purerage1975

Ok guys and gals, here's my delimma. I have a one month old JKU. I have since bought a 2.5" teraflex budget boost lift. I need ( want ) 37" aggressive all terrains for trail riding, overland camping, and looks. My Jeep will be a daily driver as well, but will only see MAYBE 300-400 miles a month as I hate wearing it out traveling the same boring road. I want to have stock Jeep reliability/durability. Do any of you have any real on road/off road mileage on this type of set-up? And if so, what do I need for many worry free miles?

BROWNING3250CAL

I have a BB on stock suspension with 37s. So far, great reliability and off road performance. I don't rock crawl. I do lots of back country fishing,camping, hiking. Also logging roads and mud. More capable than what I do with it. I will eventually beef things up but I don't need to, I just want to.

purerage1975

That's good to hear. Thanks for responding! That's exactly what I'll be doing with mine. How many miles have you put on your Jeep since the 37's were put on? And I hate to ask, but what is a BB? Geez, I feel like such a virgin..

rb1boxer_3

Budget boost ,)

larry0071

BB = Budget Boost = Spacer lift

I went a different route for 37" tires. I wanted reliability and to keep tight handling, so I removed all steering parts and tossed them in the scrap pile, then I replaced with upgraded parts. I added ram assist. I swapped out the front Dana 30, I swapped out the stock rear shafts, I added lift/shocks/bump stops, I changed to synergy ball joints and used RVC front shafts on the ProRock 44 axle, I re-geared to 4.88, I tossed the stock drive shafts and replaced with front and rear Adams 1310 shafts, and I got a Superchips Flashcal to make the gearing and tires work with the OEM computer.

I considered this my start at a reliable 37" build, next year I'll continue it and finish it.

There are a lot of opinions of what is "needed" and what isn't. Much depends on the type of use that owner plans. Much depends on what the owner can swing financially, we are each in a unique situation related to finances and need to work within our respective boundaries. We also each have an emotional comfort level that we seek with our build up. Some folks will look at my list and say that it is way overkill, others will look at it and say that it's weak, a done wrong, and no where near the right way to do it. But it is my way, and I am okay with that.

SH0RTBUS

A jeep with 37's = reliable????? Um.....

Okay seriously, though.....I've been rolling 37's for nearly 5 years now and so far have no major problems. And I do actually get my rig in the rocks. I don't do mud or swaps. Mostly rocks and trails. I put my lift (Rock Krawler 2.5" Stock Mod w/ Bilstein 5100 shocks) on at 18,000 miles, along with my 37x12.50-17 Trail Grapplers. My Jeep spent the next 12 months as a daily driver with no other upgraded parts other than an AEV ProCal to recalibrate for tire size. Stock steering, stock ball joints, stock drive shafts....stock. Aside from having virtually no acceleration (4.10 gears), it was liveable. Only other thing I'd done was gusset the C's on the front axle. For daily driver duty....it worked just fine. And never had any issue playing in the rocks either, but then again, I don't beat on my Jeep, either. Since it's been retired from DD duties, it's had gearing switched to 5.13's (along with appropriate ProCal reprogram), lots or armor added, ball joints replaced with Synergy parts, tie rod and drag link both replaced with Synergy parts, and I believe that's it. So far so good. But I'm sure at any given moment I'm setting myself up for disaster, so I'm more or less just waiting for something to give. But to date...I've got right around 57,000 miles on my Jeep (avg. 5,000-6,000/yr now) and still no problems. Have yet to be able to justify a replacement driveshaft, can't justify control arms (although I do have slight DW at times so I'm sure that's not far off), haven't taken the time or money to install a front truss kit, haven't needed to upgrade axle shafts....so I consider myself pretty fortunate at this point.

But Larry's list is actually pretty decent if you want something "reliable". 37's are definitely not easy on parts. Can you do 37's with a BB? Sure you can, but you'll want to at the very least cut your fenders to keep from rubbing. And if that's your plan....do yourself a favor and burn a truss kit on your front axle. Most use the Artec truss kit, as it's pretty budget friendly and quite complete. Might consider swapping out the D30 if you don't have a Rubicon, as the D44 shafts have more splines on them. 37's can be done on a D30, but it's not adviseable.

Bottom line: Realize that if you decide to move forward with 37's.....expect to spend money. Because maybe it won't happen at first....but....you will eventually spend money. Likely the first thing you'll replace is the shitty OEM ball joints. They are non-serviceable and sport nylon inserts that wear out quite fast. So expect to spend at least $250 on Syngery ball joints that are at least greasble and have metal inserts. From there it's a crapshoot as to what will fail next.

Good luck!

jordy

It can be done, but you have to throw the "budget" word out the window, along with "cheap" and "easy." Once you're on that path you have to run it to ground as you've learned. Every time the weak link is fixed, it creates a new one, either next door, or right down the street in regards to the mechanical location. It's much easier to do it a little at a time if you're not out playing on the extreme trails, like the Rubicon, or the more difficult ones at Moab. Take your time and do it right, even if it is a piece at a time.

TheDirtman

37's cause things to break and wear out faster, you can just throw on 37's but over time you should expect to replace and upgrade components as they fail due to the weight and extras leverage and stress the big rubber puts on components.

Chuck-The-Ripper

According to the O'rielly's employee who felt the need to argue, 37" tires cause less wear on things such as (in my case) front hub assemblies. His reasoning was the fact that 37" tires turn slower than the smaller OEM size.
Just stating what the "pros" told me.....

DunnyBunny

If that's the case then I'm using that reasoning and getting 50s