Wheels/tires or Lift? Chicken and the egg.

[BillJeep]

Looking to upgrade brand new, stock 2019 JLU with wheels/tire/suspension and feel like I am stuck in a chicken & the egg scenario, hopefully someone here has gone through the same and may be able to provide some guidance or pain points that they've experienced.

Looking to get the MetalClock 2.5" Dual Rate Lift. ~$3k installed and a set of Fuel Maverick 17" + KO2 KO2 315/70R17: $3k installed. Total ~$6k.

Tire carrier + tailgate reinforcement to support the 35s (MOPAR tailgate reinforcement + tire carrier) ~$1k. $1k for the MOPAR tailgate seems like a ton of cash for what you get and i would rather put that towards the LOD bumper + tire carrier which is ~$2k.

Add that all up and its around $7k-$8k. I have about half that now. Leaning towards wheels + tailgate now and lift/LOD later, but curious to opinion of others. Waiting and doing it all at once is an option, but really - no one like to wait.

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[limeade]

Been there when I had a TJ Rubicon. Pieced a bunch of stuff together just to run 33's and had nothing but problems with steering and handling issues. So I started over and did it right.....which is what I should've done the first time.

With my 18 JLUR, I bought everything to fit 37's (wheels, tires, suspension, steering, etc) over a period of a few months and installed it all at once. My advice is to wait to afford everything you want/need and do it at once. When you start changing parts (lift, steering, etc.), theres a domino effect and you'll need to address other things due to incompatibility, etc.

An option is to go with a cheaper lift or delete some items you can do without at first and then add later. Instead of a Game Changer, you can go with their True Dual Rate and save a few hundred bucks. Then when you can save more money, buy and install the rest of the control arms.

Any reason you can't install the lift, etc. yourself? That would save you a ton of cash and you'll learn how your Jeep works and be able to fix things down the road.

For your tire carrier, I don't think 35's necessitate $1-2k for a tire carrier. If you like Metalcloak, look at their Sportgate tire carrier. I use that for my 37's and I love it. There's a lot of adjustability and my wheel/tire sits tight against the factory spare tire bumpers. I have absolutely no movement/vibration from it. Plus it's only $420. The only thing else you'd need is a third brake light as the MC carrier doesn't reuse the stock unit. There's other great tire carriers out there that are a cheaper/better option than the Mopar stuff.