suspension on a college budget with interest

[rural]

need advice and money is oh so tight. and basically the money spent depends on how many days i will try to survive off free meals and ramen noodles...

so i got a 2008 jk rubicon unlimited
"need" to lift it
90% time it is parked in the hospital parking deck
8% time it is driven at 85mph to get outta town
2% time it is offroad ( i live in rural alabama )

but in reality.
prolly 20-25% of my actual drive time is off of pavement when i actually get a chance to get out.

i still want to be able to cruise at 85 comfortably.

i would like a REPUTABLE GOOD COMPANY....
i know rockkrawler has a 100% no questions asked lifetime warranty?
but do they ride good?
and are parts available?
would a more national company be better? more R&D dollars? or are they just ripping us off?

i only plan to go out of country 1-2 times a year for about 1 week trips.

i have a front and rear heavy duty bumper so prolly 75lbs up front? and 100ish lbs in the rear?
i do plan on putting a warn winch on the front.
also plan on keeping the rig for a while.

eventually a new rack and the run of the mill offroad stuff will be added.

what do yall think about 37" skinny tires?

post some ideas please, a search on this didn't bring up any new topics for me, or i am stupid.

thanks
tyler

 

[njjeepthing]

35's and a 3" lift are perfect for a 4 door JK IMO, once you hit the 37" tire mark, your axles will not like you anymore, plus you will need to regear.

As far as lift companies, check out TeraFlex and OME. Both make great lifts that will easily clear 35's.

Oh yea, www.jkowners.com is a great JK resource.

 

[hugh]

Personally I don,t care for skinny tires, I like at least 12 1/2" wide, they seem to do better in mud than skinny like 10" . Find a local club or a JK forum, you might not need much lift to clear larger tires. Going to that size of a tire you will also need to put deeper gears in it so the motor will get you up to your 85mph. Also a couple of the 4 door JK rubicon's in our club have broken the front axle tubes while running just 35" tires in the rocks. I know its not a JK but my Cherokee has 35" BFG's and I put 4.56 gears in it, at 65mph it rev's at about 2300rpm which the 4 liter likes. Your Jk has a smaller motor and you want taller tires.Take a look at group 4x4 buy and maybe even 4wd hardware. You may be able to just use ACO's to get some extra height. ACO's are adjustable coil spring spacers that fit at the top of the coils. Always be aware that taller tires and lift raise your center of gravity which will make your jeep less stable in corners. For what it,s worth your Jeep is a very good machine box stock, a winch and some good tow straps and clevis's and you will be almost unstoppable except of course in real deep mud

 

[alosix]

Honestly, I'd leave an 08 rubi alone and just use it if I was on a tight budget.

Up from that, I'd probably just use a spacer lift to get to 35s.

37s and budget are generally not used in the same sentence. They tend to be mutually exclusive entities.

Might want to checkout the price of 5 tires in the size you want in an 17" wheel (assuming you keep the wheels) and make sure that's in the budget as well. The 35s I have on my TJ now cost more than my 1st long arm upgrade kit did.

Jason

 

[Bennyhana]

Just get the Teraflex leveling kit (130 bucks), trim the fenders(free) a little and stick the 35's on it. Or do what I did and just do the leveling kit and keep the rubi tires on till they wear out. Here's mine..

 

[michaels]

where do you live? i'm in newbern, al. you don't get more rural than two buildings...

 

[FlexdXJ]

Rough Country. Their quality as grown leaps and bounds over the years and the prices are still very reasonable. They have a great warranty as well.

 

[rural]

born and raised wellington alabama, but in school at UABSOM.

and thanks for the words. i asked on a jk forum and searched past posts, but nobody really takes into account road worthy-ness, comfort, only doing 2% off paved roads. not to mention the vendors are ruthless.

i know the budget words sound bad, but we really do have a lot of free lunches/suppers around here. and not to mention WIC/SNAP . just kidding.

i am thinking about running treadwrights...all terrains? i like bfg mudders but are they honestly worth the hype and money? i mean they even sell them about an inch shorter than listed...but again, i have never had a problem out of mine.

so this ome? http://tinyurl.com/3xyj6uj for about 700
or rough country http://tinyurl.com/3982kco for 500
rockkrawler http://tinyurl.com/2vsjkvb but they dont come with shocks.

what about skyjacker?

the ome has good reviews, and the rancho seems to "more parts"? is that a good thing?
or is the ome jsut engineered to not need them?

SO I AM GOING WITH 35" SKINNYS i think.
2.5-3.5" lift

with the winch on, do i need the hd ome setup?

 

[alosix]

I've run goodyear MT/Rs, General Grabbers, and now the 35" BFG KM2s. Theses are the smoothest tires I've had on the TJ so far by leaps and bounds.

The worst thing cost wise you'll run into is the 17" wheel on the Rubi's. I really like how 17s work on 35+ tires, but they are significantly more expensive.

 

[The Swiss]

Just get the Teraflex leveling kit (130 bucks), trim the fenders(free) a little and stick the 35's on it. Or do what I did and just do the leveling kit and keep the rubi tires on till they wear out.

2x

I'm running Teraflex 2.5 spacers up front and Daystar 1 3/4 in the rear. Works great. I could have easily stuffed 35s in there, but because of every day drivability and because I don't want to re-gear, I did only go to 33x10.5 (equivalent) once my stock Rubi tires wore out. Still can make 85+ mph, but I like to keep it at around 75mph for fuel mileage sake, which should be a concern if you are on a college budget.

BTW, double-check the entrance height of your hospital parking deck before you make any decision :elkgrin:

 

[Black Dog]

Rusty's Offroad is reputable and inexpensive.

 

[alosix]

Rusty's Offroad is reputable and inexpensive.

I hate to be argumentative on this board.

But I've spent a good bit of time removing complete and utter crap put out by Rustys on Jeeps.

To each their own I guess, but I've had too many unpleasant experiences with parts from that company.

Jason

 

[NOMADIC_LJ]

Rusty's Offroad is reputable and inexpensive

Rustys (ugh!~) I bought a LJ skid that I know was NEVER tested or installed for that matter before it was sold to the public. I had to do so much cutting and fabbing I might as well have just made one. I vowed NEVER to buy anything Rustys again. If I had an XJ I might think differently but for anything other I would look elsewhere. YMMV

To the OP:

Sorry for the highjack. Please realize that most of the "kits" are not complete. Most don't have track bars etc. Changing the geometry of a stock vehicle involves more cost than just a lift. Don't forget you are going to need a re-gear for the larger tires otherwise your rig is going to be a dog to drive. A lot of people forget the brakes are going to need an upgrade as well. Stock Jeep brakes are weak to begin with and with all the stuff you are adding on it just compounds the problem.

You have an JKU Rubicon, the flagship of the Jeep brand. Don't cheap out on the parts you put on it. RockKrawler and Rough Country are more along the lines of "budget" lifts. If it was my rig I would look more towards Rubicon Express,Nth Degree (AEV). More money yes but so worth it (IMO)

DO IT RIGHT, DO IT ONCE!

 

[Bigjerm]

I would suggest if you want 35's then the 2.5" budget boost kit from Teraflex. Coil spacers and Shock extension brackets are a cheap kit but its works well on and off road. I had it on my 2 door JK and my 4 door Rubicon.

 

[Black Dog]

Wowzers, I've never had any problems with my Rusty's lift and I've had it for almost 4 years now. The shocks it came with are crap but it isn't like the whole thing was a waste.