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What will I gain? What will I lose? Please help!

Watchtower02

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I am looking at adding the below to my currentl 100% stock 2019 JLU Sahara. I mainly do road driving with the occasional off-road on light to medium trails - no rock crawling ever. I maybe go off-roading 1 time a month at most and its just for fun for maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour. Yes I'm a neub. This will mainly be for looks. I live in Wisconsin.

I need you help determining if this is a mistake - should I stay stock...or will it be worth it?

Thank you!!

Looking at one of these two lift kits:

A) Mopar 2" Lift
https://www.extremeterrain.com/mopar-2-lift-kit-w-fox-shocks-2018-36l-jl-4-door.html#product_pics-0

OR

B) BDS 2" Suspension Lift Kit with Fox 2.0 Series Shocks
https://bds-suspension.com/kit-customizer?kid=1435H

The off road shop I am working with recommends the BDS as they say they tend to ride better, have disconnect sway bars, and come with more parts.

I plan on also buying the below to pair the lift with:

- Nitto Ridge Grappler 295/70R18 (this is a 34.29ā€ tire by 11.77ā€ wide)
- I will install the tires on my existing 18ā€ stock wheels
- I will install Rough Country 2" wheel spacers
https://www.roughcountry.com/wheel-...nd=2019-jeep-wrangler-jl-unlimited-4wd-568491
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Dkretden

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why do you need this stuff for the usage that you describe?

if you just ā€œwant itā€, OK. but, given the activities that you describe, I donā€™t see why you ā€œneedā€ it.

is this ā€œwantā€ or ā€œneedā€˜?
Strike my comments..... you said that you just want it for looks. I missed that....

given that, why not just put some 285ā€™s on the Jeep (biggest you can get without a lift on your Sahara I think). That might get you the look that you want without the added cost And potentially, negative changes to the driving experience.

check out these boards ..... there are lots of images of Saharaā€™s un-lifted with 285s (Rubi take-offs ....). Or, maybe add Rubi take-off suspensions at a small price to get a little extra omph.

otherwise, get what makes you happy....... looks are important and you should build whatever your heart and budget want.
 
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Watchtower02

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Strike my comments..... you said that you just want it for looks. I missed that....

given that, why not just put some 285ā€™s on the Jeep (biggest you can get without a lift on your Sahara I think). That might get you the look that you want without the added cost And potentially, negative changes to the driving experience.

check out these boards ..... there are lots of images of Saharaā€™s un-lifted with 285s. Or, maybe add Rubi take-off suspensions at a small price to get a little extra omph.
I want it mainly for looks...with the option to get into some more off-roading later as I could see myself getting into the hobby more, but slowly. I am currently into mountain biking quite a bit - so I am headed out into nature and into exploring...

I was told that a Rubi Take Off lift would lift my Jeep maybe 1" to 2" vs the 4" to 4.5" in my build.

I guess I am kind of the mind set to do something bigger that looks badass and also gives me the option to grow into the hobby or do nothing at all.

What I want to avoid is doing the build and then regretting it should it cause future parts to wear much faster and complications to arise. I would also hate to see the ride quality change for the worse where it was very bumpy and cornered like a boat with significantly reduced power. Am I at risk of this?

I think I selected good middle of the road components...not entry level...but not pro level. I don't know for sure though. Kind of goes hand in hand with my suspension question...not really sure which is better. Need someone with expertise to help guide me.
 

Blades

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If you have the money and want it go for it! You'll be happy you did and may lead you to do more off road. I have the mopar lift on mine and have been very happy. You will definley lose some gas mileage but who buys a jeep for that?
 

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DaltonGang

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I have a Sport S, with Rubicon takeoff Suspension, Wheels, and Tires. Love the improved lift, and.look.
 

cOtter

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As stated above already. If you are able, do what you want. One of the absolute fantastic things about the Wrangler world is, if it makes you happy and you like, and you can, go for it.

