keithvegas

When choosing between 17's and 15's money shouldn't really be a factor. It is a couple hundred bucks and you are committing to five or six years of tire at least. I'm more concerned about performance. The extra 10 lbs per tire is a huge factor for me. I'm not building a rock crawler, yet, but I do put more miles on the trail then on pavement and plan to keep it that way.

From everything I've read on the Wild Peak it is a great performer on everything but mud. It also wears well, a lot of guys say they look new at 30k. I will be talking to DTD about fit but they have already confirmed the 15 x 8 will fit the JK. The caliper issue seems to be a steel wheel problem.
I've got gussets on my list, possibly sleeves too. As far as the lift, I've had people I trust swear by the dualsport and I don't want to go higher. I would rather start trimming than raising COG more than I have to. This lift is specifically designed to fit 35's though so I should be okay.

ASSFROW

Sounds like you have a plan and it's not changing, but weight of 15 inch wheels and 35's 91 lbs. 17 inch wheels and 35's 97lbs.

I'm not sure you'll be able to tell much difference in COG for a 1/2 inch in lift. The Rancho kit comes with adjustable upper control arms front and rear, front links, front brake lines, front adjustable trackbar and with the adjustable RS9000 shocks would cost you less than the AEV kit after the rebate. It just seems like more bang for the money.

Gary

grumpy1

GO FOR IT! I love my AEV lift. Also make sure you get the road hazard protection from Discount tire, it only cost me $25 to replace a tire I tore the sidewall out of while wheeling in Moab last year no questions asked.

Blade

I would go with the 17's if you plan on hitting the rocks. The 15 has a wider sidewall which translates to better chance of puncturing it, and a better chance of bead off when aired down. I have the black rocks with the round windows in a 17x9 which has performed great. I chose the Toyo Open Country M/Ts for the durability factor. The side wall is almost as thick as the foot(but they weigh in pretty heavy). In the end it's what you want.

keithvegas

Not sure what tires you are looking at but damn those are heavy! I was basing it on a Falken Wild Peak 35x12.5r15 at 72lbs compared to a 325/70r17 at 82lbs.

ASSFROW

Wild Peaks from the Falken website, but the weight I listed includes the wheels.

Wheels from Black Rock webite 15 inch 19lbs 17 inch 23lbs

Wild Peaks from Falken website 35x12.50x15 72lbs 35x12.50x17 74lbs.

15 inch tire and wheel 91lbs.

17 inch tire and wheel 97lbs.

Only 6lbs difference per wheel.

keithvegas

Ooooh okay. DTD doesn't list the 35x12.50x17 and I couldn't find anyone reputable that carries it so I was substituting for the closest size. Thanks for your research.

ASSFROW

Gotcha. That makes sense.

Thought about the Rancho kit at all?

keithvegas

I think I was reading a thread a little bit ago but it all went south into a childish Internet battle and I gave up on it. Is it the Rancho Trail 3" you are talking about? On Quadratec's site only half of the 4" lifts are part of the "Shock and Awe" promo, none of the 3".

Have you run a Rancho or have friends with them specifically this lift? I wish I could drive them both to compare. My other concern is I've read 3" lifts are the start of drive shaft length issues tearing boots and replacing or extending brake lines.

ASSFROW

LOL. It seems that all of the Rancho/AEV threads turn into childish battles. The only up front experience I've had is with my buddies 08 2 door Rubicon manual. He had an older AEV 3.5" lift and he loved it. He put it on at about 35k miles an ran it till he traded it this year with 86k miles on it. The only thing he did was the lift. It had stock shafts front and rear. The kit didn't have extended brake lines only extension brackets. He didn't even do gussets and he ran 35's on Dick Cepik wheels. It was his daily driver and he drove about 30 miles highway and 10 miles city everyday each way to work. He also took it off road a little. He has a motocross track on his property and would ride around on it sometimes. A lot of guys put the 4 door teraflex 2.5 inch spring kit on the 2 doors because it gives 3 inches or more lift and never replace drive shafts or brake lines. The Rancho 3 inch sport kit comes with adjustable UCA's which should take care of any drive shaft problems and it also comes with extended front brake lines. I checked Rancho's site and the 3 inch sport kit RS66106B is included in the rebate. If you go to Ranchos site you have to look at the 2012 model to see the new kits, but they all work on all years. I ordered the 4 inch sport kit with RS9000 shocks for my 07 2 door automatic. I figure I'll have to do shafts, but I don't mind. I'm also going to order the Rancho adjustabe UCA's and eventually Rock Krawler LCA's. I plan on doing the rear mid arm LCA's. If it's to high I can always get shorter springs. Even with all that I will pocket money compared to the AEV 3.5 inch kits. To me the AEV kits are just really expensive for what you get. One of the reasons I didn't consider a 2.5 inch kit was when I start adding weight with bumpers, winch, bigger spare, carrier, etc. I figure It will sag too much to be worth a crap on the trails.

Here are a couple of links to some Rancho threads I found helpful.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...130258/page45/

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/spon...-227066/page6/

Here are the links to the new Rancho kits and rebate form.

KITS Rancho Suspension: Suspension » 2012 Jeep JK Wrangler - 2 & 4 Door 4WD Suspension Systems, Lift Kits, Leveling Systems & Shocks

REBATE http://www.gorancho.com/promotions/S..._RebatePad.pdf

Hope this helps,
Gary