hey guys i just bought my metallic green 08 2dr wrangler x today and needed to get some advice on some mods i plan to do...
first i received a set of rubicon wheels and tires for free from a buddy of mine and i was going to throw those on first.
second, i was going to get a 3.5 in skyjacker suspension lift. i was wondering if anyone has seen a wrangler with the rubicon wheels and tires lifted to 3.5 and how did it look?
im trying to avoid really big tires that require me to change out my gears. my brother has an 02 lifted 2.5 with 17 in motometal and 33 tsl. and it rode so rough he needed to replace his gears.
lastly, im trying to decide between the painted bushwacker pocket flares or the black pocket flares. i have a black hard top and black hood cover so it kinda has the green on black look right now. would it look better with the painted flares. please post any photos that you think would help. thanks alot

 

first off, 3.5" of lift will be A LOT of lift for just 32" tires. add significatly wider bushwacker flairs and your jeep is gonna look.... well, it's gonna look real funny. also, before you go with the skyjacker lift, i would suggest you do some research. i have recently talked to several people who have their kits installed now and really regret it. apparently, their bushings tend to fail very quickly and their track bar relocation brackets are known to tear off the factory mounts. one guy i know is still suffering a crack in his rear mount even with the additional diff brace. just trying to save you some headaches down the road.

 

thanks. yeah i had thought it might look funny with only 32 in tires. ill prob hold off on the flares til i can put some money into big tires. so would you say avoid a 3.5 lift all together or just avoid the skyjacker lift? i like how jeeps look lifted because im 6'6 and i dont want to tower over my jeep, would a 2.5 look better with the 32 tires?

 

one more thing...will 33 in tires require me to change out my gears? how big can you get before you start having trouble? thanks again

 

Do you have a manual or an Automatic? I have a manual with 3.21's and I run with 33's and have no problem other than steep hills, then I just downshift. If you have an automatic then you have 3.73 diff and you may have a problem with overdrive on steep hills, but living in MO your hills are far and few between.

 

You will be fine with 33's for the gearing I would say a Rough Country 2.5 lift with some 33's will look great without worrying about gears, or driveshaft issues.

 

You didn't say if you have an auto or stick. You probably have 3.73 gears so that also makes it less desirable to go much over the 32's. It really depends on how you drive and what kind of driving you do. With my auto and 4.10 gears the 33's are as large as I can stand for a daily driver. When I go 35's I will change gears shortly after that to 5.13. My JK is no longer a daily driver so it will not be too bad to run them with the 4.10 for a while. I also live in central Texas where it is pretty flat. The stick can run a larger tire and not feel as weak as the auto. I run a 2.5bb Teraflex and it looks great and run 33's with no issues. To keep your center of gravity low a body lift 1" or 2" will give more tire clearance later for 35's without changing driveshafts or starting all over with an expensive larger lift.

 

I would suggest looking at either the Teraflex 2.5" or the Rough Country 2.5" lift. Rubi Wheels and tires AND a set of SpiderTrax 1.5" spacers to push those wheels out... so WHEN you go to a set of 33X12.5" tires, you won't have to replace your wheels... all said and done, the cost of the lift and spacers will run you less then 500 bucks and you'll have a good lookin' rig.

 

What he said...

 

ive heard that with the automatic, if you get it lifted you can tear something resulting in needing a new drive train....will i have this problem with any 2.5 in lift?