I've currently got a 2008 JKUR with a basic coil & shock only OME kit on it, 35" treadwrights on stock rims, spidertrax spacers, cut stock fenders.
Got heavy ARB bumpers F&R, and 9k warn up front, so I'm carrying a few extra lbs... don't carry cargo though, I live a couple minutes max from most of the trails I wheel, so I travel pretty light.

I'm trying to decide what I want to do with this thing, and not having a bunch of time in these with different lifts, I'm having a tough time deciding how far I want to go.

I like the 2", but pretty sure I'll want more.

Currently this thing flexes like a 2x6... not much to it. Stock swaybar links, and stock shock length or close to it.... I want more flex no matter what height I'm at. To get more I need to do a chunk of work, and I'm trying to decide if I should do that, or if I should just step up & buy a taller kit, instead of investing in this lower setup.

Btw, this is my backyard trail... 2 min from the house.






I don't care about road manners much, my last rig I had been disconnected F&R for 4 months without bothering to hook back up. (I drive to moab here & there, but it's not a DD) I just care about being at an ideal height where I've got solid clearance, but aren't overly tippy.


I'm just curious to see what most folks feel is the "ideal" height. I know there's no exact answer to this... not looking for some magical fairy dust, just want some general opinions!

Thanks,

Kaleb

 

Terrafkex 2.5 or 3" with all 8 arms and extras needed...
I ran our nastier trails with 35s and a tf 2.5" (around 3.5 actually) and it was good but I was dragging chasis a little too much so I went to 37s and a 3" (4.5 ") with 1/2" spacers and NW gets its belly over stuff a lot easier.
We do all of nasty stuff here in San Diego and surrounding areas lots of rocks and fun stuff....my vote is a solid 3" that nets 4" or a little more...

 

I guess "ideal" will always be relative. 3.5" and 37's is what I'd go if I could afford to DD a rig with that expensive of a tire. I think any bigger than that and you'll be looking into some expensive axle upgrades. I'm quite satisfied with 35's, but I drag ALOT. with 3.5" and 37's you get a nice low center of gravity, and still considerably more clearance then with 35's.

 

3.5-4 was kind of the benchmark that I expected to end up with.

Running 35's now & when these are toast I'll likely get treadwright 37's, but they only come in 16.5, so I'd need rims too, and being the cheap bastird I am I'm still not sure if I want to spend $$ on rims.

I'm pretty happy with how this does as is so far, but I drag more than I'd like on ledge type features & tailings piles that are pretty common here. I'd like to be higher... but I HATE tippy SH**, and the idea of being any higher than needed is less than ideal.

Anybody felt like they "needed" to go higher, or that higher was worth the tradeoff?

 

depends on what size tire you want to run... for rocks you want a stable center of gravity so I wouldn't get a lift taller that whatever it takes to run the tires you want... if you want 35's I would go with 2.5 inches, for 37's i would go 3.5 + flat fenders

 

I would recommend a 4" long arm kit, 35's on stock Rubicon axles or 37"s if you plan on upgrading or breaking the stock goodies. I wish I had gone with the long arm kit and as soon as the axle and gearing money is saved up the 37's will be fitted.

 

Jku is a longer vehicle so roll over is important.We are headed to calico in 2 weeks and Johnson valley next month...we have been all over big bear, corral canyon, murietta etc and VW size rocks off camber and straddling rocks to climb a notch and no issues...

Now a 6" and 35s would be a bit much, my kit is a terraflex 3" with 1/2 spacers and cut fenders...works amazing and gets its tires up on some big obstacles...

 

Long arm won't be happening in the next year anyhow unless finances change, I'm limited in what kind of $$ I spend on this for a while (got a 5 month old baby that I feel is a LITTLE more important to invest in than the toy).

At this point I'll probably stick with 35's for a while, and once I can afford to break more parts then I'll move to 37's.

My main issue is not doing a setup I'll want to upgrade from in a year... OR, if I'm going to upgrade when I can afford a long arm kit, then not wasting big money on a setup now & either making cheap upgrades, or getting a cheaper lift to give me a stopgap I can sell for a minimal loss later.

Funny, when I set up a sled, I know exactly where I'm going, and each part is an addition, rather than something I'd pull to do something else... there's never any "steps" along the way. With this I feel like I'm going to make one step, see that I should have done something different... then make a different one... and so on.

 

Question...I know this thread is about height so obviously a lift and bigger tires are always good but I was wondering how well the treadwrights do on the rocks. Are you able to air them down to a low enough pressure that you get good flex? I have heard mixed things about airing down re-treads. I thought it was discouraged but maybe I am wrong.

Reason I ask is because if you like to play in rocks, getting a tire that you can air down to get better flex can be a huge improvment over one that doesn't. For instance, my older 35's were Maxxis Bighorns. I could air those down to 12psi and get decent flex. My new Toyos, due to their load rating, need to go down to about 8psi to get the same kind of flex. Huge performance difference if I run the toyos at 12psi.

If the Treadwrights cannot be aired down enough, you are probably losing out a bit. At least, I think...

 

I've heard that too... and worried about it a bit, but hasn't been an issue. My tires have about 6k worth of trail miles on them on a truck without lockers, so some spinning in those miles, most of that between 18 and 15 psi. Once broken in, they seem to do very well. They flex just as well as any other tire, and the few buddies who thought they were a bad idea are thinking about getting them next.

My one mistake though, I was so used to buying Treadwrights in the kedge grip that I didn't think it through when I bought these. Next time I'll avoid the kedge grip, as it wears the tires faster, and glass isn't ideal for rocks obviously. Once they're spun a few times (like climbing steep stuff where wheel spin is needed in Moab) the glass gets torn out, and they grip a bit better. Seems like after 1000 miles or so, the glass is just gone now & all I see are the holes where it used to be.

This is them a few days ago, you can see the advanced corner wear, and the holes where the glass was in this pic. Keep in mind, I wheel a LOT, I'll go run a few features at lunch to get away from estimating, so they've got much more trail miles on them compared to road than most will see.



Get rid of the glass, and I think they're a pretty ideal tire, and they conform well to the rocks. On the JKU I run them at 15 psi, on my last I ran 17ish front & 15ish rear, the fronts got the rocks closer than I was comfortable with to the rims on the heavier rig.