33s with a 2.5 or 35s with a 3

crowrb29

crowrb29

New member
I have been stewing over this for quite a while. I'd love to have a 3'' lift with some sweet ass 35s but it just doesn't seem like its in the cards money wise and what not. Looking at 35s I would have to upgrade a lot of stuff and that would just be really expensive. Is it still possible to do most things on 33s with a smaller lift? I ran a few Big Bear diamonds on 31s with no lift and scraped a few times but other than that everything was fine. Would 33s get me to most of the places I would want to go?
 
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This is a very subjective question. There are several threads on WAYALIFE which addresses this question. Depending on what you are going to do you can run 35's on a 2.5 lift with flat fenders. You can either cut your stock fenders or spend $600 on flat fenders from Bushwacker. Depending on what you wheeling plans are will help determine what you want to do.

R/
Will
 
I'd say go 35s cuz after u get 33s u will wish u had 35s and u can fit 25s on a 2.5 with a fender chop


I don't always wheel , but when I do I keep it tight......... Stay dirty my friends.
 
It's sort if a toss up. I'm in the military and I'm not too sure about where I will be wheeling in the future. If I stay in Cali then I figure 35s will be a must have but I think if I go to NC or I get out and go back to MI the 33s will be plenty. My biggest concern is having the 35s and breaking a whole bunch of stuff. My buddy with a rubi went with 35s and has had to do over 5000 in driveline and axle repairs because he didn't upgrade his set up. I have also heard that with open diffs it doesn't put as much stress on the axles though.
 
If you want 35's, then get them to start. I got 33's and 2.5" lift, then got 35's 9 months later and moved up to 4". Sold my 33's at a huge loss. Got lucky on the springs though -- found someone that wanted to trade brand new springs for 2.5"...

Do it right the first time or you will waste a lot of money fixing it later.
 
I started with a 2.5 and 33's and it was a big mistake for me. I had a really good comparison with my husband's Jeep which was already on 4" and 35's. I went everywhere he went, but my skid plates and tie rod definitely showed more damage! Within a month and a half I was already selling the 2.5" and 33's in favor of a 4" and 35's. It was a whole new world on the trail, surprisingly.

Save up a little longer and go for the 35's. You can even run 35's with a 2.5" if you chop your stock flares, and it will hold you over until you are saved up for a 4" lift. I probably ran around for a week or two like that until my 4" lift arrived. My :twocents:!

Also, I didn't go upgrading my axles or anything (yet) and haven't done any serious damage. I am open, D30 front too. I wheel at least a few times a month and do some pretty heavy rock crawling too.
 
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I guess one of my biggest questions/concerns with all of this is if j can survive with stock sport axles wheeling trails like John Bull and Gold Mtn. I was originally looking into the Evo enforcer with bilsteins but the idea of having to pay about half the price of the lift and tires in axles upgrades sort of steered me away....
 
crowrb29 said:
I guess one of my biggest questions/concerns with all of this is if j can survive with stock sport axles wheeling trails like John Bull and Gold Mtn. I was originally looking into the Evo enforcer with bilsteins but the idea of having to pay about half the price of the lift and tires in axles upgrades sort of steered me away....
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If you're doing any rock crawling, you're going to want the 35's. I just did John Bull on Saturday and rarely see JK's with 33's on that trail. I've done it 3 times this year. Usually only the TJ's and older have 33's.

It is a loaded question though, because 35's will put more stress on your D30. You can reinforce it with sleeve gussets and a truss, but many will tell you putting money into a D30 is a waste. However, unless you want to break it, either reinforce or start saving for a new front axle.

Threadjack -- I ran Gold Mtn about a month ago. Everyone that has run it recently seems to agree that it's gotten harder than last year. Definintely more fun. :D
 
crowrb29 said:
I guess one of my biggest questions/concerns with all of this is if j can survive with stock sport axles wheeling trails like John Bull and Gold Mtn. I was originally looking into the Evo enforcer with bilsteins but the idea of having to pay about half the price of the lift and tires in axles upgrades sort of steered me away....
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Not familiar with those trails but I can tell you that I know at least a dozen guys on stock sport axles and 35's that have never broken anything major and wheel the shit out of their rigs all the time. I really think it comes down to your driving habits. Yeah, we will probably break something eventually but then we will upgrade. I don't personally think its worth it to invest in upgrading a D30. Hell I won't even get lockers because I know new axles are in my future eventually... And quite frankly not having lockers has never once been a problem. Inconvenient maybe a few times haha!




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Honestly you can run 35's on a stock rim with stock drive shafts, stock dana 30 and 44, and stock (uncut) fenders on a 2.5" lift. I know, I am doing it. :thumb:

Having said that, I did get aftermarket track bars, and quick disconect sway bar links (JKS) I also have a set of evo c gussets that I need to weld on eventually.
 
I'm currently sitting on 35s and a 2.5" Coil lift and flat fenders, and I can go almost anywhere I feel brave enough. Like it has been stated previously, if you want 35s, get them. I thought about getting 33s at first, but the stockers measure right around 32, so I saved and saved and saved (and went TDY to get that extra money lol) and bought my new wheels and 35s. In all, I think spent right around 700 for my lift (kit, shocks, and jks quick discos). the 2.5 lift and 35s will fit me fine until i get to where i want to upgrade to the evo coil overs and long arm kit, which will not be for a while (you, after bumpers, sliders, and a pr44 up front).

Anyways, here's the kit and shocks I bought, and i love the ride:

Lift
Shocks
 
Save for 35's. you will regret it if you don't get them. You can get away with a cheaper spacer lift, daystar has one that's 1 3/4 inches for around $100. With that you can get some shock extensions or some longer shocks and be into the lift for cheap. Pick up a set of spidertrax wheel spacers for $100-$200 and run the factory wheels with the 35's. that will get you up in the air on 35's for cheap. You will be happier then if you are on 33's.

Also there is a big difference between 33's on a 2 door and 33's on a 4 door.
 
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