Help with 2.5 or 3.5 lift and a few other decisions

[ROK HEMI]

Also posted on Jeep392 forum:

I have a 2022 392 XR. I do four or five trips, a year, off-road with the vehicle, and would like to set this one set up to be pretty capable, but not maximized necessarily. I would like to keep the overall height of the vehicle as low as possible for fitting in my garage reasons, center of gravity reasons and I just feel that a 37 inch tall tire has an abundance of room inside the 3 1/2 inch lift wheel wells. All of this is subjective of course and I actually have gotten pretty far down the road planning on the 3 1/2 inch lift, but see quite a few members are running 37 inch tall tires with the metalcloak 2 1/2 inch lift.

I would really appreciate hearing from members as to how well the 2 1/2 inch lift works in real life, and whether inner fender liners or cut fenders are a requirement. I am planning on running the 37 x 12.50 x 17 Nitto ridge grappler or the recon grappler. One of the primary reasons is, I would like a tire that is pretty close to true height.

A couple other areas where I am struggling to make decisions is with shocks. I was leaning towards the Fox 2.0 reservoir, shocks, but many people suggest the 2.5 reservoir shocks which are almost twice the price. I do nothing fast in the desert or off-roadIng in general. I do Rock crawling occasionally.

Another area that I have yet to make my final decision on is undercarriage armor. From what I have read and see crawling under the vehicle, the oil pan is pretty vulnerable. I have never had under carriage armor on any of my prior vehicles, so I'm not sure how necessary it is, but would appreciate people said advice as I'd rather not learn the hard way. I am leaning towards installing the metalcloak undercarriage armor, and would appreciate others thoughts on this product, or something else that people have tried.

The last thing on my list so far is driveshafts. I actually like the drive shafts that are in the vehicle and think they are pretty well thought out. It seems like a drive shaft swap is necessary for high articulation vehicles. I would appreciate what others think about replacing driveshafts or restricting articulation to the point where the current drive shafts could be used. I am leaning towards replacing the drive shafts, and have a secondary question as to whether the 1310 U joint is sufficient for the 392 wrangler. Quite a bit step up in price to go to 1350 driveshafts. I live in the San Francisco Bay area and have talked to a couple installation shops from Lake Tahoe to Santa Cruz. Some of them say the 1310 driveshaft from metalcloak is all that is needed even for the 392. Others say I should go to a reputable driveline shop and have one manufactured as even the Adams drive shafts have problems. I would really appreciate real world experiences if possible.

Thanks in advance!

Sponsored

 

[lashlee]

When I built my wife's 2.0 JLUR, I started with a MC GC 3.5 and 37" KM3's. Loads of room inside the OEM fenders/liners. I do have a set of Artec inner fenders and AAL lights to be put on in a few weeks when I get some time. I also added Artec aluminum skids, and GenRight sliders and rocker guards. I bought a driveshaft from a local driveshaft shop and chose 1350's since 40's will be coming when the 37's wear out. We live about 20 minutes from Windrock park here in Tennessee, and are making the drive out to Moab in March. I could've gone with the 2.5" lift for the 37's but my best friend has 40's on his JTR so I'll end up there some day. Her Jeep scored an 880 on the Metal Cloak CTI trailer with a 900 being a "perfect" score but I was able to see I could remove one of the bump stops in the front, so it should do a 900 now.

I like to build things once, and leave room for upgrades, like the tire size. FWIW, her JLUR and my best friends JTR on 40's both fit in my standard 2 car garage.

 

[J0E]

Also posted on Jeep392 forum:

I have a 2022 392 XR. I do four or five trips, a year, off-road with the vehicle, and would like to set this one set up to be pretty capable, but not maximized necessarily. I would like to keep the overall height of the vehicle as low as possible for fitting in my garage reasons, center of gravity reasons and I just feel that a 37 inch tall tire has an abundance of room inside the 3 1/2 inch lift wheel wells. All of this is subjective of course and I actually have gotten pretty far down the road planning on the 3 1/2 inch lift, but see quite a few members are running 37 inch tall tires with the metalcloak 2 1/2 inch lift.

I would really appreciate hearing from members as to how well the 2 1/2 inch lift works in real life, and whether inner fender liners or cut fenders are a requirement. I am planning on running the 37 x 12.50 x 17 Nitto ridge grappler or the recon grappler. One of the primary reasons is, I would like a tire that is pretty close to true height.

A couple other areas where I am struggling to make decisions is with shocks. I was leaning towards the Fox 2.0 reservoir, shocks, but many people suggest the 2.5 reservoir shocks which are almost twice the price. I do nothing fast in the desert or off-roadIng in general. I do Rock crawling occasionally.

Another area that I have yet to make my final decision on is undercarriage armor. From what I have read and see crawling under the vehicle, the oil pan is pretty vulnerable. I have never had under carriage armor on any of my prior vehicles, so I'm not sure how necessary it is, but would appreciate people said advice as I'd rather not learn the hard way. I am leaning towards installing the metalcloak undercarriage armor, and would appreciate others thoughts on this product, or something else that people have tried.

