[JRostron30]

Well, I'm sorry but I'm not a huge fan of "Jacked to the Sky" Wranglers, Im looking to do two major things in the near future, add clearance + big tires (35" or 37"). I was looking into things and Gen-Right has the option of "Engine Tuck" Flat Flares, requires tons of modification and work I'm sure so Im willing to pay a pro for that...I don't have the time or patience ...or know how in that department lol. Has anyone done such a feat or am I wondering into this one???

My Goals:
Add Clearance + Upgrade Suspension System but NO major Lift ( Preferred 2") + Flat "Tuck" Flares from Gen-Right (Hopefully) = Ability to run 35" or 37" MT/R's while keeping semi-low center of gravity.

(Gearing Issues are Expected)

!?!? Help ?!?!

[never monday]

Seems like most people want 35’s for street or trail. I wrote this as a reference guide on what you’ll need to do it right. Yes, you can do it half way, or many other variations to these suggestions.

The preferred method
5-6” of lift.
This can be all suspension or a combination of suspension and body. If your going SL/BL most will say 4” SL and 1” BL. It could be done with a 2” budget boost and a 3” BL(but why).
Short or long arms are a personal choice. Stock arm’s aren’t an option above 3” of lift. You’ll need something with adjustment to recenter the axle.

Slip yoke eliminator and double Cardan drive shaft. Unless you have a Rubicon then just a CV shaft.

Decrease the up travel to keep the tires out of the fenders.
This can be done by lowering the stock bump stops or raising them from the bottom with hockey pucks. Ideally closing the gap on both the top and bottom is more effective.

Wheels,
Due to the most common width of 12.50 on 35” tires. Stock Jeep wheels won’t work well. You’ll want an 8” wide wheel with 4” of back spacing of less.

Axles
A stock Dana 35c won't last very long with the 35's. A Super kit. A Dana 44 replacement or 8.8 replacement.
A stock Dana 30 low pinion can be made to last with chrome molly shafts If your not over the edge hard core. A better option would be a High pinion Dana 30 from Cherokee with chrome molly shafts or the Super30 kit.
Rubicon 44's
Bring a different set of issues than the 30/35. The rear 44 will hold up fine stock. But it's always a good idea to upgrade the shafts to chromemoly.
The front 44 being a hybrid 44/30 presents some other issues. It has 30 spline inner shafts. But the U-joints, outer shafts and unit bearings are all D30. So that makes the outer shaft a 27 spline. At one time Alloy USA was selling a 30 spline unit bearing and outer shaft for the 30 and R44. Hopefully this will return to the market. As always chromemoly shafts will help.
The R44 Front is still a low pinion design and under severe strain can have similar failures to the LP30.
The 4.10 gears will have to go for anyone that doesn't live where it's flat.


Gears
4.88 for for manual transmissions in 4 or 6 cyl TJ's and 4 spd autos
4.56 for 3spd automatics
Some of the Rubicon owners have reported good results with 5.13 gears and 6spd man or 4spd auto.

Steering,
Stock steering components are weak. Upgrade the steering to a heavy duty drag link and tie rod at least. You might find the front tires rubbing the lower control arms or sway bar. This can be fixed by spacing out the steering stop bolt with washers.

Brakes
I’m going to split this further into Automatic Vs Stick
Automatic, Upgrade them to Vanco.
Stick, They can work. But having upgraded brakes only makes sense.
Many people have reported good results from changing rotors and using better pads like EBC yellows.
Adding rear disk helps a little, but not significantly enough to justify the expense.

Tire coverage
Please check with you local state regs. You might need bigger flares and mud flaps.

Spare storage
A 35 is too big to ride on a stock carrier even with an extension. It will cause damage to the tailgate.
Get a frame or bumper mounted carrier. Or some other way to carry a spare.

LCG method

2.5” of lift or less
tube fenders or highline kit
trim the tub
steering as above
brakes as above
wheels and tires as above

[bebout]

Wow that covered it.

[RubiconRazorbac]

Daaang. Never Monday gave you the whole scoop!

Check out the profile of a guy with the username IMPED4NOW. He's running 35's with only 2.5" lift (I think a 1.25" BL and minor trimming too). Anyway--good low COG build with 35s--probably close to what you're looking for.

[JRostron30]

Never Monday, THANK YOU!

...Just curious how much would you think this would cost to do, just a rough estimate on a grand total?

[bebout]

I'm at 2" SL and 1" BL with 35's. You can do the 2" SL for a couple hundred and a 1" BL for about $70 or so. Wheels and tires are going to be the bank with the LCG setup.

[roundlitefan]

If you are really interested in as low of COG as possible, might also look into the AEV Hi-line fenders/hood, or the multiple pages of DIY Hiline jobs that people have done.

AEV claims you can run 34" tires with plenty of clearance on 0" of lift, so in theory you could easily run 35's with a 1.25" BL or a small BB or spring lift.

[JRostron30]

Im running 31" MT/R's and yeah slightly expensive haha I'm considering doing the Flat Flares + Bumper (Front + Rear w/ tire Carrier) and Rockers myself but as for the suspension and gearing...I'm going for professional help... Im thinking 3" MAX. and maybe spacing the wheels out a tad from the body for stabilization but that would cause rubbing on the edges of the flares....oh the choices


...I was looking to keep my MOAB 16" rims and add the 35" or 37"s if possible ?

