Help the Noob, please.

[Spank]

Save your $10k. Wheel your Jeep in Its stock form to gauge its and your capabilities.

Yup. Familiarize yourself with your Jeep first and get to know your personal wheeling habits. Everyone wants a massive lift and huge tires out of the gate, but many people don't realize there are always consequences to doing this. Once you start adding these things to your Jeep, you'll need to compensate for the additional wear and tear they put on other stock components by modifying those as well.

Understand the functional purpose of the mods you want and how they'll help you. If you're merely doing it for looks, you're going to be more prone to buying cheap garbage that'll bite you in the ass down the road.

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[JeepScrub]

Are you planning on buying a JLR or JLRU ? You don't need to go as high on a 2door .... also which engine option are you leaning ?
This is the best time to get wrangler because there are so many engine choices... also given they all have ESS now, you can choose between the different aux power options like a beefier alternator or small 12v aux battery or the larger 48v aux battery.

JLUR and i'm ordering it with the 2.0. I drove all three and liked it the best. The diesel was awesome but the added weight and expense didn't make sense for what i'm after. I will definitely be putting the aux switches and bigger alternator on it.

 

[aldo98229]

FYI, you can do Moab in a Crown Vic on all seasons.

 

[JeepScrub]

Yes, 37” tires look great, but they come with all sorts of side effects.

You will need to significantly beef up your steering and suspension components, replace the driveshafts, regear, etc. You will also lose one or two of the top gears on the automatic transmission. Your MPG, ride and handling will go to shit. And don’t expect to get much money for any of it when you sell the Jeep.

Your buddies will give you the thumbs up. But your girlfriend and your dog will refuse to climb into your Jeep. You will need to get a new bird and a rescue dog...or take the cat.

Forgot to mention that I plan to run the 4.88's also. The lift I have been eyeing is the EVO Stage II with King shocks. I think.... It should address the weak points except for the steering. They swear i'll be fine with the stock driveshafts but I plan to replace them also, not too far down the road. All kinda depends how long we keep pretending we need to keep the economy crippled.

 

[TomPfender]

There are some good YouTube videos on what it takes in suspension mods to run tires over 35”. Brace your wallet then take watch. My Rubicon has a basic 2 1/2” lift running 35s. I suggest to use it and figure out what you “need” instead of blowing your money on “looks”, unless the look is more important than the function.

 

[aldo98229]

2.0 on 37s. Can’t wait to see that.

 

[JeepScrub]

Yup. Familiarize yourself with your Jeep first and get to know your personal wheeling habits. Everyone wants a massive lift and huge tires out of the gate, but many people don't realize there are always consequences to doing this. Once you start adding these things to your Jeep, you'll need to compensate for the additional wear and tear they put on other stock components by modifying those as well.

Understand the functional purpose of the mods you want and how they'll help you. If you're merely doing it for looks, you're going to be more prone to buying cheap garbage that'll bite you in the ass down the road.

Excellent feedback. Thank you!

Not in any way doing for looks (well, not completely). If I wanted looks i'd never buy a wrangler in the first place. No offense but they are the same ugly toaster they've always been. It's mind boggling to me that they are 60K. I am buying it to use it for what it's meant for. I only want as big of a lift as I need to run the 37's but don't want to go cheap. 10K isn't a hard line number but it's the ball park i'm comfortable spending out of the gate. I'm trusting Agility to address the weak points and keep me from regretting it. Time will tell I suppose.....

Thanks again!

 

[garyji]

and . . . . I'm getting ready to drop 150.00 on lug nuts because they look better!!!

G.

 

[JeepScrub]

2.0 on 37s. Can’t wait to see that.

Drove one last week. Didn't even have the 4.88's. It was fine. I didn't feel a huge difference in acceleration over the stock one. In fairness I drive a 1000 whp Camaro so all the Jeeps feel painfully slow to me regardless. I could honestly care less about acceleration. I just want it to be light.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

I'm just a month in on a new Rubicon and I've already sunk $10k on mods. You'll be in good company here..

 

[JeepScrub]

There are some good YouTube videos on what it takes in suspension mods to run tires over 35”. Brace your wallet then take watch. My Rubicon has a basic 2 1/2” lift running 35s. I suggest to use it and figure out what you “need” instead of blowing your money on “looks”, unless the look is more important than the function.

Totally agree with you. Function over form for sure but I'm not gonna have it ugly when i'm spending 60K on an archaic vehicle.

 

[aldo98229]

Drove one last week. Didn't even have the 4.88's. It was fine. I didn't feel a huge difference in acceleration over the stock one. In fairness I drive a 1000 whp Camaro so all the Jeeps feel painfully slow to me regardless. I could honestly care less about acceleration. I just want it to be light.

The stock Rubicon 285/70R17 KO2s weigh 50 lbs each. A similar tire in 37x12.5 weighs 71 lbs each. That’s 21 x 5 = 105 lbs more weight just in tires. If you go with MTs you are looking at even more weight.

That’s before you add a lift, beef up the steering, get longer arms and driveshafts, steel bumpers, swing spare carrier and a winch.

You will end up with a 6,000-lb beast running on 37” tires... powered by a 2-liter Fiat engine.

 

[Spank]

Totally agree with you. Function over form for sure but I'm not gonna have it ugly when i'm spending 60K on an archaic vehicle.

If you're spending $60K on a Rubicon with the 2.0T, you're just letting a dealership do funny things to your special parts. I don't know what the tax difference is between Colorado and Utah, but you can get into an almost loaded EcoDiesel Rubi here for around $60k.

 

[Roky]

Greetings!

I'm Jared. I'm absolutely brand new to all of this Jeep stuff. I've always been a huge GM homer and as such have almost exclusively owned Chevs all my life.

After going to TrailHero last October in my friends Agility Customs built JLU, I was HOOKED! I'm now selling my insanely modified 2016 Camaro SS to shift gears completely and get a 2021 Rubicon. I plan to do a solid adjustable 3" lift and run 37's with bead locks. Don't have plans to get anywhere near where some of you do with mods but will likely spend around 10K on mods.

After spending a few days at TrailHero, it was very easy to see that the Jeep community is EXCELLENT and I very much look forward to making new friends and memories. As stated, I'm incredibly green and could use all the help I can get about what to get and why. Feel free to chime in!

Thank you in advance!

Jared

Hi Jared,

welcome to the forum, you picked the best forum out there, imho, great bunch of guys and gals on here. Enjoy your journey brother.

 

[Cavs42]

Thank you!

I'm getting the steel bumpers so I believe there will be the spot for the winch already but I could be wrong. A winch will come but not in the first 10K. There is lots to consider. I may spend a little more than 10 but i'm definitely not going for having the best and baddest. Just capable and sexy. I don't like the look of a Jeep at all in stock form.

The OEM steel bumper is "winch ready" but you will need a compatible winch plate to actually support the winch and mount it to the frame. It's another couple hundred bills. Definitely go winch and recovery gear before some ridiculous lightbar setup. Remember "lockers before lights" if you want to increase actual capability.

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