Hey everyone. Sorry I could not be there for the Newbie run but I was working to save money to finally make some mods to my jk. Just a couple of questions I have and input would be greatly appreciated.

1. Suspension - I have decided to go with the OME lift. I have heard and seen good things at the meet and greet. I don't plan on adding a front bumper or winch yet since funds will be low after these mods so should I go with the heavy duty springs or light duty? I am really only looking to add 2" to fit 33's. Can someone recommend an Adj Trac Bar? Just the rear, front or both? Anything else?

2. Wheels - I am confused on this area. I am really interested in these wheels…



However I do not know anything about off road performance and I am not sure how these will do. I also don't know where to find them and get confused with back spacing and wheel size (15”, 16” or 17”?). Maybe someone can point me in the right direction with this. I really like the look of black wheels with my silver jk. If these wheels are no good are there any recommendations you have?

3. Tires – I think since this is my daily driver that a set of BF Goodrich All Terrain would be my best option. I am open to any other ideas you may have but since this is the So Cal group and I would be joining you on the runs, you would know best.

I figure this is a good start but if you think of any other necessities I should have please feel free to let me know and I will try and put in the Over Time to get it. Thanks in advance.

 

Ok I will chime in with my opinion on rims and tires....

Go with a 17 inch rim, I currently have 16 inch rims and 35's.... now that I want to run 37's I am having the issue that I can't get a good 37 inch tire on a 16 inch rim.
My JK is my everyday driver and I run BFG Muds and really am glad I didn't go with AT's. The Muds are better for offroad use and really are not that noisy on the road. Just remember to rotate them!!

Hope that was helpful,
JAKE

 

O.k great. I will def make sure I get them in a 17" with the Mud Terrain. Any other suggestions with the set up? Are those wheels made for off road or did I pick out a set of street wheels? Is anyone running them? I see them all the time on f-150's but never on a jk.

 

I'm happy with the JKS adj. track bars. They have rubber bushings and are very quiet. I bought mine with the OME lift from Northridge 4x4.

 

I know it can get more confusing getting different opinions but here is mine. Although I am new to jeep I am not new to 4x4 wheeling... If you add all those upgrades in order to go off road, then if I were you I would put a lift and rocker guards (big one, you want to protect your sides) on top of my list. To me tire size is important but not as important, for years I drove a Land Rover with 31", and I thought they were huge... and I never found a trail I couldn't manage. It seems that every 10 years people want to add a couple of extra inches... What were yesterday's biggest tires have become today's standard. I think most people put the bigger tires for looks (and they do look good ) rather than a real need ( I said some, not all ). Idf you do get new tires, get the BFG MK2, probably one of the best tire ever made, all I hear are great things about those. I know they'll be my next set once the stock need replacing.

As far as the rim, keep in mind that they will eventually get scratch pretty hard, if it something you can live with, great, but personally I rather scratch the stock one. At least do a few off road trip with the stock rim so as to have an idea of how they would look after a few trips.

I am considering the OME lift as well, as this is what I used on my Land Rover. Most people get the HD, I know I will use the Light/medium load even though I will add a front/back bumper and a winch. To me the HD OME is really design for people that use their Jeep for Expedition like travel, with heavy cargo inside the jeep. If that's your case then go HD. HD will work great with no load, but the lift will be more 3" to 3.5" if your jeep is too light...

Last, get a Hi lift Jack (48" minimum), it's the most useful 4x4 tool you can invest in IMO.

 

OME is a great suspension kit. And 33" tires with the OME and the JK will get you through a lot of trails.

My only disagreement is 17" wheels with 33" tires. Not a good combination for off-roading in my opinion. Simply put, when you air down for the trail, a 17" wheel with 33" tire leaves only 8" sidewall. While this is not a serious issue it is something to consider against how much wheeling you plan and how "hardcore" you want to go.

 

The OME will probably net you a bit more than 2" mine did. Spend another 100 or so for a JKS quicker disco (assuming you don't have a Rubi). It will bring your swaybar back to 0 degrees and make life a heck of a lot easier when you go to disconnect. I replace the front/rear uppers and lower as well as track bar but by far the best thing was the silly JKS quicker discos. The 2.5-6 fit perfect. Don't know what helped the ride the most but sure made life easier when playing in the dirt.

 

Get a good set of rocker guards. Nothing worst than constantly worrying about crushing your rockers.

It will also help you with Your Better Halfyou scrathed the painthit the rock and thats the last time you hit this



Here is my 07 with 3 1/2 RE on 33s. I would go with 35s if i was to do it again.
See signiture for wheels.

 

Funny thing is everyone I have talked to that has 33's wished they went with 35's........

* Nice pic Castor, I dig the dirty JK sitting in the white snow......

 

So So true. I was going to get 33's and deal with it until Mel and Eddie talked me out of it last week at the Suds and Grub.

"No no get the 35's, you won't have to re-gear right away, It will be fine unless you are going over the Grapevine, you will save money in the long run, give in to the peer pressure, just do it"

Now I am trying to figure out how to get and extra inch in lift, afford new tires and wheels, deal with the spare not fitting on the stock carrier, all while sneaking an extra 2 inches from the wife. (Easy Rubimon).