Good evening y'all! I've done a ton of research on here and I've been dreaming of lifting my 09 JKU Sahara for quite some time. Well, it is zero hour now. I finally have some funds to do a lift and tires! I would like to get your opinions though. Let me preface what I'm about to ask with this: my jeep is my daily driver, I am not concerned about gas mileage (if I was, I would have never purchased her in the first place! Haha), and she will most likely be a street queen (nowhere to go off roading around here in ct). So after calling around to a bunch of shops, the price I've been quoted for the 4" zone lift (with shocks and adj. track bar), 4-37x13.5x17 Toyo MT's on 17x9 new rockstars would be in the ball park of $4100 installed plus tax, mounted, balanced, and aligned.

My questions are as follows:

It seems like a decent price for what I'm getting, parts alone will be close to $3200 or more. And I unfortunately do not have the tools/space to do the lift myself. (If anyone here in CT has a place to install, and tools, and would be willing to help, by all means, I'd make a weekend out of it!!)

I know I am going to have to get the C's gusseted. Recommend any welding shops? Or does anyone on here in CT have a welder, and is proficient at welding? Hint hint

I plan on also doing the Bushwhacker flat fenders on my own. (my friend and I installed them on his 2 door JKR and although time consuming, it came out perfect!) as well as the Poison Spyder Tramp Stamp/license plate relocation.

I also know I will have to re-gear sooner than later. I currently have 3.73's and it's an auto.

I know that I have to be careful with driveshafts at that height, but again, I'll save for them.

Basically, what do y'all think? I am open to all suggestions/comments/concerns. And let the flaming begin because for the time being, it'll be a street queen.

Thanks in advance everyone!!

 

Also, I plan on doing the stubby front bumper mod with either VDP or RR end caps.

 

I'm surpirsed no one responded to your questions. I saw you post in the New England section so I figured I;d give you my two cents.

First, a 4" lift is going to have a dramatic impact on your Jeep's geometery. The Zone lift you are installing isn't exactly well thought of in this forum and is definitley not a complete kit. Zone, from my uderstanding, is a division of BDS but don;t carry the same warranty that BDS products have. I know a few people that ran Zone lifts a few years ago and they all swapped them out due to the coils getting significant sag over time and the need to add more components to fix the ride.

Things to consider

1. Lift - at 4" you need to do something about caster or your steering is going to be awful flighty. Either drop brackets like AEV or adjustable control arms are needed. Adjustable control arms, at a minimum, will allow you to adjust caster in a more "precise" way. If you want to recenter your wheels in your wheel wells you will need all 8 control arms to do this.

2. Driveshafts - depending on 2 door or 4 door, auto or manual, you will need to get new driveshafts. Especially the front if you have an auto. Even if you never go off road, the first time you decide to show off and flex out on a snow bank.....bye bye front boot.

3. 37" tires - The Toyos are BIG 37's. Stated size is 13.5" wide but they are more like 14.5". And heavy heavy heavy.....so reinforcing that weak dana 30 should be a top priority. Not just c gussets but look to do a truss. Again, even if you never wheel, these are some heavy 37's and can easily bend stuff. Did I mention they are heavy?

4. No wheeling?! - Yes, I agree that there are few to no trails in CT (there are actually a few private locations if you belong to a club) so I ask why 4" lift and 37's? You say you don't care about mpg but that's the least of your worries on cost. Driveshafts (as I already mentioned), reinforcing axles, gearing and fixing your steering geometry (another expensive mod) are all stuff you will need to do once you put a 4" lift and 37's on. It's a big downward spiral of suck the money out of my pocket.

My advice is to look for a more complete lift if you are seriously looking to keep a 4" lift. Maybe look at a few 3" and 3.5" lifts which you can eaily fit 37's with flat flares. You really are going to want a more complete lift than what the Zone one offers....

5. No wheeling?! - wait...didn't I already mention this? yes I did but it's worth reiterating that there are a lot of great clubs out there that you can learn from and have fun with. Most don't require you to drop your Jeep off a cliff. Most run trails that offer a wide range of difficulties. Also, people in clubs tend to help one another with installs.....save you some big money in the long run if/when stuff breaks.


i have other thoughts but this is long enough already!

 

Hey! Thanks for the input!! As for some of the points you brought up, here was my thought process. I was going to need new tires soon, and figured I'd go with 37's because if I went 35's I'd have tire remorse and wish I got 37's. (A friend of mine has a 2D 08' rubi on 35's with no lift). I went with the 4" zone with full intentions of adding arms in the near future.

As for the front axel, I know the 30 is not the strongest, and put up against the 37 toyo's, I'm going to have to baby it. I am looking into contacting Artec Industries about their front axel armor kit (C gussets, truss, lca skids, and reinforced trac bar bracket). It seems like a relatively inexpensive way to beef up the 30 (at $250 or so). I just need to talk to a few people I know about welding. (I haven't touched a welder since high school).

It's funny you should mention the jeep clubs, I just started looking into them the other night, and I'm seriously thinking about trying to join one!

Driveshafts are also on my to-do list, (I have an auto 4-door Sahara).

As for wheeling, I will want to wheel her, once I get her built right though. Still saving for lockers and gears (amongst the above stated parts).

I'm completely open to more suggestions!!