I have a 2009 JKU Rubicon with manual transmission that I am looking to lift with 37’s . I have read through various posts on builds and have a general understanding of what I need to do, but would like some input on what components, lifts (type, amount, manufacturer), modifications/upgrades I should include to make this a very capable off road beast with plenty of flexing but still a great DD (put about 20K in annual miles). Not too concerned with MPG, but ways to address the horrible gas usage would be appreciated. I don’t want to go cheap on the build and appreciate quality – I have $ to spend but don’t want to go crazy. In general, I would rather spend marginally more and buy something quality than go cheap and regret it later. I know that I will need to reinforce or upgrade a number of components and would rather make the modifications/upgrades now than have a situation down the road where something failed.

My general priorities:

1) Dependable daily driver that rides great – preferably better than or same as stock
2) Very capable off road performance, mainly trails with some rock crawling (live in Virginia)
3) Wow factor – this may be my compensating for something, but I would like to make this a fun to drive, fun to show vehicle
4) Reasonable (read quality and value) cost
5) Do all the lift/mod/upgrades that relate to the lift/suspension/driving one time rather than in phases

Also, I live in the Northern Virginia area and would be interested in thoughts on getting this work done. Just joined local jeep group but really don’t know anyone to help with a wrenching party . Happy to help with the work (although I would be learning not leading). Otherwise, is there a local garage/mod shop I should consider?

So, if you were building your dream 37” JKU manual transmission DD / off road beast, how would you put it all together? Please be specific and comprehensive as this is all relatively new to me and please don’t assume that I know something that may seem obvious to others on this board.

 

Allow me to address this, as I too run 37's on a '11 JKUR. And what I'm suggesting is pretty much exactly what I'm running. My rig was a daily driver for 18 months and I had no complaints except for the gearing, which has since been remedied.

1. Lift --Rock Krawler 2.5" Stock Mod w/ adjustable front track bar and rear track bar bracket, 2" bumpstops, and rear coil spring correction wedges. Also, you'll want longer brake lines for the '09.
2. Bilstein 5100 Shocks
3. Poly Performance/Synergy Ball Joints (not necessarily now, but not far down the road)
4. Wheels w/ 4.5" Backspacing or at least 1.5" Spacers is using stock wheels
5. At minimum c-gussets for the front axle. If you can do it, just get the Artec Truss Kit ($225) and have it burned on
6. AEV ProCal (minimum) to calibrate for larger tires & regearing. Or you can just pick a tuner of your choice.
7. Regear those axles. For the M/T, I'd go with 4.88s, as that seems to be about the best ratio for crawling and decent on-road performance

Now....you can go higher on the lift and obviously you can get additional components like control arms, etc. but with only a 2.5" lift on the Unlimited, you don't necessarily need them. You'll want to consider replacing your drive shafts eventually, but it's not in any danger with that small of a lift. If you go with a 3.5"-4" lift, then you'll want to replace them due to pinion angles. RK's 2.5" lift actually yields about 3" after it wears in a little. And you won't suffer any spring sag after you add additional weight from bumpers, armor, etc. At least I haven't so far and I've had my lift on for a little over 2 years and added front & rear bumpers, GenRight tire carrier, full-size spare, etc. Something else you may want to consider is adding hydro assist to your steering. Trying to turn 37's when locked front & rear and bound up is damn near impossible on stock steering. Hydro assist makes it doable with your little finger. It's nice! And definitely on my short list.

Also, if you do decide on the 2.5" lift, you'll have to trim your rear pinch seams and about 3" off the rear end of your rock rails, as well as get flat flares to keep the tires from making contact, even with additional bump stop. Easiest thing to do for flares is chop your factory ones. Should be plenty of threads on that and trimming the pinch seams to show you how to do it.

I think I've pretty well covered all the bases here, but if I've left anything out, or there are different opinions, feel free to jump right in. I love my set-up and would do it all over again, with the exception of waiting so long to regear from 4.10s with 37" tires.

 

I did almost the same configuration with my 2012. I used the MetalCloak Game Changer 3.5 lift since it has a ton of travel and Trail Worthy Fab for my tires/wheels. All in all the Game Changer ran me about $4000, and the Wheels/Tires were about $2500 with shipping.

I use this as my daily driver now and love how it worked out for me. The MetalCloak lift is one of the best I have seen and always gets people excited to see how it works (The 6Pack Shocks are sweet.) The wheels and tires are double bead lock which according to Lift Laws | Suspension Lift Laws By State should be fine in your state especially since the ones from Trail Worthy Fab are Hummer wheels that are reworked to fit your vehicle.

I plan on doing more changes but for now my setup seems to be doing more than I hoped it would.

