lyd

Thank you so much. You are spot on what I am looking to achieve. I looked at coilovers, but they were all for 6" lift and above.

Your suggestions are very good. I am impressed that Autohome actually makes carbon fiber tents..

BigSteve

So are you taking the lowering springs off? I am totally confused as to what the end result is that you are looking for.

jeeeep

EVO - 3"-5" of Lift Use 12" Coilovers: Typically 33" - 37" Tires. , 6+" of Lift Use 14" Coilovers: Typically 38"+ Tires.

I have driven a Jeep close to my setup with the 12" coilovers and all I can say is Wow! the offroad articulation is fantastic and on the open dirt high speeds are a lot more fun and faster. On the pavement handling makes the ride so much better. When I installed my 3.5" lift with than the coil/spring setup that was a great improvement over stock - I have driven and maintained 95+ mph on pavement - offroad not so fast as I air down my tires to smooth out the bumps. The coilover system is an improvement over what I have and didn't have to air down so faster speeds were easier.

For me and the type of driving I do my next mod will be coilover system without increasing my ride height, I've found for my driving 35" tires will get me over and through most obstacles but I do plan to move to a 37" tire in the near future - makes crawling over things easier.

Impostr

Here is evo's bolt on kit at 3" lift in front, 3.5" in rear...35" tires and nemesis flares





And the flex





Doesn't have as smooth of ride on road as I anticipated, but it's smoother than most. Handles exceptionally well. Since then I have gone to 38's and lifted it up another inch, but barely sits higher than my buddies on 35's and 4" rancho lift:

Rob 12B1P

Interesting, I looked it up on Google maps and google will give you driving directions all the way to Panama City.

Man Im still trying to figure out if your trolling or for real LOL. Anyways OP ditch the 20's and the weather strip tires and the Jeep will ride and handle a lot better. With Jeeps the tires are more than for road contact they are a part of the suspension system. You need sidewall flex for the Jeep to ride decent. There are guys running 20's on Jeeps but they are typically runing 37"+ tires or they are mall crawlers. I would think 37's would be hard to find in some of the countries you are looking at travelling through therefore I would look a size of tire and wheel that would be more easily replaced in countries where there is no overnight frieght.

Anyways hopefully if you get to Panama City the resaraunt La Cascada is still there. One of my favorite places Ive ever dined. Stay away from Colon, not a safe place for visitors.

GJeep

On Jeep forums, 'offroading' usually involves obstacle crossing.
'Expedition' or 'Overlanding' is covering very long off-road distances. Sooner or later, whether planned or not, moderate or hard obstacle crossing have a good chance to be involved in expeditions, and so are getting stuck and recovery work.
Using the wheels you specified is a disadvantage -- in case what you meant by 'expedition' is the same as how we understand the term.

Rally vehicles and offroad vehicles are quite different. So are the two driving techniques, which may, sometimes, partly overlap.

Offroading is crossing obstacles which are way beyond the capability of a rally car.
Even crossing a fallen tree on a trail – a common offroading example on many trails around the world -- is impossible for a typical rally car.
In the last Dakar, a whole section was cancelled because of flooding. I watched a Dakar rally car get stuck where my Jeep, with 35" wheels and 4" lift could easily go on and ask for more.
How many rally cars have a winch?...
Offroading and rallying are different realms.

For crossing obstacles, the Jeep needs good approach, departure and break-over angles. Lift increases those angles. In other words, there's a positive (and not negative) correlation between lift and offroading. Lift also allows more articulation – a basic factor for offroad capability.
As everything in life, there're compromises. Too much lift reduces stability on slopes. 4" lift is a good balance between the two – that's why it's so common for serious offroading.

Larger wheels increase the break-over angle -- by how much? – 40" wheels are real large. The lift gain, compared to 35", is only 2.5" lift (true, that's 2.5" for the differentials too). The cost? -- a massive build (replaced axles, etc'), and decreased road behavior.
37"s gain just 1" lift, while 35"s allow crossing the vast majority of obstacles with much less change (pun intended).
I have nothing against any wheel size. If my Jeep wasn't a DD, I'd probably have had 37" on it. I just try to put the wheel size into proportion.

The true advantage of long arms is materialized at about 6" lift or more, regardless of whether the wheels are 35", 37" or 40".

EVO offer good 3"~5" lift (tunable) coilovers –
LINK - EVO: Suspension / Steering, Bolt On COILOVER KIT (REAR)

Or Metal Cloak – not coilovers, but good articulation and behavior, on or off road, with 3.5" lift.
LINK - Metalcloak JK Wrangler Jeep Suspensions & Lift Kits

This is a nice example for true SLOW offroading and very reasonable higher speed Jeep sprinting.
LINK - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&list=UUtCErqn07DYc0PAPkuIfO0A&v=5U7OYNN-qE0 This is another good demonstration for the difference between a Jeep and a rally car, by a forum member (skippyrock) -- a rally car would get stuck here:
LINK - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6g8F...e_gdata_player


But... maybe what you have in mind is very different from what a Jeep is designed and meant for.