What type of lifts are you running?

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Krycol08

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Hello!

Driving back from a fantastic trip but quickly realizing the whole drive what you got portion of my overlanding is over. (Watched several well built out rigs bottom out and one break a control arm on the trail) I have a 2018 Wrangler Sahara JKU with minimal body mods. Curious what type of lifts others are running. I have a RTT and don’t plan on doing crazy rock crawling. It’s also a city car/partial daily driver mainly to shuttle my dog to the park. I just want to get over obstacles without having to stack every two seconds! Oh and feel free to throw in a tire size opinion as well if you feel so inclined. Really torn between 35 and 37 when I lift her up.

Thanks in advance. All my wheeling friends crawl rocks and I think their recs are a bit too much for overlanding. Or maybe I’m wrong!
 
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Krycol08

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Non rubicon jeep you will need a re gear to run 37s and most likely a axle upgrade .
Thanks.

Yeah, I’m willing to do it all if it’s worth it/necessary for my goals. I had my mind set on running 35s on a 2.5 teraflex but I’m very open to other ideas.

I could kick myself for not getting a rubicon for vanity reasons but I love my jeep so don’t want to trade her in. Always knew I’d gut her out but didn’t think so soon
 

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Look at Camburg Off-Road for the mods, they do great work with lifts and extended travel. Camburdg.com In So Cal.
 
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Smileyshaun

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Thanks.

Yeah, I’m willing to do it all if it’s worth it/necessary for my goals. I had my mind set on running 35s on a 2.5 teraflex but I’m very open to other ideas.

I could kick myself for not getting a rubicon for vanity reasons but I love my jeep so don’t want to trade her in. Always knew I’d gut her out but didn’t think so soon

A little something to keep in mind all the extra tire in the world won’t do much good without lockers but if your truly just wanted to go over landing and light off roaring 35 will take your most anywhere.
 

donmontalvo

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Third Jeep, this time a 4dr Rubicon. I'm hoping this one is my last (turn 60 tomorrow).

I had the dealer put on their new 2" lift, which thankfully fixed the bowed front springs, and now includes Fox 2.0 shocks.

I also had them install my ICON Rebound Pro beadlock wheels, and 35" BFG KO2 tires.

I have it in writing from Jeep, if you have Dana44s (M200/M210) axles, you can move to 35" and it won't break your warranty, even though I am staying with stock 4:10 gearing.

Jeep told me if I wanted to go bigger, like 37", I would need a shop to swap out axles for Dana60s (one tons?), and 4:88 gearing (or higher), and the shop would need to support it...not to mention now you're talking about adjustable control arm swaps, replacing/reinforcing your steering, etc.

When I transitioned from rock crawling to overlanding, I decided that being close to retirement, I need/want the support.

If I were younger (or hit Lotto), I'd get the Dana60s, 4:88 gearing, and heck I'd go with 40"! :)
 

donmontalvo

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I meant to also mention, when I had a 2dr Jeep, I bought Rubicon take-off axles on Facebook Marketplace for $3500 with crate shipping included, and buddies handled the swap.

What a different they made, just needed aux switches to lock/unlock them independently. When I bought my 4dr Rubicon, I realized the 4:1 transfer case made it even better.

If you have the opportunity to trade up to a Rubicon, you'll never regret it...not only will you have a potent model, it'll be fully supported by Jeep.
 

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Start with really asking yourself what you want to do with it once done! There are lots of paths to take, and buy once, cry once will save you money in the long run. The RTT is weight up high (duh) so some lifts will be better with that than others! You can do ALOT with 34/35" tires without the weight and expense of 37s.

Where about do you live?
 
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Krycol08

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Thanks.

Yeah, I’m willing to do it all if it’s worth it/necessary for my goals. I had my mind set on running 35s on a 2.5 teraflex but I’m very open to other ideas.

I could kick myself for not getting a rubicon for vanity reasons but I love my jeep so don’t want to trade her in. Always knew I’d gut her out but didn’t think so soon

A little something to keep in mind all the extra tire in the world won’t do much good without lockers but if your truly just wanted to go over landing and light off roaring 35 will take your most anywhere.
Uh yeah the lockers. So much to be done to roll bigger tires and do bigger and bigger trails. I doubt I’ll be doing any bug rock crawls (so I say).

Happy to hear 35s can do the trick.
 

Krycol08

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Third Jeep, this time a 4dr Rubicon. I'm hoping this one is my last (turn 60 tomorrow).

I had the dealer put on their new 2" lift, which thankfully fixed the bowed front springs, and now includes Fox 2.0 shocks.

I also had them install my ICON Rebound Pro beadlock wheels, and 35" BFG KO2 tires.

I have it in writing from Jeep, if you have Dana44s (M200/M210) axles, you can move to 35" and it won't break your warranty, even though I am staying with stock 4:10 gearing.

