Need some help

ljespinoza

ljespinoza

New member
I am finally going to be lifting and getting new shoes on my jeep. I have a couple of questions that I am hoping you might be able to answer.

I have a 2012 JKU Sahara 3.21 gears. This is my daily driver all freeway. I am going to do some light offloading, nothing to extreme. Will be installing a 3.5" rubicon Express with Pro Comp 7005 17"x9" and either 35/70/17 Duratracs, Trail Grappler 35"or Open County M/T 35" .

1. Will I need to regear with any of the tire options? Should I regear? Good local - North Orange County shop.
2. Will I need to change tire carrier?
3. Anyone have experience with this carrier? http://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/189.htm

Thanks in Advance
 
So if you go with Duratracs, that's less of a chance you'll need to re gear as the nittos and Toyos are as heavy in a 35" as most 37s. Duratracs weigh 64 lbs in a 35" and nittos weight 79 lbs. the less weight your motor is pushing the lease chance you'll want to re gear.

I have the duratracs and love them. Haven't heard one negative comment about them.

Also when lifting higher than 3" your going to need a new drive shaft sooner than later.

And hopefully your lift comes with all the other things needed to lift that high.

2.5" is really ideal for 35s and you don't need much else other than lift shocks, extended break lines to run this set up. I been running it for a year with no issues.

And yes you will need a new tire carrier. Although I've heard people shove a wheel spacer on it and the tire fits. Also seen a guy that put washers on the bolts enough to push is tire out enough for it to work.


Good luck. I'm sure more people will chime in with more info.
 
ljespinoza said:
I am finally going to be lifting and getting new shoes on my jeep. I have a couple of questions that I am hoping you might be able to answer.

I have a 2012 JKU Sahara 3.21 gears. This is my daily driver all freeway. I am going to do some light offloading, nothing to extreme. Will be installing a 3.5" rubicon Express with Pro Comp 7005 17"x9" and either 35/70/17 Duratracs, Trail Grappler 35"or Open County M/T 35" .

1. Will I need to regear with any of the tire options? Should I regear? Good local - North Orange County shop.
2. Will I need to change tire carrier?
3. Anyone have experience with this carrier? http://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/189.htm

Thanks in Advance
Click to expand...

I had 285/75/16 Duratrac's and loved them. I recently switched to 315/75/16 Nitto Mud Grapplers, and have not really noticed any difference in power loss. Like JKBandit said I would only go with a 2.5" lift for 35's, especially if you are only going to do light off road. I would also suggest re-gearing to 4:10's or 4:56's. I run 4:56's and get close to factory fuel Millage and can run 75-80 mph on the highway with no problem.


09 JKU
Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Dixon4x4 said:
I had 285/75/16 Duratrac's and loved them. I recently switched to 315/75/16 Nitto Mud Grapplers, and have not really noticed any difference in power loss. Like JKBandit said I would only go with a 2.5" lift for 35's, especially if you are only going to do light off road. I would also suggest re-gearing to 4:10's or 4:56's. I run 4:56's and get close to factory fuel Millage and can run 75-80 mph on the highway with no problem.

09 JKU
Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

He is running the new 3.6L engine in his 2012. Might be a good idea to see if a re gear is needed with 3.21s and the 285hp. I'm running 3.73s with my 35s and it still has more than enough power.

But ya in my old 07 Jk. With 35s and 4.10s it felt real sluggish.
 
bl17z90 said:
When it comes to something like a tire carrier i would stay away from smittybuilt
Click to expand...

Why would you say this. I have a buddy that put one on his jeep. The carrier does what it was designed to do. He seems to like it. Unless there is something about this carrier I don't know. I say it's a good alternative for those that want it. And if there is something wrong with this carrier, please provide us that information. It can help those looking to purchase it with factual info.
 
ljespinoza said:
I am finally going to be lifting and getting new shoes on my jeep. I have a couple of questions that I am hoping you might be able to answer.

I have a 2012 JKU Sahara 3.21 gears. This is my daily driver all freeway. I am going to do some light offloading, nothing to extreme. Will be installing a 3.5" rubicon Express with Pro Comp 7005 17"x9" and either 35/70/17 Duratracs, Trail Grappler 35"or Open County M/T 35" .

1. Will I need to regear with any of the tire options? Should I regear? Good local - North Orange County shop.
2. Will I need to change tire carrier?
3. Anyone have experience with this carrier? http://www.smittybilt.com/product/index/189.htm

Thanks in Advance
Click to expand...

1. Regear will be subjective from person to person but you may want to regear with such a low gear. If you plan to go with bigger tires in the future then I might go with a gear aimed more toward that. A 4.88 would be best though as the 5.13 in a D30 has a really small pinion. And I think OffRoad Evolution runs that $999 gear special all year.

2. You won't need to change the tire carrier from the stock one but just be smart about it. If you plan to offroad your jeep in a lot of hilly sections where the tire might be able to catch then take off the spare. Check it regularly to make sure its not bending the tailgate as well.

3. I have no experience with it but I would rather save my money and use the stock carrier until you could afford something a little better.
 
