Hi guys I am a newb. I have 2012 jku with 1500 miles on it. I am a weekend worrior at best. I have zero experience rock crawlimg but would like to hit some trails around San Diego. I also hunt on a regular basis. With that being said this is my DD and it will be on pavement 95% of time. I want to put on 35's and I am thinking 3.5 lift it seems to look good to me. So my question for you all is if you had 5k to do this thing how would you spend it? What is best build for my buck to drive great on the road or even better than factory plus improve my off road abilities. I am over whelmed with all the choices. I also don't have the tools or place to do the work myself. Any and all advise is welcome. Thanks!

 

Are you doing the work yourself?

 

What kind of JKU? The responses will be pretty different if you're starting off with a Rubicon compared to a Sport or Sahara. Rubi's have the axles and gearing you want for 35's... the others don't and that'll be your first upgrade (axles at least) if that's the case.

 

If you plan to lift it that much and want it to drive good on the road the top thing on your list after the lift is order a pro rock 44 unlimited so you can keep your caster up so your steering is not all over the road and yet your front pinion won’t be pointing at the ground. And when you order the pro rock have them put an attachment point for the track bar that allows you to move where it connects to the axle up high and do a drag link flip. I found all this out after I lifted the vehicle (also a 2012). Here are some examples of what mine looks like. I know its a lot of money but I wish someone had pointed this all out to me before I did the lift. I called 4x4 shops all over the country trying to figure out why the steering was so wacked and thankfully someone on here explained caster to me in great detail. He was right this took care of it. After the lift it drove like crap after this it drives better than new! Northridge did the track bar attachment for me before they shipped the axle to me!!
Dave

 

If its an investment I'd contact a good stock broker not a jeep site but f you are wanting us to tell you how to spend your money you came to the right place.

 

Make it simple, take your $5k and drive north to Fullerton CA, and see Off Road Evolution. They have a build for every budget, chances are the upgrades you need for your rig are on one of the jeeps in the parking lot that you could at least street test drive. The shop does such great work and makes such awesome products that I make the 6hr drive from Scottsdale, AZ for all of my major work.

 

I'd recommend doing it yourself, but I you can't then I agree with GCM. Head to off road evolution. Their EVO Enforcer kit will fit your needs nicely. Do a search on here for it. There have been several threads recently.

Here is one: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-s...forcer-249444/

 

I'd go for beefer axles and 4.11s, maybe even 4.88s. But it is my DD so it has to stay road-worthy.

 

4 year old post... I'd guess the money is long spent by now...

I only use my phone to get on this forum mainly. Does the main site not have the original post date to see clearly? A lot of revived threads lately haha

 

Same. I always wonder... Wtf?