Hello everyone, I've been building and wheeling XJ's for the last 10 years or so and, as much as I love them, I need something better suited for my needs. My directive has gone from rock crawling to more overlanding/camping. My wife and 2 children want to join me more often and the XJ just doesn't have the room or the power I need. Although I have a strong background in jeeps, the JK's are a little foreign to me so, forgive me if some of my questions are silly. I'm currently looking around my area for a 2012+ JKUR. My plan is a 3.5" lift, 35's and gears. The jeep will regularly be loaded down with my ARB fridge, gear for 4 people and will be towing my camping trailer (1,500lbs loaded.) It will need to be able to run 65-70 on the interstate safely and comfortably, pull DD duty and still tackle moderately difficult trails. My initial questions are, what lift would be the best for my application? How deep can you get with the gears before highway rpms get ridiculous? How does the JKUR handle a trailer? Money is always a concern but, I have zero problems forking out the cash for a quality lift that will perform. I wasted enough money with rough country garbage years ago and I've learned my lesson on cheap lifts. Thanks in advance and I look forward to joining your community!

 

Also, the lifts I'm looking at are the RK 3.5" X Factor mid arm, the Metalcloak 3.5" game changer and the AEV 3.5".

 

Welcome to the site..

Those are all good choices check out EVO Mfg also.....I've read good reviews on the Enforcer lifts they sell.

Like anything you get what you pay for, but coming over from XJ's I'm sure you already know that..

good luck with the build..

 

I think you need to look past the lift kits and do some research on over landing, there are some good threads already here. Carrying that much weight will change the rear ride height by 2-3" depending on coil rates you are running. Running heavy duty coils on an empty jeep will be jarring. There are gear charts all over the internet that will show rpm for different tire sizes. Old Man Emu make coils that handle heavy loads better then the generic everyday could offered from most manufactured like Rock krawler or teraflex. You may also want to look at adding an airbag system to handle the extra weight when you need it while offering you a better ride when not loaded. 3.5" is a lot of lift for 35" tires on a jk and you may want to look into what you are going to need at that height as the 4 link is way more expensive then what you are use too on the Yj. At that height you would basically be doing an entire suspension and steering swap. I would also consider a full float rear axle for a heavy jku.
Good luck

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm no stranger to overlanding so, no need to worry about that. The jeep will always have heavy bumpers, winch, gear and racks so I'm not terribly concerned with the ride when "unloaded". I'm coming from an XJ, not a YJ so the 5 link is nothing new to me. Although I am used to leaf springs in the rear so that's why I'm unsure about towing with the JKU. I am well aware of the he gearing charts but, I'm used to a 4.0 that doesn't like high rpm, which is why I asked.

 

Sorry about that on the model, the new motors make their power at a higher rpm band so expect to get into the pedal on steep grades. As far as towing a trailer it is going to depend on the tounge weight. I think the jku is rated for 500 pounds which should cause around 1" of compression on the coils. Depending on manufacturer coils will be in the 225-250 pound range but none of them will give you the exact measurements unless you are running coil overs.

 

The tounge weight on my trailer is roughly 200lbs so I don't think it will be too much of a problem. I use a load leveling hitch with sway bars as well.