Recent job changes are going to afford me the opportunity to build the Jeep of my dreams. I know what I want as far as superficial modifications go, but I'm having a difficult time deciding on lift size and tire size, roughly in part due to my limited knowledge. I want the Jeep to be big. Menacing. I want to see people mouth the word "DAAAAMN" as I drive by. My Jeep will see light to moderate trail use and some mudding. No rock crawling or extremely hard wheeling. I'll only be driving it 2-3 months out of the year for the foreseeable future. I plan on driving all across the country, visiting various outdoor locales and trails, living a life of adventure during the rare occasions that I'm not working. So now the questions:

1. I don't need all the fancy doodads that comes with the Rubicon. I'd be happy with a Sport. The only reason I'd want the Rubicon is for the Dana 44 front. If I get a Sport, will installing a chromoly axle shaft on the Dana 30 be good enough to handle 37" tires, given my above stated plans?

2. I'm looking at the Rock Krawler 5.5" lift kit. What, if anything, will I need to support the lift kit and/or tires? The kit seems to have all the bases covered.

3. Lastly, 5.13 or 5.38? Reading the FAQ it states 5.13s as being the gear to restore normal stock performance. With the above setup, what should I expect for MPG for both 5.13 and 5.38 gears? Although not a deal breaker considering I won't be driving the Jeep every day, I'd like to be able to have at least 12MPG on the highway.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this. Can't wait to get this beast built!

 

That's awesome that you get to do this, I would say if your going with a 5.5 lift I would do 40's. There alot of options for you, good luck with your choices and keep us posted.

 

LOL. 40s might be a bit to much for me. Seems there would be a lot more $ that would need to be invested aside from the cost of tires.

 

If I was you I would go with a 3 or 4 inch lift and 37s and cut fenders it will still look big but won't look weird with all the gap in between. I think 5:13s would be a good choice for the type of wheeling you are gonna be doing. Also It probably would be your best bet to save the money on beefing up the 30 and go with a pro rock 44 upgrade.

 

I had considered going with a 4" lift, or even a 4.5". The 5.5" serves no other purpose than to make the Jeep tall I'm going with the Smittybilt XRC Armor fenders so I should be good if I went with a 4". I knew someone would mention the 44 upgrade lol. $2k+ vs $5-600. If the axle shaft does the job I'd rather go that route. Although I suppose I'd also have to pay for a regear whereas I could just order a 44 with the 5.13. Decisions!

 

I got some 37" for sale with your name on it!

 

Making your Jeep "tall" really only makes your Jeep unstable unless you are looking to stuff huge tire underneath.

I have a RK 2.5" lift and bushwacker flat flares and run 37's no problem.

 

Its not the axle shafts you need to worry about with the type of wheeling you want to do. The factory axle tubes on both d30 and d44's are absolute crap. You would need to put on some C gussets and do either a truss or inner sleeves to keep the housing from bending. You wont have to worry about getting your tires bound up and snapping shafts if youre not rock crawling, but the additional leverage from bigger tires will trash your axle tubes. Also, the pinion starts to get very small on the D30 when you regear to 5.13s or 5.38s. The pinion will become a weak link in your drivetrain

 

Have you seen a 4" lift on 37's it is big , but what you are describing is more for looks there is nothing wrong with it , but a lot of stuff you are asking about no one will ever see , but will make your rig very capable


My rig 37 on 20's , 5.13 gears sleeved and gussets and fox shocks and a lot more

 

I live in a town of only 102,000. Very few people in my town have gone nuts building their JK. Because of this I get the "DAMMMNN" look your talking about all the time. I'm sure several other people on this board have the same thing happen. People will literally pull beside me and tell me how great she looks or talk to me in parking lots.

I have a 2012 JKU(stock) and my built 2007. The 2007 looks much bigger than the 2012.

I bought a base model so I have D30 front and D44 rear. I only run 35" tires but will graduate to 37" in the future. The only things I have done to prepare my front axle is to gusset the Cs and I bought a truss from PureJeep. It's called a "Backbone Brace" which prevents me from having to install sleeves. I also have chromoly shafts. I run about the same kind of trails you described. I should have no problems with 37s. If I do it is just an excuse to upgrade.

I am running 5.13 gears with my 35s. I like that combo. I'm not sure I will be happy with 5.13s and 37" tires. We will see.

I think I would stick with a 4" lift too. Like the others suggested. My jeep is up there. Add 37s and it will be that much taller. I already have a hard time getting in her. And if you want her to catch peoples attention I would get a long arm lift. Will you need it for the types of trails you will run? Probably Not. But they look Awesome. Rock Krawler is Great. I have the Tereflex and enjoy it.

Miles per gallon staying above 12mpg? I average 15mpg and I'm pretty weighed down. I don't really care what mileage I get because I don't put a ton of miles on her. I think 12mpg is pretty doable.