Upgrades for a trail rig on a budget?

[Photocycler]

With a $3,000 budget, what would you do for upgrades to make my TJ more trail capable? I do a fair amount of highway driving so want to keep the suspension to minimal upgrades.

Currently stock suspension with 31 KO2s.

Right now considering these upgrades:

1. 2” Lift (springs and shocks)
2. Sway Bar Quick Disconnects
3. Winch
4. Winch plate for stock bumper
5. 33 Tires

Anything you would change leaving now this list?

 

[Plumber1]

For $3,000 it would be nice to know, do you deal with mud, rocks, or just fire roads ?

1. 2” Lift (springs and shocks) not sure that will enough lift for 33's if so then 33's
2. Cut the side off the front bumper ( Free ) to allow for more clearance
3. If you find yourself in the rock then rock sliders, the area under the doors is a magnet for getting crushed
4. Sway Bar Quick Disconnects yes then when $$ allows get the Anitrock
5. Skid plates
6. Winch & Winch plate for stock bumper

Make sure you have some recovery items, straps, soft shackels, etc. air compressor, tools, first aid kit.

You can leave off a snorkel , a 50" light bar, and a High Lift Jack

 

[Photocycler]

For $3,000 it would be nice to know, do you deal with mud, rocks, or just fire roads ?

A little bit of all. I won’t be getting into crazy rocks but here is a good example of the types of rocks on our trails.

 

[Mall'er]

Stick or auto? Bumping up to 33's will pull you out of the power band on the freeway. Not too bad with a manual, you just don't use fifth. Auto, life will not be as fun. Then you open the regear can of worms.

If I wasn't running severe trails, I would do some of the prep work for later mods. I know I will get flamed for this, but this is what I would do.

Rock sliders. You will need them, and can use them in your current configuration.

Body lift, tummy tuck and sye. This will get the belly of the jeep up and give some more clearance underneath the jeep. Again, you will want this in the future lift/mods. You will need a motor mount lift and a cable shifter for the transfercase.

Sway bar disconnects of some nature.

Before you buy a winch plate, you can get a decent new bumper for not much more. I have an eag bumper, it has an integrated winch plate and it has been a great bumper. It was around 200 bucks on amazon with free shipping.

Winch. The badlands from harbor freight has been getting good reviews.

Fire extinguishers, but you already have some in your jeep, right? Add a shovel also.

LED headlights. Worth it if you want to drive at night.

If you aren't going to tow, ditch the receiver.

And for anything you buy that may be contacting rock and getting scraped, don't pay the premium for power coating. Paint is much easier to touch up.

I think you are local, pm me if you want to see some of the bits I have on my jeep.

 

[AndyG]

Easy- send me the $3000.00 and you can then p.m. me any time if you get stuck for advice, and I will set you up for 24 hours access to the forum ( it may not be 24 hours in a row though) plus make you a silver level member if you like 125 of my posts, which is super easy. Another important benefit is you won’t waste $3000 on useless parts- I will.

 

[Rick Flair]

You showed a pic of Browns Camp and a harder trail.

Have done that one (looks like firebreak) in your Jeep?

Armor is key there.


Last ride I went on (and this was a MILD rig I took and didn’t hit 7 up or the crushers) I followed a new Subaru crosstreck that beat his CAR on the every trail we hit. Now, I’m in a fairly built 4Runner. On 33’s, beadlocks. Armor. Winch. Aired down. Cross tech guy beat his new CAR and went everywhere we did. Now I’ve been wheeling with this guy for years. He has had built Jeep’s. He know how to drive.



Point is…


Learn to drive and not spend money look cool. Done that. Been in mags. Over it. My 4Runner is over the top but I built some t for solo work and it it works great for that.


My other friend has a Liberty. It was free. Like, gave to him. He put 31” KM3 on it. A mild lift. And never fell behind or did I have to recover.


Point is, a mild to stock rig is fun, more capable than you think and cheap.



.02

 

[Rick Flair]

So my advice is buddies. Gas. Don’t wheeling your daily driver hard enough to break it and f yourself over.

 

[Kid Mechanic]

With a $3,000 budget, what would you do for upgrades to make my TJ more trail capable? I do a fair amount of highway driving so want to keep the suspension to minimal upgrades.

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Positive traction is your friend. Get lockers and gears first. Then save and add bits later when capabilities need to be addressed.

You have a good platform there, don’t ruin it too quickly with eye candy.

 

[TheBoogieman]

Stick with 31s and a BB, learn the Jeep and your capabilities/limitations, then upgrade as needed.

 

[JMT]

With a $3,000 budget, what would you do for upgrades to make my TJ more trail capable? I do a fair amount of highway driving so want to keep the suspension to minimal upgrades.

Currently stock suspension with 31 KO2s.

Right now considering these upgrades:

1. 2” Lift (springs and shocks)
2. Sway Bar Quick Disconnects
3. Winch
4. Winch plate for stock bumper
5. 33 Tires

Anything you would change leaving now this list?

View attachment 271338

View attachment 271339

View attachment 271340

A lot of varied opinions. If you want function, here’s my suggestion.
1. 2.5” OME $400
2. 1” MML. $45
3. 1.25” BL $175
4. Rancho 5000X shocks $250
5. Front lunchbox locker $250-400
6. Sway bar disco’s $150
7. 33’s $1000
8. Cut end of front bumper (free)
9. GTS Mod (free)
10, Winch plate and winch $700

That’s all of the $3000. After that, be careful and save for rock sliders next.