Jeep told me if I wanted to go bigger, like 37", I would need a shop to swap out axles for Dana60s (one tons?), and 4:88 gearing (or higher), and the shop would need to support it...not to mention now you're talking about adjustable control arm swaps, replacing/reinforcing your steering, etc.

When I transitioned from rock crawling to overlanding, I decided that being close to retirement, I need/want the support.

If I were younger (or hit Lotto), I'd get the Dana60s, 4:88 gearing, and heck I'd go with 40"! :)
Wow thanks for all this info! My master plan was to slowly build up the Sahara to be trashed by future me and buy a rubicon once I transitioned the Sahara to a fully off road/fun car. But now I see I shouldn’t have let my hold ups keep me from the rubicon in the first place!
 
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Krycol08

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I meant to also mention, when I had a 2dr Jeep, I bought Rubicon take-off axles on Facebook Marketplace for $3500 with crate shipping included, and buddies handled the swap.

What a different they made, just needed aux switches to lock/unlock them independently. When I bought my 4dr Rubicon, I realized the 4:1 transfer case made it even better.

If you have the opportunity to trade up to a Rubicon, you'll never regret it...not only will you have a potent model, it'll be fully supported by Jeep.
I almost traded in my Sahara a few months back but had a hard time finding a rubicon that had what I wanted so I started building out the Sahara. A rubicon will definitely be my next pick. I suppose for now it’s “how much am I willing to pay” to essentially swap out everything. Good idea to look on FB marketplace.

There’s so much to consider. So much to think about and I’m sure glad everyone is giving me such great aspects, pros/cons
 

Krycol08

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I will also say I put that TeraFlex 2.5 inch lift on my Rubicon and it was great except for the bump stop were too long and I only ended up with about an inch of up travel.


Hmmm interesting. I’ve also looked into the RE lift system because one of my friends with three rock crawlers swears by them. I really need/want the extra clearance so I’ll need to dig deeper into what you’ve brought up!
 

Krycol08

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Start with really asking yourself what you want to do with it once done! There are lots of paths to take, and buy once, cry once will save you money in the long run. The RTT is weight up high (duh) so some lifts will be better with that than others! You can do ALOT with 34/35" tires without the weight and expense of 37s.

Where about do you live?


Once I’m done I just want to be able to do moderate trails on varied terrain. I want to get to more remote campsites but not have a heart attack or roll my jeep in the process haha (high hopes maybe). I don’t think I’ll ever be a hard trail person.

I’m pretty sure I don’t want 37s. And I need to figure out how high I truly want to go lift wise.

And I love the idea of pulling off the financial bandaid at once. Now just yo figure out *exactly* what that all is. You know…I talk about lockers and sway bars and all the goodies but do I really need them? Need vs want is hard to identify as a jeep owner haha

I’m up in the PNW/PDX area so I have every type of terrain easily at my fingertips
 

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I was talking to the Currie guys at the expo...he told me they were coming out with springs specifically for overlanding Jeeps. A little stiffer to accommodate heavier loads. He also talked me out of a long arm suspension lift. I currently have a 4 inch pro comp lift.
 

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While not a Ruby or even a Wrangler, I put Iron Rock Offroad springs in my old '99 Grand Cherokee, Pro Comp shocks, new spring isolators and moog sway bar links. That's was all from Kolak on the Jeep forums. Then, I put stock Wrangler rims with Goodyear tires. I love how it rides...when it's running.

No rock crawling here, though. Camp trails, carrying camp gear in the back and 2 kayaks on the roof or snowy, icy highways and back roads.
 
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Outdoordog

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I have a 1.5" teraflex st1 lift and fox 2.0 with resevoirs on my '16 rubicon 4 door, 33" tires. It goes to a lot of places that some 4x4s can't. Mostly because of the lockers and sway bar disconnects. Later, I will change the springs to 2.5" and get 35" tires, waiting for the current set to wear down (bfg km3), tread lasts forever and a half with all the offroading I do.

20210806_194144.jpg

By the way, that oil isn't from my jeep. My roommate has a POS caddy that leaks oil from his transmission.
 
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Krycol08

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I was talking to the Currie guys at the expo...he told me they were coming out with springs specifically for overlanding Jeeps. A little stiffer to accommodate heavier loads. He also talked me out of a long arm suspension lift. I currently have a 4 inch pro comp lift.
Ohh that sounds great. I certainly have a heavier load when I'm out and about. Thanks for letting me know what you have as well.
 

Krycol08

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While not a Ruby or even a Wrangler, I put Iron Rock Offroad springs in my old '99 Grand Cherokee, Pro Comp shocks, new spring isolators and moog sway bar links. That's was all from Kolak on the Jeep forums. Then, I put stock Wrangler rims with Goodyear tires. I love how it rides...when it's running.

No rock crawling here, though. Camp trails, carrying camp gear in the back and 2 kayaks on the roof or snowy, icy highways and back roads.
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like even without rock crawling I should consider doing a little bit more