Road to 33's and now to 35's: order of updates?
- Thread starter legobuff
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I drank a Bud Light once, that was enough. I don't understand how anyone can drink that shit.He drank a Bud light for the first time. Give him a break.
He drank a Bud light for the first time. Give him a break.
I figured it was an Ikea furniture accident.
I just read through this thread, and to OP, all I can say is it looks like you are doing your research.
Getting a shop to do the work saves you time and space at the expense of money and learning. Valid reasons to go either way, but those are the trade-offs.
For me, I elected to do the work myself to run 35s, because I wanted to learn the process and I hate paying people to do things I'm capable of doing. But I'm not everyone, and shops are the right choice for some.
I almost started buying shit and throwing it at my jeep without a plan, and I'm really glad I started a thread like this one before I started buying parts. It ended up being a lot more expensive than I hoped (about 9k) to run 35's, but I realised that if I ran 32's or 33's, I'd just be doing the work again in a few years, so for me, making the jump to 35's from thes tart was the right choice.
I eventually settled on a plan and saved $$$ for about 7 or 8 months before I bought the first part. I bought pretty much everything for my build in about a 3 day span after saving for months. Once parts started rolling in, this let me install everything at once to minimize downtime on the project.
The other benefit of doing it this way was getting seat time for 7-8 months running milder trails on 31's and open diffs with 3.07 gears. I'm no amazing driver in the rocks by any means, but running that setup for months really taught me the importance of picking lines.
All of this to say it seems like you have a plan and are being critical in your thinking, which will help you build your rig up the way you want it. That's awesome, and I hope it turns out better than your expectations! The paragraphs above explaining my thought/build process is just to give you an idea of another way to do it, if you want to even consider a different route. If not, no worries.
Enjoy the process!
Getting a shop to do the work saves you time and space at the expense of money and learning. Valid reasons to go either way, but those are the trade-offs.
For me, I elected to do the work myself to run 35s, because I wanted to learn the process and I hate paying people to do things I'm capable of doing. But I'm not everyone, and shops are the right choice for some.
I almost started buying shit and throwing it at my jeep without a plan, and I'm really glad I started a thread like this one before I started buying parts. It ended up being a lot more expensive than I hoped (about 9k) to run 35's, but I realised that if I ran 32's or 33's, I'd just be doing the work again in a few years, so for me, making the jump to 35's from thes tart was the right choice.
I eventually settled on a plan and saved $$$ for about 7 or 8 months before I bought the first part. I bought pretty much everything for my build in about a 3 day span after saving for months. Once parts started rolling in, this let me install everything at once to minimize downtime on the project.
The other benefit of doing it this way was getting seat time for 7-8 months running milder trails on 31's and open diffs with 3.07 gears. I'm no amazing driver in the rocks by any means, but running that setup for months really taught me the importance of picking lines.
All of this to say it seems like you have a plan and are being critical in your thinking, which will help you build your rig up the way you want it. That's awesome, and I hope it turns out better than your expectations! The paragraphs above explaining my thought/build process is just to give you an idea of another way to do it, if you want to even consider a different route. If not, no worries.
Enjoy the process!
Everything I'm reading here and in my post brings me back to having to have more conversations with the shop. I want to do this once not over and over again. Having no first hand experience with any of these upgrades... I'm looking to get my TJ built to where I can take it out and enjoy it, while at the same time do it while trying to not overspend. I appreciate everyone that has shared their wisdom.
That's my feeling about beer in general. I've never developed a taste for it
Definitely don't just trust a shop. Most shops these days know little to nothing about building a TJ. They're used to slapping a 2.5" lift and 35" tires on a JK/JL. Those platforms and the TJ/LJ are not the same. Bottom line, know what your desired end state is, keep doing your homework, don't be in a hurry, and absolutely don't cut corners!
X2, I socially drink maybe a six-pack of beer a year. I used to go on 3-4 day waterski trips in the SoCal/Arizona desert lakes and some of the guys in my group could drink nearly a case a day. I'd arrive there with 10-12 bottles of IPA beer and get home with half of them. Now single-malt scotch that's something else entirely lol.
I've found that free beer is drinkable.
Are you totally set on 33's ? 31's might be a better choice if you are mild wheeling. Very little cost to make them fit and all can be used if go bigger. Worth a try and if the frame is questionable ?? even more reason. Good MT in 31 with a limited slip, is always a surprise where it will go. Just sayin. I could be wrong. D
We have a nice lad on this here forum that does this stuff with a Super 35. Took just one trip in me wee little TJ to see the path I wanted to follow.
I couldn't resist....
Metalcloak built it's reputation on a huge pile of false marketing claims. Their bushings are squishy and tear apart when actually used in high travel scenarios. They allow for a lot of unwanted suspension joint movements. And they contribute to a general wallowy feeling while driving. That is just the bushings. The rest is it's own thread, of which their are plenty of.
Of course the above is strictly my personal opinion.
He drank a Bud light for the first time. Give him a break.
Real meeeeen of geeeannuuuisssss
OP, there is some wisdom here! What most don't think about is one of the main reasons, besides belly and differential clearance, you build a rig on 35" tires is to maximize shock travel. With a 35" tires and a bunch of work, i.e. out-boarded shocks, you can push this to around 12" inches. As you decrease tire size, you also decrease shock travel. Unless you're going to take advantage of this travel, meaning you will wheel it harder than most, you're just wasting money/time. A well built Jeep on 31" to 32" tires will wheel better than most drivers. To be clear, I'm not saying there isn't value in building a rig for 35s. There are folks here that know how to do this extremely well. What I am saying is that a large majority of folks don't need, or will never use, that amount of travel.
FWIW, I've built Jeeps on 35s, 33s, and 31s. My favorite by far is the 31" tire build. It forces me to focus on understanding the vehicles limits and on honing my driving skills. That said, my 31" build is far from typical and has migrated slightly to a 32" (metric) tire. It was built specifically with tire size and belly height in mind, and wheels and performs commuting duties beyond my expectations. The thing I love most about it is the fact that it maintains the "zippy" feeling I've grown to appreciate from a stock-like vehicle. Sure you can maintain that feeling on a larger tire build, but maintaining all around performance (Braking, handling, acceleration, etc.) will cost you $10K plus on 35" tires. The point to all this is that the desire is routinely different than the true appetite. Just be sure you know what you truly want and will use, or you'll end up disappointed and selling the Jeep within a year or two!
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One more thing, be careful on differential gearing, no overdrive on that auto. I have that auto, 31's and 3.73 and do not go on the interstate or above 55, but I don't like to run high RPM's, and not a DD. If you drive any distance you have to be a little careful what you change.
The engine is more than perfectly happy and fine at those rpms at any safe speed. The factory geared it so the engine rpms are fine with 30" tires, they'd be even lower with 31" tires.
http://www.grimmjeeper.com/gears.html Most fossil fuel vehicles have an overdrive for a reason, just fit the gearing to what you do most. That is all I am saying. And my bias is I don't like high RPM's, why I drive a diesel truck. D
The 4.0 isn't a diesel, so your bias is a useless hindrance to proper gearing for our engines.
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