u or possible a 4x4 shop near u MAY do them too!!

 

Also if ur interested in the teraflex budget boost, their is a member selling a slightly used one for like $170 in the billboard section. Every savings helps!!!

 

I'm sorry. You are correct. I do forums at work and often feel "schedule pressure" to get the post done and get back to pretending that I am productive while scanning 5 forums every 5 minutes for 9 hours a day. And hitting FB on my phone every hour or so.

Alas, some missing links....

You'll need a programmer to sort out your tire changes and get speedometer corrected as well as shifting (assuming slush box?).
I use the Superchips FlasCal F5, the AEV unit is also very highly touted as a very fine piece of equipment.
https://www.northridge4x4.com/search?q=programmer

And really, adding a mild brake upgrade kit is not a bad idea. You really do drop a good deal of brake performance and safety with 35"+ tires.
At the very minimum I would spend the $497 on the Dynatrack front Big Brake kit.
https://www.northridge4x4.com/fits/2...e-system-front

There are other options out there as well, glance over them here:
https://www.northridge4x4.com/search?q=brake

Synergy 1.75" wheel spacers are $80 a pair, that's about as cheap as you'll find.
https://www.northridge4x4.com/fits/2...5x5-1-75in-red

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Lets be real for a moment. The most basic list I gave you in the earlier post will get you the height you requested at a fair price while being fairly safe.

Could you add more money to the pot and correct weaknesses in that plan? Absolutely.
But Jeeps often are not built in one swipe of the sword, instead they are often a work in progress that can span years as the weaknesses are bolstered.
You have to decide what you can financially accept, and how far down the rabbit hole you wish to go. We have concept of you finances, and we do not wish too hear about it.
And I would encourage you to not feel that your in a dick measuring competition with the Dirt Man and his jeep.... or anyone else.
Do what you can afford, don't hurt your lifestyle to do it. Poke at it as you can using overtime, bonus pay, tax refunds or selling blood/seamen to the lab.

 

Shit! I forgot. Cut your sway bar end links in half and weld a section of bolt material in to make them as long as needed to get your sway bars level again.
If you do not weld, make a buddy and get him a six pack and $20 for consumables.

If you want an inexpensive store bought option, Rock Krawler has about the cheapest disconnects that are decent quality.
https://www.northridge4x4.com/search...awler+sway+bar

 

You're getting a ton of great info in regards to the lift. In regards to the issue above, you are kinda screwed outside of ripping out all the carpet and replacing seat covers with some nice Katzkin leather. I have a white border collie mix and can relate to this pain. The black carpet sux.

 

I may have missed it but there is also the question of what type of wheeling do you want to do, if any. If you don't intend to wheel I would call it a day with the 2 links below.

Teraflex 2.5" Budget Boost. Keep in mind, if there is ever a possibility of you wanting to upgrade to a bigger kit with new shocks you will want to have your original shock hardware, which gets replaced with this kit.
https://www.northridge4x4.com/fits/2...ons-2-5in-lift

Spider Trax 1.75" Wheel Spacers. These are sold by the pair and you would need 4 so buy 2 sets.
https://www.northridge4x4.com/fits/2...lue-5x5-1-75in

 

I'll re-post this which I responded to in a similar post and add to it.

Anytime you do a suspension lift, what you are doing is changing the geometry of the entire suspension from its original design which has been optimized for the best ride, steering, handling, etc. The end goal is to get back to that originally designed geometry with the added lift. So what is truly needed is that you should replace every suspension component that connects to the axles so that it has a proportionate amount of increase in length to the additional height you added for the lift increase. That's also the most expensive solution. Therefore, with most of these lift kits, what they do is they provide a compromise of replacement components and some type of adapter which fits between one of the original part's mounting points and the original component or don't replace at all. The adapter and not replacing are compromise solutions. The adapter increased the overall length of that original component to match the amount of lift added but it didn't actually increase the length of the actual component. The real end game is to replace all those original components with one of the proper length to match the lift amount. Oh....and getting a perceived better component while doing that.


99% of the components that are impacted when you lift are connected to the axles, where the other side of that component is typically connected to the frame.

With the lesser cost lifts, what they will do is either not replace those original components because the lift amount isn't large enough where the original part will still function adequately. It won't function 100% properly but it will still serve its main purpose. The upgrade from not replacing the component is to use an adapter/extension bracket, and then from there is the most costly option of entirely replacing the original component with the longer length one. All the lifts out there are a mix and match of those combinations of not replacing, adding a bracket extension, or replacing each and every component that attaches to the axles.

When you're talking spring lifts vs. puck lifts (TF budget lift). What you're really talking about is that the puck is the extension bracket mod solution, the spring is the component replacement solution. Spring lengths are typically matched with the length of the shocks and tuned to work together. Therefore the lesser expensive puck lifts will add a bracket for the shocks to also increase the length of the shock, the upgraded kits will replace the shock with a longer one. So think about that a little. With the puck lift, although it will work, the shock and springs are still shorter in length where they will no longer be operating in their optimal tuned ranges as designed for the entire travel of the suspension when the shocks and springs flex up and down.

Personally, I would never do a puck lift for one simple reason. It doesn't put you on the path to the end game solution where the springs are the base component for adding lift, where a lift which includes replacement springs and shocks does put you on that path and you continue to do the same with all the other components as you learn more about the negative aspects associated with not doing the end game complete component replacement solution.


Here is the short list of components off the top of my head that all connect to the axles that will have some type of impact or be impacted when you do a suspension lift. Feel free to add if I overlooked anything. A good rule of thumb is that the higher you lift, the more you drive yourself towards the need for the replacement solutions.

End game replacement list of components
- Springs (4)
- Shocks (4)
- Control Arms (8)
- Sway bar links (4)
- Track bars (2)
- Drive shafts (2)
- Brake Lines (4)
- Breather hoses (2)
- Axle side Control Arm mounting brackets (8) - need to be relocated or replace with axle that has relocated brackets
- Rear parking brake cable

Then there's the steering components to consider as well.
- Drag link
- Tie rod
- Pitman arm


The corresponding compromise adapter/solution components
- Springs (4)= Pucks
- Shocks (4)= Shock extension brackets
- Control Arms (8)= Geo correction brackets/Cam bolts
- Sway bar links (4)= Typically replace rears and relocate longer oem rears to front.
- Track bars (2)= Track bar relocation mounting brackets
- Drive shafts (2)= Exhaust spacers (needed for 2012+ JKs), Rzeppa CV Kit
- Brake Lines (4)= Brake line relocation extension brackets
- Breather hoses (2)= Breather hose extension kits
- Axle side Control Arm mounting brackets (8)= Leave as is
- Rear parking brake cable= Parking brake drop bracket/detach existing mounting location


So every suspension lift you look at will be a combination solution of 1. Replace the part 2. Add an adapter to existing part or 3. Leave as is

Once you learn more about what each of those components does, then you can make better informed decisions if you choose to leave it as is, the adapter solution is acceptable, or you want to go for the replacement solution.

Definitely not my 1st choice, but at the $500 budget range you're looking at, I would consider the Rubicon Express Budget 2.5in spring/shock lifts and add to it later as needed.

My personal preference which everyone on this forum will have their own, is that I set my target price for a lift at $1K and decided to go with the Mopar 2in lift w/o drive shaft ($760) and added an adjustable HD front track bar ($225), lower cost adjustable front lower control arms ($180), Front brake line relocation brackets ($35), parking brake relocation bracket ($15), axle breather hose extension kit ($10) and front quick disconnect sway bar links ($135). Yes, I went over budget by $350 and you likely will also.