Looking for the perfect lift/tire combo!

[Jeeb]

Unless you’re planning to regear I’d stick with 35s and a 2.5 inch lift or so. If you’re wanting 37s it will be more involved and more expensive.

Yeah I'd rather not regear. Great point... Dumb question, since I don’t know enough about this stuff: Will it matter as much being a 6sp manual?

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[scottijohn63]

Yeah I'd rather not regear. Great point... Dumb question, since I don’t know enough about this stuff: Will it matter as much being a 6sp manual?

With the six speed manual you will need regear with 35" tires and a two inch lift.

 

[Jeeb]

With the six speed manual you will need regear with 35" tires and a two inch lift.

Good to know. Thank you!

 

[The Last Cowboy]

I have a 2 Door WILLYS. I'm going to do a Mopar 2.5 lift. I expect about 2.5 to 3 in lift. when my tires are shot I'm going to get thornbird tsl 33's. About an inch over stock. A good look and falls into what you want.

3" of lift is way too much for 33s. Your tires now are 32.1", most 33s on the market spec at 32.5-32.8". All you need are some JLUR springs to fit 33s with a little extra room.

Can't believe they still sell Thornbirds. It's a bias ply tire, not well suited for road use. They don't have a 33 in a 17" wheel size. You can't go to 16" wheels because they won't clear the brakes. Thornbird 33X11.50s spec at 32.4", that's 1/3" taller than your Firestones.

 

[Themistocles]

Most of this has been answered already, but I am avoiding work...so will make a couple comments.

If you want to be precise you can do two things.

1. Go to a CAT scale and weigh your vehicle (steer and drive axle) in the lightest configuration that you would be driving into the garage. Contact the suspension company you want and ascertain the spring rate (linear or dual) and spring length. Once you know the spring rate and length and the weight on the front and rear you can calculate how much lift you will get. So for example say the spring rate is 188 and your vehicle front end weighs 2650lbs. Assume equal distribution, so 2650 / 2 (two springs...one on each side) = 1325lbs on each spring. 1325 / 188 (number of pounds it takes to compress that company's linear rate spring one inch) = 7.047 inches. So you take the uncompressed length of the spring and subtract 7.047 inches and that is the length of your spring under static load. Now just climb under your vehicle and measure the compressed length of your OEM springs. You now know exactly how much taller that new spring will make your vehicle.

2. Pull up the specs on the tire you want. In those detailed specs will be a number that tells you exactly how tall the tire actually is. Most 35s are actually 34.something. Measure your current tire height while parked on a flat surface (using a level helps). So, say you OEM tire measures 32.3 inches and the 35 you want measures 34.7 inches. 34.7 - 32.3 = 2.4inches 2.4 / 2 (only lifts half the total height) = 1.2 inches. Add that number to the gain provided by your planned springs...and you now have, to the tenth of an inch, how much your specific vehicle will be lifted.

Dual rate springs complicate the issue a little, but don't make it impossible, just an added step. Also, some companies may be hesitant to provide you with the spring specs. They will say something like "trust us...we have installed lots of those...you will get x.xx inches of lift." However, those same companies will not stand behind that "trust us" with a guarantee to pay for install, uninstall, and shipping back to them if their "trust us" number is wrong. My response was to go with a company that would take the time to go through all those numbers with me (Clayton).

 

[Karnak]

Btw, also if you really plan on getting thornbirds, those tires may require additional wheel backspacing as opposed to other tires because of the "thorns" sticking out a lot which have a tendency to be the first thing that will hit your control arms at turning radius so the backspacing everyone says is fine for one tire type may not be fine for you and your Thornbirds, something to keep in mind.

 

[Creeker]

As a data point, my JLR on 37's (at 36 PSI) with a hardtop, and a RK 3.5" lift is about 77 Inches tall.

 

[J1337P]

3" of lift is way too much for 33s. Your tires now are 32.1", most 33s on the market spec at 32.5-32.8". All you need are some JLUR springs to fit 33s with a little extra room.

Can't believe they still sell Thornbirds. It's a bias ply tire, not well suited for road use. They don't have a 33 in a 17" wheel size. You can't go to 16" wheels because they won't clear the brakes. Thornbird 33X11.50s spec at 32.4", that's 1/3" taller than your Firestones.

Agree.. had the mopar lift put on before i signed the papers with the stock 33s before I did the wheel/tire swap and it looked a bit silly.

 

[Jeeb]

As a data point, my JLR on 37's (at 36 PSI) with a hardtop, and a RK 3.5" lift is about 77 Inches tall.

That’s a great reference, thank you. If I did the exact setup with my Willys, would your Rubicon be higher because of the other Rubi factory goodies?

 

[Creeker]

The extra height of a JLR vs JLW is likely a wash when the stock stuff is removed and a lift kit is installed. The new height will like be a function of the lift kit and tires/wheels

 

[Jeeb]

The extra height of a JLR vs JLW is likely a wash when the stock stuff is removed and a lift kit is installed. The new height will like be a function of the lift kit and tires/wheels

Got it. Thanks!

 

[RedGoldenLover]

I have the Mopar 2" lift with 37" KO2s. It drives great!

 

[Rodeoflyer]

Stock, sure, but there are people that have ran 40s with 2" of lift and can cram the tires up in the fenders.

Just add 4'' of bump stop no problem! Who needs more than .5'' of uptravel anyway?

Like someone else said, you will want to upgrade those gears. I think the sports have like 3.45s(?). I know 4.10's were barely acceptable with 35'' MT tires and the manual trans.

 

[Jeeb]

I have the Mopar 2" lift with 37" KO2s. It drives great!

Looks sooooo good! Would love to go with 37s but I have a Willys and know I'll need to regear with anything bigger than 35s... Maybe even need to regear with 35s?

 

[RedGoldenLover]

Looks sooooo good! Would love to go with 37s but I have a Willys and know I'll need anything bigger than 35s... Maybe even need to regear with 35s?

Thank you! I didn't need to regear with the 37s.

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