BubbaJK2012

I assume you have a 2011 or older jeep. Are you manual or auto ? I'd do minimum at least welding Gussets right away and later upgrade to axles and maybe a set of ball joints.

B.Pert

2011 auto.. Gutless.. Haha and yeah, I wish I had a welder in my back pocket as I assume it is going to be semi spendy with 4+ hours of shop time.

BRUT4CE

If you wheel:
Gussets
Sleeves or truss
Gears
Axles
Front drive shaft (sooner or later)
Wheel spacers or more reversed rims for clearance
Trim rear pinch seam
Trim fenders
Minimum 2.5" lift
Steering (hydro assist or steering brace)
Decent steering stabalizer if no hydro assist
Ball joints (synergy, alloy USA)

If you don't wheel:
Lift
Trim fenders and pinch seam
Wheel spacers

Monte417

^^what he said definately have some gussets welded on its not that expensive and definately not 4 hours of labor. Its nuts how skinny the factory axle c's are on stock jks. when your stock balljoints fail replace your axle shafts at the same time with chromoly shafts (i use ten factory). buy the parts little by little over time until you have everything then install your new balljoints and chromo shafts at once this way you dont have to take your front end apart more than once and more importantly not slide your axle shafts out of the inner axle seal more than once risking damaging the seal. YOU DONT WANT TO DAMAGE THAT SEAL! That will be a pain in the ass. If your stock shafts are still in good shape you got yourself some trail spares . As for the rear shafts either wait till your stockers go (mostly bent flanges like mine) or rep-lace them when you have the cash ($300ish) and use the stockers for spares. In terms of lift thats your preference but I prefer to keep my suspension as close to stock as possible just do some research on that lot of good info on here

TOTL Innovations

This may not be the option you want to hear but if the deal was that good, sell the 37s and stick to your original plan of 35s. For the type of driving you said you do, 37s are overkill. Being straight out of college, make the logical decision and stick with 35s.

I have 37" MTRs and at a minimum I did C-gussets sleeves, and gears. I wheel hard so I considered these were a neccessity before getting into trouble and so far they have been well worth it but 37s put a lot of strain on components. I had to replace several worn out joints over the years and now I am doing hydro assist steering because my box is about done and I dont want to have to keep replacing it every ~20K.

Dont get me wrong 37s are badass but....you will always have to pay to play at some point or another.

Dan5677

last month i put on 37 mtr's it's a 2012 manual and so far no regrets. the only things i have done is 2.5 lift from teraflex,cut the fenders and welded on evo gussets. i only wheel once or twice a month. i do have an issue it is sluggish in first but that is it i do plan on regearing in spring.

BubbaJK2012

I'd still do gussets with 35's. Even had 2013 Rubicon with Less than 2000 miles blow a front drivers axle unjoint while in snow and now after warranty replacement of items it pulls to right with 3 different alignments
Thinking the outer got damaged and tweaked when unjoint blew

jedg

I recommend you read the threads linked below (credit to Dirtman and Planman)

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...-lifts-288269/

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-w...n-lift-260148/

BubbaJK2012

Those guys really have had a lot of experience and trial and error On the other hand you could be lucky like a few guys in our group that go Offroad once in awhile and we are upgrading as we can afford
39 Krawlers with stock front and rear 44 diffs 5.38 gears sleeved and gusseted with alloy shafts
40 Mud grapplers on stock 30 front, sleeved and gusseted, 5.13 gears alloy shafts
38 Geolander MTs with stock 30 front, Sleeved gusseted, 5.13 gears no alloy shafts
2013 Rubicon gussets, 37 Toyo's , 4.88 gears
There are two others as well with 37's and 40's None of us have had the cash yet to goto 60 housings yet but eventually we will.

TheDirtman

If you are really going to wheel 25% of the time with the jeep (that = about 90 days a year) I would look into a rear dana 60 with some 35 spline shafts and run some 5.13 or 5.38 gears depending on your transmission. Upgrade the fronts like others have said and add some RCV shafts
Trimmed or flat fender flares and a 2.5"-3.5" lift. If looking at higher heights I would look into a drag link flip and mb some Reid high steer knuckles to move the tie rod up a bit. I would put front and rear 1310 driveshafts on the list. Run some 12" travel shocks and wheels with 3-3.5" back spacing.

Truth be told much more info on what you do, where you live, and budget will dictate what you do. Saying you don't have much experience off roading then building a rig to run that much time off road with no budget does not add up to something you can realistically do.