So now my $0.02:
I had my eyes on wranglers for years. I would intentionally park near wranglers just to look at them. I know that NO ONE ELSE HAS EVER DONE THAT!!!!! :LOL:

It drove my daughter absolutely crazy. My wife endured it. So when it came time to add a vehicle to the family (my daughter got her drivers license, and needed to drive every day) we only looked at one vehicle. The timing was such that I was able to wait for the build to start on the 20MY JL.

We ordered 20 Sahara. I already had plans for lift, wheels and tires. In fact before my ordered wrangler completed build in Toledo the lift, wheels and tires were already setting at the dealer. Once the wrangler arrived in early September of last year I drove the Jeep over the next 5 days (500 miles, all local). To say I enjoyed it is a gross mass understatement. I had been waiting for my Jeep for 3 years during which time my wife beat breast cancer for the second time.

My Jeep is my DD. On a standard week day I drive less than 50 miles but prior to COVID I also drove it for some company travel. I have driven very little since mid-March of this year. My Jeep currently sets at just under 12k miles. Yes those are all miles since last September. Total MPG average is just under 22. See pic below showing that I recently reached an average of 24mpg.

My family and I love cruising the back roads and state highways and we do it every chance we get.

I say, at the end of the day, if you are able, do what you want. It is completely fine to do what others do. If you like the looks and you can, I say go for it and enjoy. I know for certain that my family and I am!!!!

More specifics for my :
JLJP74 Ocean Blue Metallic 2.0L 4 Dr.
Ordered: 7/27/2019
Arrived at dealer: 9/4
I took delivery: 9/5
Added 2ā€ Mopar lift, 20ā€ FUEL wheels with 35ā€ tires: 9/10. 35s are TOYO Open Country A/T II XTREME (35X12.50RTLT). Total elevation change of 5.5ā€. I would not change any of the decisions that I have made with it. Looking for next things to do.

As delivered:
Jeep Wrangler JL What will I gain? What will I lose? Please help! 68E248F4-E392-4F7A-867A-3E4FC4F9F6CE


9/10/2019:
Jeep Wrangler JL What will I gain? What will I lose? Please help! 6F63FAF4-E920-4BB0-9080-27EEFC098DC1

Jeep Wrangler JL What will I gain? What will I lose? Please help! 06F9F5F2-ABA6-4405-AAC6-60EBC13F3A7F

Jeep Wrangler JL What will I gain? What will I lose? Please help! C0601001-4723-48C1-9D27-394CC120D2AB
 

Sheepjeep

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Between the 2 i would go with the BDS kit, i have run their springs on my old xj and they were great. Sounds like you are having a independent shop do the work, which means you will not get any warranty coverage you would get from the mopar kit at a dealership. Really big difference that I see are the BDS kit comes with disconnect swaybar links and the mopar kit comes with longer lower control arms with the BDS kit being cheaper based on the online prices. Based on other peoples experience I would take the BDS for the discos because you will most likely at some point want to disconnect that swaybar if you plan on doing a moderately hard trail and upgrading to adjustable control arms
 

jeepoch

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Watchtower02,

Absolutely agree with the comments posted here. Do what you think is best for YOUR rig, not what others think. Soliciting input and opinion is fine to help with build ideas, but it's your jeep - make it personal. Go with you're gut intuition. The smiles will be your reward.

With that said, and with only some small (nudging) feedback, I've never regretted the decision to add the 2.5" lift. It looks and drives great. Big improvement with my own Jeep happiness.

I went with the Mopar package just because of the warranty thing. This is my first Wrangler and I too am somewhat cautious with it. However, I'm also not shy with making it more capable either.

I've decided to upgrade to 35s but worried (only slightly) that the 3.45 gearing on my Sport S open-diff axles may be an issue as my DD. So I've decided to keep both sets of wheels. I'm planning on driving the 35's all the time, but will decide to use them only off-road if they don't work out as my daily commuter (typically 70 - 100 miles per day).

