Gear head lift question

[Firemom]

Howdy, everyone. I'm getting ready to lift my rig and would appreciate your knowledge and experience.
What I have:
2016 Jeep Wrangler Willy's edition 2 door, 3.6L V6, 6 speed Manual Transmission. Next Gen Dana 44 in the rear and Next Gen Dana 30 in the front. 3.73 front/rear axle ratios. Track-Loc Differential rear axle and 17x7.5 in wheels with LT255/75R17 BSW tires. The Willy's also came with "performance Suspension" ??
What I would like:
Willy is and will continue to be my daily driver and I do not want to have to change gear ratios, drive train etc. Maybe in the future but not right now. Overlanding trips will be everything from rocky forest service trails to the Death Valley run etc.. Basically, I'm up for anything except "rock crawling" also there will eventually be an RTT on my rig.
So with all that info in mind, what are your thoughts between a 2.5" or 3" lift or something else? and 33" vs 35" tires or something else? Will 35s just be too big for my gear ratio? What's going to best facilitate my rigs ability to go where I want to go without having to change gearing, tear up drive lines etc. Any info is appreciated. Hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

 

[tacoclifford]

I think 35’s will wreck your Dana 30 unless you want to truss and gusset the axle housing. You would probably need stronger axle shafts and new gears. It might at that point be worth it to upgrade to a rubicon Dana 44 take off or something like that.
I don’t own a wrangler but Iv done a bunch of research. For 33” tires. A 2.5” lift looks really well put together. That will give you enough clearance for the tires and will get your body higher off the ground. But will still keep you small enough to daily drive it without a massive hit to fuel economy.

 

[Firemom]

I think 35’s will wreck your Dana 30 unless you want to truss and gusset the axle housing. You would probably need stronger axle shafts and new gears. It might at that point be worth it to upgrade to a rubicon Dana 44 take off or something like that.
I don’t own a wrangler but Iv done a bunch of research. For 33” tires. A 2.5” lift looks really well put together. That will give you enough clearance for the tires and will get your body higher off the ground. But will still keep you small enough to daily drive it without a massive hit to fuel economy.

Thank you for your input. 2.5" with 33s is the direction I'm leaning right now but hoping for some more info and a bit more $$. The overland fund is a bit short after the HAM radio purchase.

 

[tacoclifford]

Thank you for your input. 2.5" with 33s is the direction I'm leaning right now but hoping for some more info and a bit more $$. The overland fund is a bit short after the HAM radio purchase.

Yea this is definitely an expensive hobby. The beauty of overlanding is that when it’s boiled down, all you have left is driving somewhere and camping. Ofcourse we all love having radios and lifts and tires and fancy tents and camp stoves. But all that’s necessary is a vehicle to get you there and a place to sleep. The rest is all gravy.


Hopefully someone with first hand wrangler experience can chime in better than I can.

 

[SubeeBen]

Hope this info helps. I’m running a teraflex 2.5” lift with jks sway bar disconnects (front) fox 2.0 shocks front & rear. Currently run stock 255’s plan on adding 285’s when stock tires wear out. With this combo I am extremely happy as this is my daily driver/overland rig as well. No need to re gear truss/rebuild axles. Works great on road as well as medium rock crawling . There is no need to go with a $5000.00 lift & 37” tires unless your trying to keep up with the cool guy in town that has his rig all tricked out & the poor Jeep has never seen a day in the dirt. Just my 2 cents hope this helps & I assure you you will not be disappointed. Good luck .

 

[rhinodave]

Just added 2.5" aev lift and 35" tires to 2017 jeep jk sport and it rides great. Haven't really noticed any real loss of power and I drive a lot of hills. The jeep is still stock as far as bumpers etc, so I haven't added a lot of weight yet. I was getting 20-21 mpg, but I am down to 18-19, so a little loss there. Was scheduled to get re-gear and lockers, which I probably will do in future, but I put it off until I start to add weight, (bumper, winch, RTT) and the holiday's are over, LOL. Good luck with your build.

 

[Firemom]

Yea this is definitely an expensive hobby. The beauty of overlanding is that when it’s boiled down, all you have left is driving somewhere and camping. Ofcourse we all love having radios and lifts and tires and fancy tents and camp stoves. But all that’s necessary is a vehicle to get you there and a place to sleep. The rest is all gravy.


Hopefully someone with first hand wrangler experience can chime in better than I can.