Jeep Bumpers, Jeep Tube Fenders, Jeep Suspensions, Jeep Rockers, Jeep Corner Guards and Jeep Accessories for CJ/YJ/TJ/LJ/JK
Trail Worthy Fab

 

How about a budget?

You're all over the place with your expectations. Don't want to go crazy, reasonable cost - but Dream Build , Wow Factor, OffRoad Beast??

So, long arm, coil over, pair of Dyna's, LS ?

 

X2 on this. Going higher than 2.5" involves alot more. If you are looking at 3.5" and higher you will need a more complete and expensive kit. You will need adjustable control, aftermarket driveshafts, especially front, adjustable tracbars and tracbar brackets. Possibly a draglink flip kit to keep your steering geometry correct. You can go too ways to accomodate 37s, a lower lift and trim your fenders and pinch seam to clear your tires, this minimizes the geometry changes you introduce to the drivetrain and steering and keeps your center of gravity as low as possible or you can go a taller lift that will clear your 37s with no trimming but that taller lift comes with more needs. You will have to address the steering and drivetrain geometry changes as well as having a higher center of gravity.
There is a number of high quality manufacturers out there, there are also some that have a great price point but the quality is acceptable. Not sure what your budget is but I would encourage you to spend the money and get a high quality components.
I have an '08 sahara on 37s. It is my daily driver and it has over 60K on the clock with lift and tires. I bought a decent kit at first, not the highest quality but complete. I'm currently in the process of swapping that kit out. I choose to go the higher kit route. I didn't want ot cut my fenders or my pinch seam. I wanted the clearance and the adjustable control arms allowed me to re-center my rear axle and not have to cut the rear pinch seam or my rubi rails. I also have a 6spd manual and went with 4.88s. to me it is perfect. My JK has just as much if not more power than it did stock. Highway driving is a breeze, it holds 70-80 with no problem and once I get in 6th gear I never need to downshift till I'm getting off.
I did my mods in 3 stages as it work best for me that way.
1. Install lift
2. Regeared my axles, installed heavy duty bal joints and C-gussets- personally this is the way to go. If you remove the ball joints it makes it easier to weld in the c-gussets, then install better, greasable ball joints as the factory ones are crap.
3. Install tires and wheels.

I installed my other items, bumpers and such at various points during this time which spanned over about a 2 month period. Now I did the work myself working with a friend of mine who has a shop so I coordinated installs with his schedule but I don't see why you couldn't get everything and have a good competant shop install all parts at once. Just watch closely and make sure nothing gets missed because in my experience if you overload them with to much something gets forgotten.
Don't know if this helps good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks everyone for all of the input so far . I didn't put a budget amount in - but I know it is going to be more than I want to spend regardless...

Part of this thread is to help me decide between a less expensive approach (say the 2.5" lift) with fewer needs or a higher lift (which is my inclination) with more needs. Now, my personal history is that I try to do too much, let ego get in the way, and commit to something that is much more expensive or capable than what I need (and I'm okay with that in general). Part of my thinking would be that if 2.5" is okay, well 4" must be better... and that if I install a 2.5" lift now, will I be sorry later that I didn't go with the kit that I ultimately will want when I am more knowledgeable. If there are kits that have control arms that are more complicated and expensive than a more budget lift, they must be better, right? (I'm letting my ignorance show through - looking for honest feedback). As far as total budget, while I would prefer not to spend quite this much, I think I could budget up to $12K.

 

With a budget that is at that level you can really set up your JK nicely. What I would suggest is slowing down a bit and spend time researching, asking questions, checking out other jeepers JKs and find what look you really want.
Then when you have that down choose your lift. There are so many companies to choose from. Rock krawler, Teraflex, Metal Cloak, Evo manu, Rusty's, Old man Emu and many others that put out great products. Personally I would choose a complete set up, but that is me. I like to do it and do it right. Others like something they start and add to it as they go. Mine is a daily driver so dependability and function were of the highest importance.
There is a TON of information on this forum. You can find an answer to every question, you will also find alot of opinions. The most important thing is to find what works for you and your needs. There is no wrong way to do it, only unsafe ways and you don't see alot of that anymore as most people point that out right away. In my experience on this forum every member wants to see function, drivability, and safety.
Good luck, take your time, and build it. That is why we all are here.

 

I say research a lot I did before starting my build. I plan on doing 35's but I would recommend Metalcloak or Rock Krawler for a lift. I would also say since you have a 3.8 and want to make it enjoyable plan on a re-gear on whatever lift you want. If it was me I would go with 3.5 inch lift with supporting mods since you want to do 37's.

 

Rock krawler 3.5 and 37s. Great ride, quality, stance, and amazing off road

 

Bonedoc-

Your insight is very helpful - thanks! I especially liked the way you did your build in phases over a couple of months and didn't try to do it in one build and that each part was sequential.