 

[RMETeeJay]

One of the best bang for the buck trail ‘upgrades’ is the ability to air down and back up efficiently.

 

[matkal]

A lot of varied opinions. If you want function, here’s my suggestion.
1. 2.5” OME $400
2. 1” MML. $45
3. 1.25” BL $175
4. Rancho 5000X shocks $250
5. Front lunchbox locker $250-400
6. Sway bar disco’s $150
7. 33’s $1000
8. Cut end of front bumper (free)
9. GTS Mod (free)
10, which plate and winch $700

That’s all of the $3000. After that, be careful and save for rock sliders next.

What's the GTS mod?

 

[JMT]

What's the GTS mod?

If you do a 1.25” BL, you can cut the front and rear of your gas tank skid and raise it 1.25”. There’s a How To on the forum

 

[TheBoogieman]

A lot of varied opinions. If you want function, here’s my suggestion.
1. 2.5” OME $400
2. 1” MML. $45
3. 1.25” BL $175
4. Rancho 5000X shocks $250
5. Front lunchbox locker $250-400
6. Sway bar disco’s $150
7. 33’s $1000
8. Cut end of front bumper (free)
9. GTS Mod (free)
10, which plate and winch $700

That’s all of the $3000. After that, be careful and save for rock sliders next.

Add $1500+ for a regear for 33s. Especially if he has 3.07s.

 

[SvtLdr]

A lot of varied opinions. If you want function, here’s my suggestion.
1. 2.5” OME $400
2. 1” MML. $45
3. 1.25” BL $175
4. Rancho 5000X shocks $250
5. Front lunchbox locker $250-400
6. Sway bar disco’s $150
7. 33’s $1000
8. Cut end of front bumper (free)
9. GTS Mod (free)
10, which plate and winch $700

That’s all of the $3000. After that, be careful and save for rock sliders next.

This is all good advice^^^

My recommendation would be to skip the 33" tires - you can have a lot of fun on those 31's you have now. Plus it'll give you a chance to learn more about your Jeep, develop some more skills as a driver, & learn what kind of wheeling you really enjoy. All this goes a long way for the next level of your build and your future goals for wheeling. You could always put the extra $1k toward a rear traction adder or additional armor. Or just save it / invest in GOLD for when the dollar crashes...

One of the best bang for the buck trail ‘upgrades’ is the ability to air down and back up efficiently.

This is good advice also^^^

One of my first purchases was a portable Viair compressor. Very handy on the trail for me and my buddies without an air source.

 

[AndyG]

You showed a pic of Browns Camp and a harder trail.

Have done that one (looks like firebreak) in your Jeep?

Armor is key there.


Last ride I went on (and this was a MILD rig I took and didn’t hit 7 up or the crushers) I followed a new Subaru crosstreck that beat his CAR on the every trail we hit. Now, I’m in a fairly built 4Runner. On 33’s, beadlocks. Armor. Winch. Aired down. Cross tech guy beat his new CAR and went everywhere we did. Now I’ve been wheeling with this guy for years. He has had built Jeep’s. He know how to drive.



Point is…


Learn to drive and not spend money look cool. Done that. Been in mags. Over it. My 4Runner is over the top but I built some t for solo work and it it works great for that.


My other friend has a Liberty. It was free. Like, gave to him. He put 31” KM3 on it. A mild lift. And never fell behind or did I have to recover.


Point is, a mild to stock rig is fun, more capable than you think and cheap.



.02

That is no joke. We had a thread a while back where a stock rig completely left a guy that thought his build gave him an edge.

 

[Photocycler]

Few things. The Jeep is a manual but seems like general consensus is to stick with the 31s.

My plan for suspension is either the RE 2” spacers with RE monotube shocks or the Terraflex 2” coil springs with the RE monotone shocks.
I already have a good air gauge and portable compressor so I’m set there.
This isn’t my daily driver but also not meant to be a Jeep I want to bash up, just reasonable wear and tear from the trails.

 

[JMT]

Few things. The Jeep is a manual but seems like general consensus is to stick with the 31s.

My plan for suspension is either the RE 2” spacers with RE monotube shocks or the Terraflex 2” coil springs with the RE monotone shocks.
I already have a good air gauge and portable compressor so I’m set there.
This isn’t my daily driver but also not meant to be a Jeep I want to bash up, just reasonable wear and tear from the trails.

Meh, you could do a lot better. Stay away from those shocks. I had some. They are too long for 2” of lift. They’re re-Valved Bilstein 5100’s. Ride stiff. See my earlier post and get to it.

 

[rasband]

Positive traction is your friend. Get lockers and gears first. Then save and add bits later when capabilities need to be addressed.

You have a good platform there, don’t ruin it too quickly with eye candy.

Be careful, if you do lockers and gears you're going to also want chromoly axle shafts.

 

[Photocycler]

One other things to add. I do want to do sliders and rear bumper (mainly since I do need a hitch and the current setup is too low) but haven’t found anything that matches well with the stock front bumper and doesn’t look like a crazy rock crawler