The last thing on my list so far is driveshafts. I actually like the drive shafts that are in the vehicle and think they are pretty well thought out. It seems like a drive shaft swap is necessary for high articulation vehicles. I would appreciate what others think about replacing driveshafts or restricting articulation to the point where the current drive shafts could be used. I am leaning towards replacing the drive shafts, and have a secondary question as to whether the 1310 U joint is sufficient for the 392 wrangler. Quite a bit step up in price to go to 1350 driveshafts. I live in the San Francisco Bay area and have talked to a couple installation shops from Lake Tahoe to Santa Cruz. Some of them say the 1310 driveshaft from metalcloak is all that is needed even for the 392. Others say I should go to a reputable driveline shop and have one manufactured as even the Adams drive shafts have problems. I would really appreciate real world experiences if possible.

Thanks in advance!

Also posted on Jeep392 forum:

EDIT: I thought you meant the 392 forum here, but my other comment applies
at least make it a link to the duplicate post.
~That's discouraged, this isn't really unique to a 392.~ If you're going to do that, at least make it a link to the duplicate post.

The last thing on my list so far is driveshafts. I actually like the drive shafts that are in the vehicle and think they are pretty well thought out. It seems like a drive shaft swap is necessary for high articulation vehicles. I would appreciate what others think about replacing driveshafts or restricting articulation to the point where the current drive shafts could be used. I am leaning towards replacing the drive shafts, and have a secondary question as to whether the 1310 U joint is sufficient for the 392 wrangler. Quite a bit step up in price to go to 1350 driveshafts. I live in the San Francisco Bay area and have talked to a couple installation shops from Lake Tahoe to Santa Cruz. Some of them say the 1310 driveshaft from metalcloak is all that is needed even for the 392. Others say I should go to a reputable driveline shop and have one manufactured as even the Adams drive shafts have problems. I would really appreciate real world experiences if possible.

Thanks in advance!

Wrong, you need a 1350 DS in the front.

When I built my wife's 2.0 JLUR, I started with a MC GC 3.5 and 37" KM3's. Loads of room inside the OEM fenders/liners. I do have a set of Artec inner fenders and AAL lights to be put on in a few weeks when I get some time. I also added Artec aluminum skids, and GenRight sliders and rocker guards. I bought a driveshaft from a local driveshaft shop and chose 1350's since 40's will be coming when the 37's wear out. We live about 20 minutes from Windrock park here in Tennessee, and are making the drive out to Moab in March. I could've gone with the 2.5" lift for the 37's but my best friend has 40's on his JTR so I'll end up there some day. Her Jeep scored an 880 on the Metal Cloak CTI trailer with a 900 being a "perfect" score but I was able to see I could remove one of the bump stops in the front, so it should do a 900 now.

I like to build things once, and leave room for upgrades, like the tire size. FWIW, her JLUR and my best friends JTR on 40's both fit in my standard 2 car garage.

> I do have a set of Artec inner fenders

I have a RK 2.5 and no rubbing with 37 KM3's. I added Artec inner fenders in the front and removed the inner fender in the rear + added a stubby front bumper for my Nitto 38x13.5R17

 

[ROK HEMI]

https://www.jeep392.com/threads/metalcloak-2-5”-vs-3-5”.1068/

good suggestion to include the link to the Jeep 392 forum.

 

[Carlton]

This really comes down to personal choice. Do you want, or need, the MOST capable rig or one that is simply MORE capable than stock.

Most copabale, according to your listed plans, would be the 3.5 kit, 2.5 shocks/extended length, 1350 drive shaft, and skids.

More capable 2.5 kit, 2.0 shocks that will limit travel, keep stock shafts until/if they fail. Skid plates if you feel necessary.

Really up to you.

 

[ROK HEMI]

I appreciate everybody’s help thus far. I was actually trying to see if people could tell me real world in real life experiences That would help me with my build. I do not intend to set this up to be the ultimate off-road vehicle as I believe I would sacrifice some daily driver ability, and it is my daily driver. I was helping people might tell me wether they had interference problems with 2 1/2 inch lift or regret it any of their choices.

Similarly, if someone told me that because of the weight of the vehicle that 2.5 inch fox shocks were actually necessary or highly recommended, I would definitely think harder about them. I am trying to do the best build. I can on a reasonable budget.

The biggest issue probably is if 37 tires will have clearance problems with the metal cloak 2 1/2 inch lift under real-world offloading conditions.

 

[ROK HEMI]

@lashlee Thank you very much for the information. Sounds like a top notch build. I never intend to put 40 inch tires on my vehicle. Do you think 37s would have any problem with the 2 1/2 inch lift? I like the way you have done things and steps, and I will likely do additional changes along the way like upgrading the rock sliders. I was considering going with. The metal cloak under armor. Did you go with the Artec for weight reasons or something else?

 

[lashlee]

@lashlee Thank you very much for the information. Sounds like a top notch build. I never intend to put 40 inch tires on my vehicle. Do you think 37s would have any problem with the 2 1/2 inch lift? I like the way you have done things and steps, and I will likely do additional changes along the way like upgrading the rock sliders. I was considering going with. The metal cloak under armor. Did you go with the Artec for weight reasons or something else?

@ROK HEMI It's been a great deal of fun, and my wife is getting better as a driver every time we go out. I think you'll have plenty of room with the 37's on a 2.5" lift. Yes, I chose the Artec stuff due to the weight (I hate to call it savings but it is lighter than other options). There is a huge discussion about how well the aluminum slides over the rocks compared to steel, but I try to not drag the skid plate!

I'd go for it, there are plenty of builds that have been through all of the same questions you have. Have fun and enjoy it!

Sponsored