What is the weakest part of the 08 rubicon 4 drs? tie rods? What should I beef up before going to a small lift ( under 3 ") and 35's?

 

The driver.

Seriously, my money will be spent to strengthen the C's when I go to 35's. Maybe some moly axles as well. With 35's and some driver care though, I think you would be fine for quite some time.

 

Tie rod, ball joints, steering stabilizer, trackbar brackets.

 

Off Road Evolution axle gussets...

 

The Rubi is perfectly suited for a sub 3" inch lift and 35s.

Just install the lift and tires and drive it. Other mods needed will become obvious to you.

 

A buddy of mine broke the tie rid after coming off one of those parking lot lanterns....dealer replaced it under warranty!

 

c gussets are a must in my opinion other than that just get a complete lift and if you have a auto you will prob need a drive shaft for the front.

 

I would say the crappy factory driveshafts.

 

Probably could skid up some more stuff like evap canister and oil pan - don't think rubi has these skids?

Otherwise, you should be fine with a 2.5" lift (+ 1" body lift for example) and 35s for a while, if you have an unlimited.

If you wheel it extremely hard, then you should consider things like the c-gussets for the front axle, tacking the caps on your u-joints. Other stuff may break if you are wheeling hard, but fix it as it occurs IMO.

If you break some axle shafts for example, get some chromoly's but I surely don't think I'd go spend $600-1000 on shafts before I thought they were a weak link. Under moderate wheeling with only 35s, should last quite some time - however if you decide on 37s or something, then maybe consider them. Even then, many have wheeled 37s pretty hard on the D44 and had it last a while...

Driveshafts could need replaced at some point, but again wouldn't do so until I needed to as you could go a while with only a 2.5" suspension lift - they should be OK on unlimited until you damage them somehow or bind one up wheelin' it hard.

There is always something you *could* do to your rig and it might or might not save you (even modded parts bust now and then) hassle in the future, but IMO a 2.5" lift (+ 1" body lift) and 35s on a rubi, you shouldn't need to do much more right away unless you really plan to wheel it extremely hard then consider some of the above...

 

I agree. It was named 4x4 of the decade for something!