TheDirtman

Add if you are looking at an aftermarket axle housing to go at least 68" on the from that will allow you to run 4.5" wheel back spacing that is found in more flavors and will give you a better scrub radius and you will have less stress on the ball joints and unit bearings.

angrychair

Nice build history there. I have front and rear axle trusses, front c gussets, etc. And still sticking with 35s for the foreseeable future. 37s look badass, but sometimes you just have to find a happy place and stop.... For awhile. Chewing through ball joints sounds about as unpleasant as it gets.
Would love to see your rig pm me links if you have hosted images.

bwootters

I'm doing my first build on a 2013 jk 4 door sport automatic and I'm going with 37" 12.50 x 17 and I hope to get around replacing ball joints, and things by going with the metalcloak 3.5" game changer lift, it seems to be well though out and designed all the joints are made with titanium in them and are said to last a long time but for all the lift offers they sure do hit you hard on the price $3,200.00 with the fox shocks. But any way I never thought it would end up being $16 grand just because I dident want to go with cheaper choices that would end up sucking me dry later on because of things not holding up or causing stress on other parts because when you go cheep theres always that hidden reason the parts where that much less, I'm a firm believer that you get what you pay for when it cones down to apples for apples, but anyway I'll attach my build to this so I'm not punching keys all night lol I'd like to know what you all think and feel free to bash or tell me I'm headed in a good direction. I wanted to do so much more with this but like you said theres so many little things that keep popping up that you need every time you lift higher or move up in tire size after 35", 37"s means your stock spair tire mounting has to be upgraded or else you tear up the tailgate welds and hinges and not to say all the noise the stock one will make as it's being beat to crap from trying to hold a,tire that's to heavy. Can't get my screan shots to upload, guess I'm typing it. Metalcloak 3.5 suspension lift kit with fox shocks $3,200 00 and $800 00 labor. New front driveshaft $700.00 Teraflex HD steering kit, Teraflex HD forged draglink kit & chromoley tie rod kit $975.00 Fox steering stabilizer $200.00 and $100.00 labor and $100.00 labor for the steering kit. @5 17x9 Method race wheels $2,075.00 @5 37x12.50x17 Micky Thompson Baja Boss MT tires $2,400.00 Teraflex hinge kit $800.00 and $100.00 labor. Yukon 4.88 gear package front ring gear $245.00 Front master install kit $215.00 Front carrier $157.00 Rear ring gear $253.00 Rear master install kit $ 215.00 and $1,000.00 labor. First differential service $40 00 next differential service $75.00 Mount and balance tires @5 $125.00 TPMS sensors @5 $225.00 Lug nuts $65.00 HP tuners calibration $75.00 Alignment $90.00 Labor for power step Installation $400.00 That's close to 16 grand so I hope I have everything covered because this broke the bank

resharp001

@bwootters You just aren’t going to get around ball joints. With 37’s it’s going to be a matter of time so you had better budget for them. You might take a look at the ball joint deletes that are on the market as well as Rare Parts ball joints.

Some folks with keep their 37” spare back there. For me it just doesn’t make sense to carry that much extra weight around all the time for no reason at all. On longer trips I find a way to take mine along be that in the back with something I fabbed up or having it relatively close by on my trailer. I also carry a good plug kit and have onboard air. I’ve never needed my spare outside of normal 5-tire rotations. Even if you do a beefy mount, that 37 blocks just about all visibility out the back. I think some folks just find it to be a classic “cool” look to have that tire back there. I would take less weight and clear visibility every day.

Why not go with Metalcloaks DL and TR if you’re going with their lift? Some reason you’re picking Teraflex for those? At that height you should also include a high steer kit. Presume you’re getting 3.5” backspaced Method wheels? Do you feel you need the power steps? I’ve seen those be a real headache for people out on the trails (electrical issues, clearance issues, open doors and they are banging on rocks issues), but I guess it depends on what type of wheelin you really do. I’d rather have a real slider that is going to protect the body and also provide a little ledge to help get up in. Certainly not a full step, but I’d take the body protection. And y, that money adds up fast. People always think those figures are a joke when you tell them up front. Also don’t see you addressing brakes in that package nor the possibility you may need to move exhaust (you might not but you might move that rear axle enough it interferes with your sway bar). $700 seems a bit high for a driveshaft unless you're going with a 1350 maybe.

TheDirtman

I will second resharp001. I would not go with fox shocks and would run the metal cloak rocksport shocks. They ride better and have longer travel. Lift has nothing to do with the ball joints, its the low back spacing you have to run to run big tires along with the extra width and weight of the tires. I would stick to the full Metal Cloak high steer kit and not use teraflex. Delete the spare tire carrier and get on board air and lean how to repair a tire in the field. Your gear and labor price should be 2x what you list and while doing all this you should be adding lockers. You have to do front and rear gears, not just one set. When doing gears is the time to add lockers and you may have to get new carriers anyway if you have 3.21 gears now.

Metal Cloak joints are not made with titanium. They are made with Kevlar.

A JKU on 35's with proper gears, 2.5" lift and lockers is going to take you on nearly any trail that is not buggy rated if cost is an issue. 37's on a daily driver is dumb imo.

TheDirtman

Oh ya, make sure you get proper bs wheels. 3"-3.5" for 37"x12.5" tires and the MT's are one of the bigger 37's in terms of true to size.

bwootters

About the titanium joints , idk why that came out I did mean to say Kevlar.

chiapeteater

When doing a regear, it's a good time to do ball joints and have the "c's" gusseted since you have the axles out already for the regear.

Sixty4x4

I am actually on 33's just to go back to Dirtman's statement in post #15 and do fine in the mountains here. It is all about what difficulty in terrain crossing you want to do.

Could have used 40's though 2 months back when I buried the Jeep up to hood line in a Campbells soup mudhole. Barely, with sputtering did I manage to back it out then son winched me. But that was my fault for not checking the depth of the big hole at the end of the puddle where my 33's (barely) worked fine leading up. Point is here I should have seen first and taken the bypass. That error cost quite a bit of money.

RickLB

@TheDirtman what 2.5 lift do you recommend for a 2017 JKU sport?