Thoughts on going from 31” tires to 33” tires

Rick G said:
Wow a lot of info & good advice. I appreciate it. Thanks
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My jeep is stupid stable, drives rides and handles so much better. Be prepared for all the stuff you don't think you will need like U joints, Ball Joints, Brakes ect best time to replace it or upgrade it is while you have it taken apart also are you gonna do all the work yourself or pay to have it done. Thats where the real savings are if you can do the wrenching yourself and you know its done right
 
AndyG said:
Those are all realities.

I run Rancho 5000x . They are reasonable at 50 a shock.

Tire size doesn't dictate lockers...but it becomes..."well, while I'm at it....". I buy Rubicons for the lockers and 4:1, so I pay up front.

I agree with scaling up the steering. I did that on my 03 . It's not essential to make it work Day1 , but a good consideration long term. At least buy Moog.

The cost of a spare, rim, and way to transport it is an eye catcher....one reason you see jeeps with no spare or a donut they can't use running around.

Good post. You will spend more usually..... especially if you get into an "upgrade" groove like I did on my 03. It just became an obsession nearly.

One thing people miss is other costs they don't know about lying dormant... brakes, rotors, cooling system.... Most everything mechanical made has a maintenance cycle or lifespan ...people often put what they want to do at the front, spend most of the money, then have to deal with have to's. That can be tough.
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Shocks and coils for mine were OME
 
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Rick G said:
Wow a lot of info & good advice. I appreciate it. Thanks
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This is a pretty real, "we've all done it" type deal to one extent of the other...this forum represents millions of dollars of purchases and modifications to these.

So where are we as of 12/30/2020?

I'm not the forum spokesperson, I do mainly janitorial work here, but here is a good consensus I think of our body of knowledge today, as far as lifts-

There is no law that says you have to lift one.

Don't lift more than practical for your needs. 2-2.5 inches has become very popular.

Don't lift incompletely.

Don't install a cheap lift.

If you can't do it right, don't do it at all.

Be well planned if you go beyond 33" tires and have the budget to run them.

I may be overstepping a little, and I'd love to see others add to this or correct my thought process.
 
AndyG said:
This is a pretty real, "we've all done it" type deal to one extent of the other...this forum represents millions of dollars of purchases and modifications to these.

So where are we as of 12/30/2020?

I'm not the forum spokesperson, I do mainly janitorial work here, but here is a good consensus I think of our body of knowledge today, as far as lifts-

There is no law that says you have to lift one.

Don't lift more than practical for your needs. 2-2.5 inches has become very popular.

Don't lift incompletely.

Don't install a cheap lift.

If you can't do it right, don't do it at all.

Be well planned if you go beyond 33" tires and have the budget to run them.

I may be overstepping a little, and I'd love to see others add to this or correct my thought process.
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especially the Don't install Cheap Lift do your research you get what you pay for
 
I have a '99 Sport, has a 3" spring lift with 4.56 gears. Other than that it's bone stock. I'm in Reno and i've gone all through the desert and through the Sierras with it and never had an issue. I don't "rock crawl" at all so take that into consideration. It's got a Dana 30/35 that's bone stock except for the 4.56 gears. No control arms, no nothing. I've wheeled this thing all over and never got stuck or had anything break. Maybe i've been lucky but there are a lot of people who think you need to spend the moon on your Jeep to make it "right" for 33's. I'm telling ya i've had no issues.

When I bought this Jeep I was all gung ho to put it on 35's and Dana 44's with lockers and the whole kit. I read everything. I've priced it all out. I don't have the money to do it so I just ran it as is. I'm so happy I didn't drop 20K on this Jeep. It's gotten me to these views practically stock. Just my .02

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Lilbomb said:
I have a '99 Sport, has a 3" spring lift with 4.56 gears. Other than that it's bone stock. I'm in Reno and i've gone all through the desert and through the Sierras with it and never had an issue. I don't "rock crawl" at all so take that into consideration. It's got a Dana 30/35 that's bone stock except for the 4.56 gears. No control arms, no nothing. I've wheeled this thing all over and never got stuck or had anything break. Maybe i've been lucky but there are a lot of people who think you need to spend the moon on your Jeep to make it "right" for 33's. I'm telling ya i've had no issues.

When I bought this Jeep I was all gung ho to put it on 35's and Dana 44's with lockers and the whole kit. I read everything. I've priced it all out. I don't have the money to do it so I just ran it as is. I'm so happy I didn't drop 20K on this Jeep. It's gotten me to these views practically stock. Just my .02

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Pretty country. I didn't even get into the axles, CV Driveshaft s and so forth.

This aren't hard to get right... But they are really easy to mess up. And most of the time it's because somebody started modifying the ride height without understanding the consequences.
 
One thing to mention on this is how tuneable your suspension is after make certain mods to it like adj control arms, quick sway bar disconnects and adj track bars you can really dial it in for your type of driving on and off road
 
There are two types of Jeepers:
Ones that explore places and enjoys this square squeaky-leaky box that takes us to places...

...And ones whose Jeep is never ready for anything, living place is full of aftermarket parts for never ending projects to some mystical wheeling adventure, some time in the near-hope i make it - before i turn 80 - or go broke-future that always snaps axles in half, bends frames, needs articulation up to the chin and wheels from tractor cause their tiny brain cant comprehend that a rock the size of a tractor needs to be driven around and not over.
They are miserable and sad, so they sit here, ping Jerry every 5 minutes, and tell scary stories to make sure others don't get to have fun with their Jeeps too.
 
Awesome sight. Really enjoy all the info and everybody's willingness to help. Thanks for everybody's thoughts on this issue
 
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