JLU Sport/Sahara with 3.5 inch lift, 35s and stock fenders?

[NVS]

Im in a dilemma and hoping some of you more experienced folks can help me out.

I currently have a JLU Sahara and have about 8.5 inches of clearance till I hit the top of the garage door (I live in a city). I've been eyeing the TeraFlex 3.5 inch lift kit but have heard that lift kits usually add more than advertised. Would that be ~4 inches on a rubicon and ~5 inches on a stock Sahara/Sport?

Also since it isn't a rubicon, I've heard that 35s are as large as I'd want to go wheeling with given the smaller axels. I keep reading that 3.5 lift would look a little weird with 35s (too small) but is that the case if you're keeping the non-rubicon fenders?

Thanks!

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[BlackGenesis]

You also will need to replace drive shaft and all controll arms brake line... with that lift...
Rubicon fenders sit 3/4 higher then sport.
With close to 5" lift it will look too hight -lots of wheel gap for 35s.
Why are you going so hight?

 

[NVS]

You also will need to replace drive shaft and all controll arms brake line... with that lift...
Rubicon fenders sit 3/4 higher then sport.
With close to 5" lift it will look too hight -lots of wheel gap for 35s.
Why are you going so hight?

I'm just trying to plan ahead! I know rubicon take-off axels are in my future (along with 37s) but I havent seemed to be able to find any in my area just yet. I also wasn't sure whether a 3.5 inch lift would actually bring me about 5 inches in a non-rubicon but it sounds like that might be the case?

I do tend to like the look of the lower fenders and was hoping they'd help avoid too much of a wheel gap but sounds like that might not really help a ton if a 3.5in lift actually = 5in on a Sahara hahah

For context, I do tend to throw my jeep around quite a bit on black diamond trails with my father who has a Rubi Gladiator and it's kept up pretty well. but we want to get into some rock crawling since Lake Tahoe/Rubicon trail arent too far from where we are.

 

[TA1ton]

Im in a dilemma and hoping some of you more experienced folks can help me out.

I currently have a JLU Sahara and have about 8.5 inches of clearance till I hit the top of the garage door (I live in a city). I've been eyeing the TeraFlex 3.5 inch lift kit but have heard that lift kits usually add more than advertised. Would that be ~4 inches on a rubicon and ~5 inches on a stock Sahara/Sport?

Also since it isn't a rubicon, I've heard that 35s are as large as I'd want to go wheeling with given the smaller axels. I keep reading that 3.5 lift would look a little weird with 35s (too small) but is that the case if you're keeping the non-rubicon fenders?

Thanks!

Here is a pick of my sport s with a 3.5” lift and 35s when I still had stock fenders. I think it looks just fine.

My lift is a Metalcloak Gamechanger with Rocksport shocks. Tires are Cooper STT Pros. I already had a Rubicon suspension installed so in total, I got 5.5” between the lift and tires. From a completely stock Sport S, it was a 6.5” gain.

I did replace my front driveshaft and the lift came with all new adjustable control arms. I did not have to buy new brake lines...

 

[Arterius2]

Here is a pick of my sport s with a 3.5” lift and 35s when I still had stock fenders. I think it looks just fine.

My lift is a Metalcloak Gamechanger with Rocksport shocks. Tires are Cooper STT Pros. In total, I got 5.5” between the lift and tires.

I did replace my front driveshaft and the lift came with all new adjustable control arms. I did not have to buy new brake lines...

Looks great actually.
How much clearance do you have in the fender wells?

 

[TA1ton]

Looks great actually.
How much clearance do you have in the fender wells?

Thanks!

Unfortunately I never measured it and I have replaced the fenders. With my current set up, I have 11” in the front and 10.25” in the rear. This is what it looks like now:

 

[Arterius2]

Thanks!

Unfortunately I never measured it and I have replaced the fenders. With my current set up, I have 11” in the front and 10.25” in the rear. This is what it looks like now:

Oh ok, what did you do other than change out the fenders?
Now that I see that, 35s do seem a tad small now.

 

[Black Jeep Convertible]

All you need are high fenders and rubicon suspension takeoffs for 35’s

 

[TA1ton]

Oh ok, what did you do other than change out the fenders?
Now that I see that, 35s do seem a tad small now.

Yeah...37s would fit much better. But I’m waiting to upgrade axles before I go any bigger. I put on steel bumpers, steel fenders, aluminum inner fenders, and steel skid plates.

 

[Arterius2]

Yeah...37s would fit much better. But I’m waiting to upgrade axles before I go any bigger. I put on steel bumpers, steel fenders, aluminum inner fenders, and steel skid plates.

When you say 11” and 10.5”, where did you measure to?

 

[TA1ton]

When you say 11” and 10.5”, where did you measure to?

I measured from the top of the tire straight up to the bottom of the tube. I could get other measurements if you would like...

 

[NVS]

Here is a pick of my sport s with a 3.5” lift and 35s when I still had stock fenders. I think it looks just fine.

My lift is a Metalcloak Gamechanger with Rocksport shocks. Tires are Cooper STT Pros. In total, I got 5.5” between the lift and tires.

I did replace my front driveshaft and the lift came with all new adjustable control arms. I did not have to buy new brake lines...

Oh nice I actually quite like the way it looks with the stock fenders. Did you ever go wheeling with the stock fenders and 35s and if you did were there any issues?

Im kinda in the same boat and am thinking about upgrading a bunch of things before I find a pair of rubi axels. Was the height change 5.5 inches before or after you added the skids/steel bumpers/other bits?

 

[TA1ton]

Oh nice I actually quite like the way it looks with the stock fenders. Did you ever go wheeling with the stock fenders and 35s and if you did were there any issues?

Im kinda in the same boat and am thinking about upgrading a bunch of things before I find a pair of rubi axels. Was the height change 5.5 inches before or after you added the skids/steel bumpers/other bits?

Thanks! I did a couple of light trails with it...nothing too serious. But I don’t see why there would be any problems as long as you get your bump stops right. Without the rubicon or other high clearance fenders, you might have to limit your up travel a little...but unless you are doing hardcore rock crawling, it shouldn’t be an issue.

The 5.5” was before all of the other parts. I didn’t weigh the stock pieces that came off, but I estimate it was somewhere around 130 lbs...all the new parts weighed right about 430 lbs. After the springs settled and I added the 300 lbs in new parts, total difference is...

Sorry...going back through my pics, I realized that the 5.5” gain was based off of a Rubicon suspension that I had installed. From a completely stock setup, it was actually a 6.5” gain between the 3.5” lift and the 35” tires. After settling and installing an additional 300 lbs of parts, it’s about a 5.5” gain over a completely stock Sport S.

Sorry for the confusion there...I’ll edit my previous post to clarify things...

 

[jlroman2]

I kept stock Sahara fenders but trimmed them down and added the AAL lights. Plenty of clearance for 35s. But once you go bigger tires, you will most likely need to get rid of the stock fenders. I know I am, as I am considering the 39” KM3s in the near future. Currently running the Metalcloak 3.5” Gamechanger lift on 35s.

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