Lift kit?

Lynn

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Jan 24, 2017
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Mississippi, United States
I have a stock jeep now. It has 31x10.50x15 tires on it. I'm going to be running 33x12.5x17 tires soon. Do I need a lift kit? I am looking at the quadratec 3" suspension lift with springs and shocks and bump stops. If I need a lift, will this be good enough? I don't do any rock crawling. The most I do off road wise is hunt from it. Thanks in advance.
 
3" is kinda-barely enough for 33" tires, I'd add a 1" body lift to give the tires a little more room to move around in while you're out hunting. A 3" suspension lift plus a 1" body lift is pretty ideal for 33's.

I'd strongly consider staying with a 15x8 wheel for a 33x12.50 tire. You'll get more sidewall with the 15" wheel which means the tire can flex & conform to uneven terrain more easily which results in better/more traction.

And what engine and transmission do you have Lynn?
 
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The new look is basically for looks. I hardly ever drive it since I have a company vehicle and have been waiting patiently for 9 years to fix it up.
 
Bump stop height is set by installing different height bump stops. There are some adjustable height bump stops but they're expensive. What model year? That makes a difference on which automatic you have.

Edit: Do you know what your axle ratio is? That will affect how well the engine will perform with the 33's.
 
It's a 1998 sport. I don't know the gear ratio.
Ok good you have the better 32RH 3-speed automatic transmission then.

For your axle ratio, look on the small steel tag bolted onto the axle's differential cover at its 9 o'clock position. It'll have either 3 07 or (hopefully) 3 73 embossed into it, they don't include the decimal point on the tag. 3.73 gives higher engine rpms which will help with performance with the larger 33" tires.
 
You're probably going to need around 4" of lift to ideally clear those 33" tires (especially with stock fenders). That would be just about perfect.
 
With a 3" suspension lift and a 1" body lift will I need to extend anything like steering etc? Trying to stay away from adjusting driveshaft angle and things like that.
 
With a 3" suspension lift and a 1" body lift will I need to extend anything like steering etc? Trying to stay away from adjusting driveshaft angle and things like that.

With a 3" suspension lift and 1" body lift you will be absolutely fine with the stock steering setup and stock pitman arm. If you are dead set on keeping the stock driveshaft setup, you can likely get away with that by doing a 1" plus transfer case drop, as well as potentially doing a motor mount lift (MML).