JKBANDIT55 said:
He is running the new 3.6L engine in his 2012. Might be a good idea to see if a re gear is needed with 3.21s and the 285hp. I'm running 3.73s with my 35s and it still has more than enough power.

But ya in my old 07 Jk. With 35s and 4.10s it felt real sluggish.
Click to expand...

True that the 3.6 may still have plenty of power with 3:73's, but running 35's with the factory 3:21's he will most likely notice a big drop in fuel economy and a re-gear will help get some of that back.


09 JKU
Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Serg5000 said:
Why would you say this. I have a buddy that put one on his jeep. The carrier does what it was designed to do. He seems to like it. Unless there is something about this carrier I don't know. I say it's a good alternative for those that want it. And if there is something wrong with this carrier, please provide us that information. It can help those looking to purchase it with factual info.
Click to expand...

The guys that I've known to have one had all kinds of issues with getting it installed. Holes didn't line up, latch didn't work properly, etc. On the trail, I have seen the rocks get the better of them.
 
JKBANDIT55 said:
A 35" tire will NOT fit on the stock tire carrier of the 2012 an up JKs...
Click to expand...

They don't fit on earlier JK's either without an extension that you can buy. I ran my 35 on my stock carrier for 40,000 miles. No problems.
 
Last edited:
OverlanderJK said:
Why? It's the same carrier as previous years.
Click to expand...

On the 2012s the carrier is placed slightly lower than the pervious years. When you mount the tire, the bottom hits the bumper and doesn't allow you to shut the tail gate. Same with previous jeeps. But I ran it with 2 bolts up top and a few washers behind the bottom bolt to push the tire out just enough. It's just with these 2012s and up I couldn't get my spare to fit at all. Kinda stupid design if you ask me
 
JKBANDIT55 said:
On the 2012s the carrier is placed slightly lower than the pervious years. When you mount the tire, the bottom hits the bumper and doesn't allow you to shut the tail gate. Same with previous jeeps. But I ran it with 2 bolts up top and a few washers behind the bottom bolt to push the tire out just enough. It's just with these 2012s and up I couldn't get my spare to fit at all. Kinda stupid design if you ask me
Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been any changes to the placement of the spare on 2012-up. A 35 will hit the bumper on all JK's regardless of year and an adapter to raise it up will be needed to clear it. This isn't a problem so long as you make sure to keep your spare from jiggling around as that will cause damage.
 
The extension bracket that I used lifts the spare up and away so the tire clears the bumper. This was with a stock wheel and it is necessary to change out the rubber isolators to make them longer.
 
Dixon4x4 said:
I had 285/75/16 Duratrac's and loved them. I recently switched to 315/75/16 Nitto Mud Grapplers, and have not really noticed any difference in power loss. Like JKBandit said I would only go with a 2.5" lift for 35's, especially if you are only going to do light off road. I would also suggest re-gearing to 4:10's or 4:56's. I run 4:56's and get close to factory fuel Millage and can run 75-80 mph on the highway with no problem.


09 JKU
Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

Auto or Manual? :thinking:
 
wayoflife said:
To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been any changes to the placement of the spare on 2012-up. A 35 will hit the bumper on all JK's regardless of year and an adapter to raise it up will be needed to clear it. This isn't a problem so long as you make sure to keep your spare from jiggling around as that will cause damage.
Click to expand...

The only reason I said it changed it because on my 07 I got my 35" to barely fit. With the 35 on my newer 2012 it isn't even close. Might be because different brand in 35s measure different to others. I just knew it doesn't fit without pushing it up with a spacer or washers
 
JKBANDIT55 said:
So if you go with Duratracs, that's less of a chance you'll need to re gear as the nittos and Toyos are as heavy in a 35" as most 37s. Duratracs weigh 64 lbs in a 35" and nittos weight 79 lbs. the less weight your motor is pushing the lease chance you'll want to re gear.

I have the duratracs and love them. Haven't heard one negative comment about them.

Also when lifting higher than 3" your going to need a new drive shaft sooner than later.

And hopefully your lift comes with all the other things needed to lift that high.

2.5" is really ideal for 35s and you don't need much else other than lift shocks, extended break lines to run this set up. I been running it for a year with no issues.

And yes you will need a new tire carrier. Although I've heard people shove a wheel spacer on it and the tire fits. Also seen a guy that put washers on the bolts enough to push is tire out enough for it to work.


Good luck. I'm sure more people will chime in with more info.
Click to expand...

Thanks for replying. The more I think about it, I may end up going with the Duratracs and a 2.5" lift. As for the spare tire, I may have just bite the bullet get me a new rear bumper and tire carrier.
 
wayoflife said:
The guys that I've known to have one had all kinds of issues with getting it installed. Holes didn't line up, latch didn't work properly, etc. On the trail, I have seen the rocks get the better of them.
Click to expand...

bl17z90 said:
When it comes to something like a tire carrier i would stay away from smittybuilt
Click to expand...

To me it's look like it wont be any better than what is stock. I was just looking at it from a cost perspective. Appreciate the feedback.
 
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