Starting a build... So many questions! Please Help!

T

theilkjam

New member
I have a 2009 Wrangler, its not a Rubicon.

I have had it for about a year now and I absolutely love it. I initially didn't plan on making very many modifications to it because I didn't plan on doing a ton of off roading except for during hunting season. However, after seeing some of the Wayalife and Project-JK youtube videos I have been somewhat inspired to start doing some modifications. What comes first? Wheels and Tires? Lift Kit? I just want to know where to start. All I have done to it now are replaced all of the lights with HID's and added a pair of Rigid Industries Dually D2 LED lights to my A-Pillars. I also have a pretty killer stereo system (I work for a High End stereo shop so it was a must)

Any advice is welcomed and appreciated!

Thanks
 
Gusset your C's. Everything else depends on what your intentions are (what kind of wheeling).
 
it depends on your wheelin intentions, but i would gusset your Cs and invest in some armour (rubi sliders, etc.) and then maybe a budget boost to get you started. now if you want to run 35s or bigger, other things will have to happen...

andrew-
 
I really don't know what kind of wheeling I intend to do. I live in Central Illinois, but one of the reasons I would like to do this is to drive out west and check out the rockies and stuff like that. I have seen some awesome stuff on the internet. I just want my Jeep to get me anywhere I want to go. I initially thought 35's would be cool, but it seems like that could entail a lot more work than going with 33's
 
Ok well a stock jk can do a lot of the trails out here. There are things that are prone to being damaged though. As has already been mentioned c's get bent. There is also the steering sabilizer. It should be flipped. The tie rod is in a very vulnerable spot and is easily bent. A heavy duty replacement is nice to have. If you have a 2 door i think you would be fine on 90% of the trails out here with a 33 to 34" tire. For a jku i would prefer 35"+ tires because of the horrible break over angle. As far as lift you need to know what tires your goinh to run before you commit to a suspension system. Oh and rocker guards are an absolute must, peeferably frame mounted.
 
After looking at pictures and reading reviews, I think I want to go with 35s and maybe a 3 or 3.5 inch lift. Will I have to get new gears though?
 
theilkjam said:
After looking at pictures and reading reviews, I think I want to go with 35s and maybe a 3 or 3.5 inch lift. Will I have to get new gears though?
Click to expand...

I just put 35's on my 2011 2 door with 3.73 gears. It isn't a horrible drive even with the crappy 3.8 motor. One thing you have to worry about with 3-3.5" of lift is your drive shafts will need to be replaced.


Sent from my iPhone
 
cozdude said:
I just put 35's on my 2011 2 door with 3.73 gears. It isn't a horrible drive even with the crappy 3.8 motor. One thing you have to worry about with 3-3.5" of lift is your drive shafts will need to be replaced.


Sent from my iPhone
Click to expand...

Do you have any pics? I'd love to see what the 35s look like with 2 inch bb lift. Also, are the 3.73 gears the stock gears? The whole "gear" thing is something I still don't fully understand
 
Yep they were the stock gears that I got in my sport. I have a teraflex 2.5 coil lift sitting in my garage waiting to go on.

The tires are Nitto Mud grapplers 315/75r16

ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1373064595.179412.jpg
You can see the little clearance I have currently with the stock fenders. I will prob be cutting these.
ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1373064640.822497.jpg


Sent from my iPhone
 
That looks awesome! You just gave me everything I am looking for. Thanks for you help! Now its time to pick out some tires and wheels and get the ball rolling. I don't know if I want to go with too much of a Mud Tire because my jeep is still my daily driver.
 
theilkjam said:
That looks awesome! You just gave me everything I am looking for. Thanks for you help! Now its time to pick out some tires and wheels and get the ball rolling. I don't know if I want to go with too much of a Mud Tire because my jeep is still my daily driver.
Click to expand...

I have the 315/75/16 Toyo MTs with no lift. I'd recommend cutting the fenders or going with something like the bushwacker flat fender kit, it's fairly inexpensive. Then get some rock sliders. This is my daily driver too. The tires are quiet & smooth riding. I think this would get you the most for your buck to get you into the white knuckle zone of 4x4ing. I do live in the rockies and just plan on the gusset brace and front air locker to finish up.
 
Tires will be ordered soon, I can't find the particular set of Toyo MTs that Webe is talking about but I did see that Quadratec had some really good prices on wheel and tire packages from ProComp. The price is right, I am just curious as to the quality of the product.
 
theilkjam said:
Do you have any pics? I'd love to see what the 35s look like with 2 inch bb lift. Also, are the 3.73 gears the stock gears? The whole "gear" thing is something I still don't fully understand
Click to expand...

Here are 35s on a stock height.
ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1373124593.470895.jpg


Sent by Pony Express
 
Not all bad. Cruising around 70 mph. I get about 16.5- 18 mpg. I know not to trust the on board computer with that sort of thing but that doing the math. Oh and I have 3:73 gears.


Sent by Pony Express
 
Really do some research on ProComp and remember, you get what you pay for.


Sent by Pony Express
 
This is my 2010 2 door with the aev 2.5" lift and 35" nitto trail grapplers. Everything else on it is stock, even the 3.73 gears and it did just fine on blue/black trails at rausch creek. I did have to be carefull though since my sliders havn't come in yet. I am also going to be putting the evo c gussets and lower control arm skids on when my sliders come in.

ImageUploadedByWAYALIFE1373131336.855773.jpg
 
Do you have a good recommendation for sliders? I see a lot of people using the EVO stuff but there site is a little tough to navigate. What should I get?
 
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