Of course because of this Corona shut-down crap, my wheels (Fuel Ammo Anthracite 17x9 -12mm offest) have been on back-order since March. I'm mating them to the Goodyear Duratrac AT 35x12.5x17.

Until then, its been pure joy driving around on my stock Michelin 245/75R17 (31.5") tires.

So do what will make you happy. I am.

My before and after pics (with just the lift on my stock shoes obviously).

Jay

IMG_20200318_191705.jpg


IMG_20200320_175217_1.jpg


AMMO-D701-6LUG-17x9-ET-12-MATTE-ANTHRACITE-W-BLIK-RING-A1_1000_7409.png
 

wolfdog

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cOtter, I love your look, it's great!

However, obviously the 2.0 liter differs from the 3.6 V6. My Sahara come through somehow with Bridgestone HT's ?? Yup LS rear axle and all and on the factory build sheet? I drove it on my 60 mile commute and from new to about 8k with the Ht's and averaged for over 8k miles 20.1 MPG speed about 65mph! I swapped to one size larger than stock size but to Falken AT3's, mileage dropped 19mpg, no lift, just a tire change!!

So your changes have seemed to defy logic? Each inch of lift usually means at least 5% loss in MPG, then your tire change, larger means less MPG! Whatever were you getting in MPG when stock?? Best mileage I've ever seen with my Sahara was a trip to Maine of about 500 miles RT with 50 miles mild off road was almost 22.8 using math not my dash readout (actually dash only about 2/10" diff.) and that was on the HT's!!! Just sayin'?

Jeeps ain't MPG vehicles anyway so it matters little but I sure am surprised! I am also impressed, my Cherokee Trailhawk stock only averages 22/23 on my same 60 mile commute but that's at 75mph.

Go Jeep!!!
 

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word302

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Honestly if you're going that much lift I wouldn't buy from either of the manufactures you listed. Lol into Rock Krawler or Metalcloak. Either of those will give you a better ride than stock and both will perform incredibly off-road. You will lose a ton of performance going to 35s on your Sahara with the stock gears. If you have an automatic it won't be as bad but realize you're likely going to want to re-gear it after you drive it for a while. The only thing you have going for you is living in the Midwest, so not as many hills to deal with as we do on the west coast. I'm running 37s on my Rubicon with the manual transmission and 5.13 gears are in my near future.
 

Hayseed_JLUR

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There is no harm in doing what you are doing. You do not need the lift for your desired driving but do it if you can and you will not regret it.

Like someone said - get what makes you happy. Unless of course it is an angry grill but that goes without saying.
 
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The bigger tires will probably decrease your mpg 10-15% and lose you some power off the line and at highway speeds. But, youā€™ll get the look you want and the lift/tires will get you better off-road performance.
Look into a 2.5ā€ budget boost. It will allow you to clear those tires, cost a fraction of the suspension lift and maintain your factory components.
 

jeepoch

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For reference here is my mileage on the Mopar lift but still stock tires/wheels. I have a 2 door Sport S 3.6L 8-speed Auto. See my before/after pics a few posts earlier. Mostly city driving along the Colorado Front Range at about 5K feet of altitude. Some hills, but not the Foot Hills. Just my normal DD commute between Longmont and Broomfield CO.

IMG_20200501_172251.jpg


IMG_20200501_172005.jpg


IMG_20200501_171908.jpg
 

Richtor

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Looks is purely subjective. Iā€™m not a fan of the more popular aftermarket rims and lifts.

For me if Iā€™m doing a lift Iā€™m saving up and doing it properly with quality(expensive) components and engineering. This type of engineering r&d would take a year or more.

if you are on road 90% of the time like you stated I would go after a Rubicon suspension swap or the 2.0 mopar.

Your biggest concern is how does it ride on road since thatā€™s where you will be.
For rims and tires Iā€™d look at nothing less than method wheels and good mud terrains, set of 5.
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