First time Jeep owner, looking for lift advice

[tim5779]

Hey all. New Jeep owner here. Always wanted one, could never justify it as I used my trucks too often. So anyway I picked up the new Rubicon Unlimited in Sting Grey (seems to be a popular color). I'm very familiar with mods, just not on Jeeps. The first thing I want to do is get some 35's on her, on the factory wheels. I've been told that you can do that without any other modifications, but I highly doubt that is true....or is it? If I am correct, I'm looking for advice. What's the minimum lift I can do to accept 35's without any rubbing? I'm not looking to go crazy. Just something to give her a little more aggressive look. And just a note, I'm definitely not looking to go the spacer route. Not a fan of tires sticking out past the flares.

Thanks in advance for your help guys!

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[Daffydnbugs]

Can run stock Rubicon with 35's for on road use without problems.

 

[tim5779]

Can run stock Rubicon with 35's for on road use without problems.

Really!? And here I thought my buddy was full of it. Thanks for the info. I may just go that route.

 

[2manyhobbies]

Stock rubicon will run 35” tires just fine. Lift wise, my opinion is that the puck/spacer lifts will serve 99% of people well. They don’t require new springs or new shocks, and the ride is generally very comparable to stock. My experience comes from a 2 door JK that had a spacer lift and 35s that was driven off-road quite a bit.

 

[Daffydnbugs]

Here is a long thread on the subject
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/jlu-rubicon-on-35s-no-lift.7290/

 

[tim5779]

Stock rubicon will run 35” tires just fine. Lift wise, my opinion is that the puck/spacer lifts will serve 99% of people well. They don’t require new springs or new shocks, and the ride is generally very comparable to stock. My experience comes from a 2 door JK that had a spacer lift and 35s that was driven off-road quite a bit.

I was thinking a small spacer lift/level. Any opinions on which one? RC has 3/4" front spacers...or should I go front and rear?

 

[jlgolfcart]

I was thinking a small spacer lift/level. Any opinions on which one? RC has 3/4" front spacers...or should I go front and rear?

If you want a little bit more aggressive look go with the positive 10 offset wheels.

 

[Shots]

jlgolfcart, I believe Tim was talking about spacer blocks for lift, not a wheel spacers to push the wheels/tires out. He said he doesn't like the look of tires sticking out from spacers, which would imply the same is true with offset rims doing the same thing. I'm inclined to agree with him on that one. I've never been fan a fan of "poke", and it hurts your turning radius too.

Tim, there are a lot of options for minimal lift and/or level. RC has been around a long time and has a pretty good reputation. I installed a Daystar kit on mine (available at Summit, → link but you can find it at Quadratec, Amazon and many other sources). It's 2 inches so a bit higher, but it does the front and back, and also comes with longer LCA's.
Here's a link → link to a thread on the forum that I added a lot of notes into about minimal lifts when I was shopping for mine.

 

[tim5779]

jlgolfcart, I believe Tim was talking about spacer blocks for lift, not a wheel spacers to push the wheels/tires out. He said he doesn't like the look of tires sticking out from spacers, which would imply the same is true with offset rims doing the same thing. I'm inclined to agree with him on that one. I've never been fan a fan of "poke", and it hurts your turning radius too.

Tim, there are a lot of options for minimal lift and/or level. RC has been around a long time and has a pretty good reputation. I installed a Daystar kit on mine (available at Summit, → link but you can find it at Quadratec, Amazon and many other sources). It's 2 inches so a bit higher, but it does the front and back, and also comes with longer LCA's.
Here's a link → link to a thread on the forum that I added a lot of notes into about minimal lifts when I was shopping for mine.

Thanks Shots! I saved that link. And you are correct, I'm not a fan of the tires sticking out further than they need to. Just my personal preference.

 

[rickinAZ]

Hey all. New Jeep owner here. Always wanted one, could never justify it as I used my trucks too often. So anyway I picked up the new Rubicon Unlimited in Sting Grey (seems to be a popular color). I'm very familiar with mods, just not on Jeeps. The first thing I want to do is get some 35's on her, on the factory wheels. I've been told that you can do that without any other modifications, but I highly doubt that is true....or is it? If I am correct, I'm looking for advice. What's the minimum lift I can do to accept 35's without any rubbing? I'm not looking to go crazy. Just something to give her a little more aggressive look. And just a note, I'm definitely not looking to go the spacer route. Not a fan of tires sticking out past the flares.

Thanks in advance for your help guys!

Welcome to the group.

Lift is not your issue - wheel width is. The tires will clear the fenders just fine, but you'll want 8.5" width to better accommodate 35s. That's the main reason (besides cosmetics) people change out their wheels when going up in tire diameter. Your OEM Rubicon wheels/tires are worth about $1,250 if they are new take-offs. Less, if they have miles on them. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/jlu-rubicon-on-35s-no-lift.7290/page-28#post-1287143

I added spacers to get some of the fender gap back.

 

[2manyhobbies]

I have used the 3/4” day star puck up front without issue, and the Teraflex 2.5”. Rough Country has also earned my confidence more than once too, so I wouldn’t hesitate to use them.
On the wheel width and offset - if you get more offset (pushing the tires out from the Jeep), just know that it will throw more road debris up on the sides of the Jeep. I plan to run stock wheels with 35s when my Jeep arrives for this fact alone. Rubbing slightly at full lock is a trade off I will take to avoid the dirt and muck flinging. You may need to slightly lower the tire pressure to have full contact between the tire and ground.

 

[hoag4147]

Rubbing slightly at full lock is a trade off I will take to avoid the dirt and muck flinging.

I believe you can add couple washers to turn stop also correct?

 

[2manyhobbies]

Most Jeep’s have a slight rake, meaning the front is lower than the rear. If you out a winch on, it makes it even more pronounced. A 3/4” up front will help to level things out. My opinion is that the rear isn’t needed. The front is where you lose space. It also takes half the time to install!

 

[2manyhobbies]

Yes - you can use washers to limit the turning, if that is an issue.

 

[BJACK]

For hard offroad use I had to put the teraflex 1/2" spacers on mine, front and rear.

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