I've seen quite a few mall crawler jeeps running around on 35's with only a 2.5 in lift and can tell that if they went off road they'd rub. So what I want to know since this is my first wrangler is would flat fenders keep it from rubbing and how much says would it have once I add on belly armor, rock sliders, front and rear bumpers and get a spare tire carrier that can hold the larger tire. And would it be better to get 3.5 in lift or go with a 2.5 and get a 1/2-1 in body lift. I would like to be able to do the Rubicon trail without bypassing very much and not damaging the body much as this is what I use to get to work which is 120 miles but only done once a month.

 

35's with 2.5" doesn't have to rub if they've got it properly bumpstopped. I've got that setup with trimmed factory flares and it doesn't rub.

Armor is good but it adds weight, weight brings you closer to the rocks you want to avoid. Add only what's necessary.

 

Ya I want the armor so I can do some of the black trails and like I said I'd like to do the Rubicon trail without having to bypass much if anything and tear up my jeep. What size bump stop extensions do you have? And do you know the actual size of your tires? Because I've been looking around and most 35's are between 33-34 inches in actual height. And the ones I'm wanting are 34.6" tall with the vehicle sitting on the ground.

 

I'm not running any extra bumpstop than what the jeep came with but I've also modified my shock mounts and chosen the correct length shocks to avoid bottoming them out or putting a tire into any plastic. All tire manufacturers lie and you'll see that the difference in the weight of the vehicle is going to change the height of the tire as well. My 315/70-17 bfg's are advertised as 34 and change but they measure 33.75" for my tuner. Take into consideration that I'm also running an 8.5" wheel vs most aftermarkets will be 9 and the factory is 7.5". Let's go even further with it- you'll drop your tire pressure, let's estimate down to 15psi....how much ground clearance will you have now with the armor?

I've added bumpers (stubby front, aluminum rear), diy side rails, a super thick oil pan (benchmark designs), and an evap canister skid. I've maybe touched the skid once or twice. Your money is safe there to prevent a CEL but you should invest in lower control arm skids, preferably ones that weld on. The lower shock mounts in the rear will grab plenty of rocks if the Rubicon is anything like East Coast wheeling.