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Choices! 35s, Lift, or Winch?

35s, Lift, or Winch?


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GooseJL

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Hey guys,

New jeep fella here! I'm just trying to gather some opinions what mod I should do first. Just wanna hear what the community goes for first.

Im between getting 35 inch tires, a 2 1/2 inch lift or a winch. I have a 2021 Rubicon unlimited. Kinda torn on what I want first. Obviously I want all 3 and will eventually.

Thanks in advance!
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Original J Dub

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Hey guys,

New jeep fella here! I'm just trying to gather some opinions what mod I should do first. Just wanna hear what the community goes for first.

Im between getting 35 inch tires, a 2 1/2 inch lift or a winch. I have a 2021 Rubicon unlimited. Kinda torn on what I want first. Obviously I want all 3 and will eventually.

Thanks in advance!
I would say that you start based on how you want to use your Jeep. Offroad? Recovery equipment always comes first. Style? 35's as the lift without the bigger tires doesn't look that good to me. I would say the lift and the tires are a package deal.
 

Aonar

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I went winch. I always wheel a new JP stock (re: lift and tires) to see her capability. Plus if I am paying for OEM tires I am darn sure going to wear them down as well as test them out before buying new. As my opinion on the lift: A taller JP might get me in deeper trouble so I would surely want a winch there to get me out. IF wheeling with others who ALWAYS have a winch then you may change your order of needs...IMHO
 

dchemphill1

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Lift may cause warranty issues unless you have a Jeep dealer do the work and many on here would not recommend the dealership touch your jeep for that because of expense and quality of work. If not worried about warranty....lift away. I would do winch first and wheel awhile to get the feel for what you and the Jeep can do as is.
 

Outlawd

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35's with no lift. Rubi's are built for it and they look great with them, unless your wheeling, then winch first and lift with 35's at same time later.
 

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Some Random Guy

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Another vote for winch. Also, you don’t want to get your lift just right then add a bunch of weight to the front bumper after. Do the winch before the lift. Or consider skipping the lift since 35’s fit stock.
Edit: i finally saw a good post showing 35’s don’t quite work full flex on stock suspension. I’m fixing this post to limit incorrect info.
 
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Outlawd

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Spend money on mods that will help you get out of trouble BEFORE spending money on mods that will help you get into trouble..
Very smart thinking.....^^^^winner of best advice on this thread^^^^
 

cosine

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i'd go with the winch first.as mentioned before. lift and tires is a package deal.

what you need to do first is to make a list of things you want/need. then figure out what after market products will work together. for example. you want to run 35s. you also want to have a winch bumper. you need to look at the winch bumper and make sure it will clear the tires.
 

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oceanblue2019

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Hey guys,

New jeep fella here! I'm just trying to gather some opinions what mod I should do first. Just wanna hear what the community goes for first.

Im between getting 35 inch tires, a 2 1/2 inch lift or a winch. I have a 2021 Rubicon unlimited. Kinda torn on what I want first. Obviously I want all 3 and will eventually.

Thanks in advance!
Save your money and enjoy it stock.

Get some miles on it to make sure no significant issues that you want to get sorted before you start to modify it.

Also you can get some good use off the factory tires.

If you must spend it then the winch.
 
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GooseJL

GooseJL

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Sound advice guys! Thanks! Looks like I'll go winch for sure first. Then probably lift and tires at same time. Winch is definitely more practical, but those 35s look good!
 

jeepoch

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Spend money on mods that will help you get out of trouble BEFORE spending money on mods that will help you get into trouble..
Zak,

Although your advice and reasoning is about as sound as it comes I did the opposite, but for an entitely different reason.

I joined a very good and reputable Jeeping club in the Denver area with my bone stock sport. However, living in Colorado they made it very clear that most trails here in my state are very difficult if not impossible without both higher clearance and larger tires.

They pretty much pointed out your theory that if I went out on trails bone stock (especially with open diffs), the winch is a must. They would of course allow me to attempt anything but if I get into trouble they would certainly help me recover but going any further would rob the rest of the patrol of this run, any expectations they were hoping for. Everyone wants to run the trail, not be delayed in pulling some poor Schmuck along. In other words, please don't be selfish and think of the fun and experience of all the others.

Option two is to invest in a lift and larger rubber and you'll likely not need the winch at all. Especially when wheeling with other capable and experienced Jeepers. They would certainly be more comfortable taking a chance with the Tenderfoot on a way more capable rig.

