Will 32's look goofy with 4” lift?

T

Torpedo01

Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2020
Messages
43
Location
North Carolina
Howdy! Curious - I’m a first time Jeep owner and picked up a 98 Sahara that has 32 Cooper SST Pros with the stock ride height.

The space between the wheels and fender flares is pretty tight and I’m looking to get it off the ground a bit more. It’s my daily driver, but I enjoy hitting moderate trails on the weekends.

I have two shops that offered two different solutions - a Zone 4” lift kit ($1000 installed) and a Rough Country 2.5” ($600 installed). I’m afraid the 4” lift will make my wheels look too small and am having trouble telling if it would be worth it or not over the RC option. Any advice would be appreciated (I did read the great sticky on lifts already which helped a lot).
 
Avoid the Rough Country lift. Zone is a good budget brand.

Zone makes a 3" lift as well. The most popular Zone lift is the 4.25" combo lift. It consists of a 3" suspension lift and 1.25" body lift. If you do the Zone 3" suspension lift only, that is 3" tall and would be great for your 32" tires.

Zone does also offer a 4" suspension lift only, but I suspect the shop would also do the 3" if you ask.

If you can do basic wrenching and have some decent tools, it's not terribly difficult to install yourself.
 
  • Love
Reactions: JMT
Steel City 06 said:
Avoid the Rough Country lift. Zone is a good budget brand.

Zone makes a 3" lift as well. The most popular Zone lift is the 4.25" combo lift. It consists of a 3" suspension lift and 1.25" body lift. If you do the Zone 3" suspension lift only, that is 3" tall and would be great for your 32" tires.

Zone does also offer a 4" suspension lift only, but I suspect the shop would also do the 3" if you ask.

If you can do basic wrenching and have some decent tools, it's not terribly difficult to install yourself.
Click to expand...
Yep, that shop did offer both options, 4” & 3” suspension only. They said Zone was a good brand, but then the other shop said they prefer Rough Country so who knows - they said RC had a bad rep out of the gates but their new shocks are good.

I guess my question is more of would a 4” lift look silly with 32” tires. I’d hate to spend all that just to be disappointed in the look. Was having trouble finding photos of that combo (maybe for a good reason?)
 
Torpedo01 said:
Yep, that shop did offer both options, 4” & 3” suspension only. They said Zone was a good brand, but then the other shop said they prefer Rough Country so who knows - they said RC had a bad rep out of the gates but their new shocks are good.

I guess my question is more of would a 4” lift look silly with 32” tires. I’d hate to spend all that just to be disappointed in the look. Was having trouble finding photos of that combo (maybe for a good reason?)
Click to expand...
I think it might look a bit funny at first, but not to the point I wouldn't consider it at all.

If you're thinking about sizing up to 33s in the next few years, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 4" lift.
 
Here is a photo of my Jeep, 32s with a 3" lift. You'll definitely have more gap than this one. Note that this is exactly 3" of lift.

Most lift kits advertising 4" is lift are not necessarily 4", sometimes they are 5" or even more, so keep that in mind.

IMG_20200711_204818.jpg


IMG_20200711_201321.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: primetime4, Hopper, John Cooper and 1 other person
The best bolt-on (no significant welding) lift you're going to find is the Savvy 4" lift.
https://savvyoffroad.com/product/ce-9801sc1/It does cost a lot more than the Zone or other similar kits. Paired with inexpensive RS5000X shocks, it performs very well on and off road.

The Currie kit is very similar, though with steel tube control arms instead of aluminum. Go with the Savvy over the Currie if possible, though the Currie is also a very good kit.

OME and Zone are the common budget brand suspensions recommended here. They're good and perform well for the money. Teraflex is sometimes included here.

Metalcloak is a hotly debated system. My personal opinion is it's probably not a bad product, but also not the best (especially for the price), but probably one of the best at advertising and marketing.

Rustys is generally panned here. I have no experience with their suspension so I won't comment.

Rough Country and Skyjacker lifts are also generally not recommended here. They don't have as much detail in the design, and generally are outperformed by other kits in their price range. These companies make kits for hundreds of cars and don't necessarily invest the R&D into Jeep kits as much as other companies.

Clayton and Genright both offer some suspension products that are widely seen as professional and high quality, though they are more sold as builders kits than bolt on suspension kits.

Savvy also makes a mid-arm triangulated 3-link and 4-link suspension that is weld-on, and is considered to be the top tier suspension kit for a TJ with 4" suspension lift and 35s. This is generally recommended for more advanced TJ users.
 
Steel City 06 said:
Avoid the Rough Country lift. Zone is a good budget brand.

Zone makes a 3" lift as well. The most popular Zone lift is the 4.25" combo lift. It consists of a 3" suspension lift and 1.25" body lift. If you do the Zone 3" suspension lift only, that is 3" tall and would be great for your 32" tires.

Zone does also offer a 4" suspension lift only, but I suspect the shop would also do the 3" if you ask.

If you can do basic wrenching and have some decent tools, it's not terribly difficult to install yourself.
Click to expand...
This is a slam dunk...install the 3" and keep the body lift...use it later if you do 33's. Zone is a good all around lift. Rough Country has a lot of work to do to offer a good, complete lift.

Also investigate adjustable track bars.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JMT and John Cooper
I used to be very vigilant of how things looked. I went with a 3" savvy lift because I was worried 4" currie springs would look goofy with my 33's (light Jeep). Over pictures, you can quickly think things look goofy. It wasn't until I saw @jjvw 's jeep in person with a 5.25" lift with 33's that I realized that things look a lot different in person than over pictures. I wouldn't be afraid to be on 32's on with a 4" lift.
 
  • Like
Reactions: John Cooper, Hopper and jjvw
I’d rather buy the lift I ultimately want and do that job (or pay that money) once, than be married to one set of tires.
You’ll have the Jeep longer than a set of 32’s will last, and if they look too small, 33’s would likely look just right.
You can always sell the 32’s if you don’t like the look.
Either way, great information so far here as always! And anxious to hear the route you take.
 
  • Like
Reactions: L J and John Cooper
Procomp 4" with 3/4 spacers.
Metalcloak double adjustable arms
Rough Country front and rear track bars.
Rancho rs5000x shocks
32" Cooper AT Going 33s when these need replacing.
If your even talking about 33s put the dang 4" on cause you will end up in 33s😂
 
  • Like
Reactions: John Cooper
jodomcfrodo said:
I used to be very vigilant of how things looked. I went with a 3" savvy lift because I was worried 4" currie springs would look goofy with my 33's (light Jeep). Over pictures, you can quickly think things look goofy. It wasn't until I saw @jjvw 's jeep in person with a 5.25" lift with 33's that I realized that things look a lot different in person than over pictures. I wouldn't be afraid to be on 32's on with a 4" lift.
Click to expand...

This was it with worn down 33s.
20200119_105432.jpg


I like it better with 35s.
20200929_171959.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: NashvilleTJ, Axeman and TheBoogieman
Top Bottom
Back