After being stationed overseas for the last two years, I am coming back to the States and taking delivery of a Silver 08 X 2 DR with the 6 sp manual transmission. It comes stock with
255/75 17. I have a couple of questions:

1) I want to upgrade to 285/75 16 BFG AT on 16" AEV Bridgers. Will I need to re-gear? It will have the 3.21 axle. What if I go with a 265/75 16 BFG AT?

2) No plans for a suspension lift, but I will use coil spacers to level it out. What size spacer would you recommend?

3) Eventually, I plan to mount a winch on the stock bumber using a winch plate. Will I need to also install stiffer springs and/ or shocks to keep the front end from sagging?

4) How will these mods effect my warranty?

Thank you again for any help you can give me.

 

1) The 255/75/17's are a little over 32" diameter....the 285/75/16's are a little under 33" in diameter - you'd be hard pressed to notice the diameter difference...the wider foot print would be an upgrade in flotation and traction though. The 265/75/16's are smaller than the stock tires, except 10 mm wider section width.

2) A coil spacer IS a supension lift, as it uses the suspension to raise the frame higher off of the ground....if you are leveling it, that means just a front coil spacer set to raise it the height you want it raised (The rake is there from the factory...you want to undo their attempts at steering geometry and cargo handing, etc, so it "Looks" better to you....so, the thickness of the coil spacers is the height extra you want it (Subjective - most people use ~ 3/4" or so)

3) A winch will compress your coils upfront, and cantilever the rear upwards...a bit.
So - to compensate, you could just SKIP the front spacers, or get thicker one's in preparation of maybe 1/2" sag upfront, 1/2" lift in back, IE: Roughly 1.5" of spacer...or just get HD coils upfront for a 2" SL, which will also sag a bit, say to 1.5" or so, pretty close to the 1.5" you were looking for....or HD coils for oem height, and keep the original spacer, etc. (That adjustment is best done AFTER you get the extra weight, esp. if you might also be adding sliders, skids, etc..)

Shocks do not hold up the weight of the truck, so stiffer shocks to support the weight would not do that. Shock DAMP motion...so stiffer shocks will help to DAMP the motion of the extra weight as the heavier front end reacts to road/terrain, etc.

4) None of it will affect your warranty...as the warranty is valid as stated by the contract. If you break something because of your mod...I'm not sure how you'd do that with what you're talking about here, but Jeep would have to PROOVE that what you did CAUSED a covered part to fail....if it DID cause a failure, well, you broke it...not their fault/responsibility. Obviously, if you mount new shocks and coils, and the shock leaks, its not covered, as its not the Jeep's oem shock, etc.

PS - If getting new rims anyway - get 4.5" Backspacing instead of the factory 6.25" BS.....that way, if you later want wider tires than 285...some of us are running 14.5" tires for example, with an average upgrade to 12.5"'s for example....the reduction in BS helps to prevent tire rub on turns, etc.



Have you considered 305/70/16's too....about the same diameter as your considered 285/75/16's, but with better tread patch, and less sidewall squirm on road, and better off road as well...all in all, a better size for the JK.

 

Not on an X. They come with 225/75/16's unless you upgrade

Sorry I missed this in the original post

 

I'd add something here, but after reading TEEJ's response I think he pretty well nailed it on all the questions. I pretty much concur with everything he said.

Edit: The only thing I'll add is maybe consider MT's instead of AT's, unless you never plan on going offroad.

 

i have an X and it comes with minivan tires 225's and i also have the 3.21's and the 6 speed and it feels fine with the 265's i put on it so i would think that would be even better on the 2DR --- as far as the rake goes thats a weird one, i don't have hardly any rake at all but i see other jeeps and have read on here that people are getting there jeeps that have ALOT of rake and therefore require more lift in the front especially with a winch - i think if yours is pretty level and are going to add a regular size winch on the stock bumper you will be fine, i'm sure the powerplant is heavy but a 9000lb. shouldn't bring you down that much --- and finally congrats on your jeep

 

2) A coil spacer IS a supension lift, as it uses the suspension to raise the frame higher off of the ground....if you are leveling it, that means just a front coil spacer set to raise it the height you want it raised (The rake is there from the factory...you want to undo their attempts at steering geometry and cargo handing, etc, so it "Looks" better to you....so, the thickness of the coil spacers is the height extra you want it (Subjective - most people use ~ 3/4" or so)

Is this what is meant by a "budget boost?" If not, then what all goes into a budget boost kit? I apologize for all the questions, but I am new to the Jeep scene...this is my first Jeep!

Also, will the 285/65 16 rub?