[never monday]

There have been a rash of question lately on this subject. I thought I'd share some of what I know.

Let's start with the basics, why LCG?
For the crawlers it adds a level of comfort & stability to how the truck works on climbs and off camber crawls. It's not for every one. Mudders need not apply.
heres a good write up I found explaining how CG affects you and your truck.
How does gravity affect my Jeep?

How to define LGC.
I haven't been able to come up with an exact definition due to all the variables involved. Generally I'd say a Jeep with less than 4" of lift and a tire larger than 35". Then again 33's on no lift could be an LCG build also.
It just depends on the ratio of lift to tire size. I like to shoot for an overall height at the windshield of less then 6'2"
*A definition of less the 1" of lift for each 1" of tire size over 30" has become accepted as LCG*

How to build an LCG rig;
First you have to consider wheel travel. Up travel isn't nearly as important as down travel. Bump stop the up travel to keep the tires out of the fenders and the springs from binding. Make everything adjustable and flexible to increase down travel. There is one major drawback to this theory. Fast driving and bumps in the road. You'll increase the harshness in the ride and feel them more.

Let's expound on the suspension travel
Most all suspension designs are a 50/50 mix of up and down travel. This is done for a comfortable ride and to keep the tires on the ground and the truck in control. Lost contact with the ground means lost control.

Suspension travel.
The total amount of up and down movement the axle is capable of. 12" is a good average for a TJ.

Up travel.
The amount of travel the suspension can compress or move up towards the body from the static ride height.
Down travel
The amount of travel the suspension can droop or move away from the body from the static ride height.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oman Jeep
In my mind, Down-Travel lets you keep the wheels on the ground, gives me more total travel to absorb the landings, and allows for more flex when I'm playing on smaller axle-twister dunes, or on rocks. But for my normal driving... LOTS of up-travel keeps my body smooth and level while the tires and suspension soak up the terrain.
This is absolutely correct and works well for a high speed rig. Up travel is utilized when at speed the suspension compresses as it climbs a bump in the road.

For low speed crawling. up travel is irrelevant. From ride height there are no outside forces pushing down on the body or suspension corner to compress the spring. When you climb a rock with the left front tire the spring will remain at ride height length. Until the weight transfers from the opposite corner of the Jeep. Then it will only compress the spring as much as the weight transfers or until the bump stop/body stops the movement.
If you bump stop the tire at the body and weight transfers to that wheel. Then when the BS is reached the pivot point moves from the roll center to the bump stop/axle point. So in this case of low speed long down travel allows the now unloaded corner to drop to the ground and hopefully have some weight on it.
As you increase down, there come more problems. At a certain point we run into useless flex.(read up Is there such a thing as too much flex? ) since this can be easily over come with current products. I'll be quiet on the topic.

Tube fenders;
Not all tube fender are created equal. Certain vendors have taken this into account and other are going for the tube fender "look" without the performance.
For a tube fender to be effective in a LCG build it has to open the back of the wheel well so the tire can turn. Keeping the wheel well stock-ish won't work. Look at pictures of all the different brands you'll see what I mean at the intersection of the fender and rocker. T&T and Rockmen and Rev111 are some of the best.More on tube fenders and highlines.

Rear wheel wells.
Yes you might need to trim slightly. I've fit up to a 37 in the rear wheel well with adjustable control arms to recenter the axle.

The dirty under belly;
This is where a LCG build can make up the most effective ground clearance. TUCK IT ALL UP. The flatter the better. Just a tummy tuck can gain you 2+" of ground clearance.

Advanced suspension;
This is an area that I could talk about verbally for hours but I suck at writing. Long arms, roll centers, 3 or 4 link, coil overs, air shocks, limit straps, suck down winches, comp cuts, wheel base stretch. it's all part of the equation and what you want to build.

Can the look be built for the mall? sure.


Please feel free to add to the thread with some builds and specs.

[bebout]

Here is my build and where it's heading. I'm currently at 2" SL and 1" BL with 35's. The rear has been stretched a total of 5.5" with a 4-link setup. I'm replacing the rear coil/shock setup next week with coilovers to help gain more down travel as the stock relocated springs don't cut it. I have a total of 3" up, 9" down in the front and 2.5" up, 5" down in the rear due to stock springs. I've added the suck down winch in the rear for the coilovers to keep them from unloading going downhill. I'm going to be doing custom tube fenders in the front to open the well up a little more like mentioned above. A TT is also in the works and should be done when the front tubes get done. My front bumper height is 23 1/4" and the factory belly skid is 15".

[sportcoupe]

Monday, that was the best post I've read in weeks.

[TheBoogieman]

Buy this.

[van1]

....I think if I was to stick to a 35-37" lift I would put on a SL 2 1/2". Then I would mod. my fenders and hood and do my own high line kit(no money) or a AEV high line kit(lots of money) or tube fender kit(med money). I am thinking the tube kit might be the best way. Then I would extend the shock mounts and shocks for longer travel. In fact mudb8 has some good info on doing pretty much this. I think this fits your "not jacked to the sky". Hope this helps

[03rubiconMG]

go with the TNT high line tube fenders and no lift. they can fit 35-37 with the stock suspension.

tntcustoms.com

[JRostron30]

Originally Posted by Theboogieman

Buy this.

That's an Embarassment to Society