While I am the only one in the patrol with a JL, everyone else have modded Rubicon's of some JK variety.

We'll I opted to get started as quick as possible on the non Green Horn runs with the lift first, but had to wait four months due to COVID for my desired wheels (Fuel Ammo Anthracite 17x9 -12mm offset) to be mated on Goodyear Duratrac Wrangler A/T 35x12.5x17 tires.

Once that was accomplished, they let me go on a few difficult but not really severe runs like Argenentine Pass and Bill Moore Lake. I was honestly a little selfish and really interested in getting out wheeling. Looking back, the winch should have been first. But my wallet is what it is.

When they realized that I (and my JL Sport) handled both those runs with zero issues, the next step was the more difficult Wheeler Lake trail. This is a USFS trail that we [the club] officially sponsor with the Forest Service and routinely perform both maintenance and support.

When I was able to demonstrate that I was successfully able to achieve the V-Notch and all of the other tough obstacles along this trail and making it to the top with no assistance other than sound advice, I'm pretty much now invited to every run that the patrol will contemplate. All this still without a winch.

Regardless, my next budgeted mod is a Rubicon Bumper with a Warn 10K winch.

In fact it turned out that a couple of stock Rubicon's from a passerby group (not part of our club) did get stuck. We of course assisted in helping them get by. It was fun to have my Sport pull one of them up with a pull rope. It was not missed on anyone there that a Sport (without a winch) pulled up a Rubicon. Helping fellow Jeepers is certainly a possibility on any trail and where the value of the winch is really highlighted. It's there to help others as well as yourself.

While it feels good to be complimented by others to accomplish really tough stuff on open diffs, it also shows the responsibility of not being a burden to others out on the trail. Having open diffs, so many people just 'believe' I'll have trouble, even though my lifted on 35s Sport has not yet run into any situation where outside assistance was ever yet required. I attribute the extra clearance, larger rubber, the Brake Lock Differential software, disconnected Sway-Bar Links, a little skill and a light foot.

My goal is to keep from being a burden on anyone but also with the additional capability of helping out in any way possible.

I'll have a winch before this next season once all the snow melts. Also for reference, all sanctioned winter club runs in the snow require a winch (no exceptions). So I'm saving up a budget as quickly as I can. There's a reason I didn't get a Rubi. It always comes down to money.

Jay
 
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RubiSc0tt

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Welcome to the forum!
My philosophy has always been Build UP:
Tires
Skid plates/ armor
Winch
Lift
Lockers/ Gearing

Reason being:
Skip the fancy wheels and tires. skip the light bars. You don't need those. Boring, unsexy advice but it's money that could be spent elsewhere when starting out.
-skid plates will protect your vehicle where it is needed most.
"But I'm not doing any hard core rock crawling- I won't need them"
Doesn't matter. it's insurance. It safeguards the parts you need most to make sure you get home. Even if you lift the Jeep to the sky, you still chance trail debris damaging the underside eventually. Pretty much the only time you don't need this is if you're just a mall/beach cruiser- in which case- knock yourself out.
-Winch will get you out. It's quicker, easier, and arguably safer than a HiLift Jack/ Comealong recovery, and with winches being cheaper than they have been in the past- it's better to have a cheap one and upgrade later than no winch.
-Lift: Buy a quality, complete lift kit engineered for on and off road driving. Do your research, you get what you pay for: I've had a $500 lift kit before, it gets you down the trail but it rides and performs and lasts like a $500 kit. the $3500 Rock Krawler XFactor Long Arm kit I had on my old 98TJ (installed in 2010) is still wheeling with it's 4th owner since i sold it(2013), somewhere in Texas last I heard.
-You've got a Rubi so those lockers and gearing are fine, just make sure if you go up you gear appropriately.

Also: I'll echo @oceanblue2019 's comments:
Drive it stock. It will make you a better driver. Line choice means way more when you're closer to the ground. My JLUR is stock save armor and a winch and it was able to hang on some of the black trails at Rausch Creek. now, granted: I've had a ot of seat time on the trail (started 2005), I had to drive smart, use my skids and my brain a lot, and definitely pull winch cable- but it did well. The larger wheelbase helps the JLUR's a lot, it's just the breakover angle where they have issues.
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