So true. Just need to get there and Willy does that just fine. Little extra height will be nice but not having it certainly won't keep us from hitting the trails :-)

 

[Firemom]

Hope this info helps. I’m running a teraflex 2.5” lift with jks sway bar disconnects (front) fox 2.0 shocks front & rear. Currently run stock 255’s plan on adding 285’s when stock tires wear out. With this combo I am extremely happy as this is my daily driver/overland rig as well. No need to re gear truss/rebuild axles. Works great on road as well as medium rock crawling . There is no need to go with a $5000.00 lift & 37” tires unless your trying to keep up with the cool guy in town that has his rig all tricked out & the poor Jeep has never seen a day in the dirt. Just my 2 cents hope this helps & I assure you you will not be disappointed. Good luck .

Thank you for the info. I always feel sorry for the asphalt queens, so much potential wasted. Think I'm settled on a 2.5 lift and 33's. A little extra rock clearance without getting too high.

 

[SubeeBen]

Thank you for the info. I always feel sorry for the asphalt queens, so much potential wasted. Think I'm settled on a 2.5 lift and 33's. A little extra rock clearance without getting too high.

Very good. With 285’s you will have a good look with plenty of clearance without having to cut fenders. I believe that size is roughly 34” tire. Just an FYI.good luck.

 

[Captain Chaos]

I run a Teraflex 2.5” lift and 35s. You do not need to trim any fenders or anything else to get 35s on a JK. I have an auto that came stock with 4.10 gears. I recently swapped in 4.88 gears.
Your Willys should have 3.73 gears. You’ll probably be very happy with 33s and stock gearing. Rubicon take off 255s measure about 32”. I can not remember if you can fit 33s with factory lift or not, but you wouldn’t need much lift to clear them.

 

[jeep670]

You can run KO2 34x10.5R17 on the stock suspension with zero issues and no rubs.

 

[Firemom]

I run a Teraflex 2.5” lift and 35s. You do not need to trim any fenders or anything else to get 35s on a JK. I have an auto that came stock with 4.10 gears. I recently swapped in 4.88 gears.
Your Willys should have 3.73 gears. You’ll probably be very happy with 33s and stock gearing. Rubicon take off 255s measure about 32”. I can not remember if you can fit 33s with factory lift or not, but you wouldn’t need much lift to clear them.

I've heard good things about Teraflex and will eventually upgrade my front axle and gearing but that won't happen till I retire. The clock is ticking and I can't wait but will have to be patient. Thank you for sharing your info. Every little bit helps.

 

[Firemom]

You can run KO2 34x10.5R17 on the stock suspension with zero issues and no rubs.

Nice. Didn't think you could do that with stock suspension. will hopefully have a bit of a lift soon.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Nice. Didn't think you could do that with stock suspension. will hopefully have a bit of a lift soon.

I have a set of those. They measure 32”. Lol

 

[jeep670]

Nice. Didn't think you could do that with stock suspension. will hopefully have a bit of a lift soon.

The problem with slightly bigger than 32" stock tires is their width of 12.5inch plus the need to offset the wheel for them. Those 34s are 10.5" wide so not significantly wider than the stock tires, they tuck in nicely inside the fender with no rubbing.

 

[jeep670]

I have a set of those. They measure 32”. Lol

Yeah, but the stock 32" bfg muds measure 30.5". So you're still getting a good inch of height/clearance and a better stance overall.

 

[Captain Chaos]

BFG always run small.

 

[TerryD]

Check with your local Jeep dealer on a Mopar 2" lift. It's well put together and from my research a few years ago, was designed by Chrysler and Teraflex and built by Teraflex.

I priced it out when I was looking at ordering a Rubicon and it's price was right in line with other kits and if you have Jeep install it, was covered by the factory warranty IIRC. Might be worth checking into.

 

[jeep670]

BFG always run small.

They all run small. My 315 Duratracs are set to 33.5" on my Traildash 2 to track speed corectly.
There's a very long thread on another forum where people post measurements and the only 'almost' true to their size seem to be the Cooper STT Pro.

 

[Firemom]

They all run small. My 315 Duratracs are set to 33.5" on my Traildash 2 to track speed corectly.
There's a very long thread on another forum where people post measurements and the only 'almost' true to their size seem to be the Cooper STT Pro.

Good grief, you would think tire measurement would be simple.