allwaystvjim

Hi guys,

I am new to jeep, I am new to the forums, I am new to modifying any car and as a matter of fact I am new to even understanding auto related lingo.

But here is what I want to do,

I just purchased a new 2012 jeep wrangler unlimeted Sahara.

I would Like to put bigger tires and change the wheels on my jeep. I realize I will also have to lift it.

What are my reasons, well it mostly for looks, I will not do much 4 wheeling or off reading, however I would like to think if I had the opportunity I will take it.

The quality of the drive is still important to me, however I don't mind a good trade off .

My budget is under 3k

So I need some suggestions, of what type of gear, what type of mechanic should I look for, should I buy the parts and bring them to the mechanic. Is there a list of parts I will need to searching for, what size tires should I be considering and how does that effect the wheels

So I think you get the picture, I need a good place to start and learn from all of you. Thanks in advance for the help.

MrJCM1984

In my opinion, under 3k will be cutting it close. I spent around $2300 for a set of 5 rims and tires. They were 17" rims and 32" tires. Bigger the tire, the more its going to cost. Also, lift kits vary in price depending on how high you want to go. I have a stock 2011 JK Sport 2DR and I sit on 32's without a lift just fine. My suggestion is to browse the internet and look to see what you may like. There are my 2 cents.

allwaystvjim

That might be a solution, how big can the tire and wheel be before even lifting it. And what are some recommendations for brands.

RN M OVR

Automatic or manual? If you have a manual rubicon you can get away with 35" tires without affecting gas mileage too much. Automatic, and once you hit 35's you will want 4.88 gearing or 5.13 depending on your terrain. I've you're only after looks than it's your preference. How much lift do you want? How big of tires do you want? How often is your JK your daily driver? And for that matter, how much gas mileage are you willing to sacrifice if you do not have the money to spare regearing? You need to think about this questions before members can give you recommendations.

BagOfDoorknobs

With larger tires you are looking at getting new wheels or spacers with your current wheels so that they fit without rubbing. New wheels are whatever you want to pay (my black rock 909s were $140 each). 33" tires will run you around $250 apiece (depending on the brand). So you are looking at around $1700 or so. You can save money with the spacers though. 33's aren't much larger than the stock sahara tires, so you if want to go up to 35's you are looking at more cash.

You can get a poor man's lift kit by buying rubi springs and getting 19's in the front and 59's or 60's for the back. See the "Let's solve the stock springs" thread for more info on this. On my JKU this netted me about 1.5" in the front and 1" in the back. Looks good with my 33s. You can get the springs off someone here on the forum.

You can get a nice 2.5" lift for a couple of hundred on up.

Murder¹

I say keep the stock wheels buy some 32's & get a bb if your not going to be doing to much wheeling

08RedRock4x4

If you are on a budget (as I am) keep an eye on 'for sale' & 'freebie' threads as well as CL for deals. I found a 3" BDS lift, 17" Eagle Alloy wheels and 35x12.50R17 Toyos for $900. They were slightly used, but they work great.

As for the set up you are looking for - you probably would want a 2" to 2.5" Budget Boost (spring spacers), that will allow you to go up to 35" tires with little to no rubbing (unless you go off-road).

For gearing - going up to 35"s will slow you down & bring down your fuel economy... as you do not plan on doing any heavy off-road, I would go up to 4.56 (just over stock performance) or 4.88. Stay away from 5.13 unless you want to do some heavier rock crawling.

I have recently done my first lift and first set of M/T tires, your JK will handle differently, even the difference in tires causes a different tire hum.

Mechanics/shops - If you know or have a group of Jeeper buddies around you may be able to do the lift and tires yourself (wrenching party). That is what I did - I paid for the bbq and they helped me out. paying for a box of burgers, hot dogs, chips & beverages was a lot cheaper and more fun/educational than taking it to a shop... There are some things that I would want done by a shop... gears would be one... doing PSC sliders is another one (see this done, too easy to screw up your body)

just my 2 pennies,

Good Luck

Tim

allwaystvjim

I have automatic, I live in florida so it's flat down here, but that doesn't mean I won't go off roading nice and a while. If I forget the lift what's the biggest tire and wheel without all the other stuff involved, and if I did change the hearing how much should that cost and what does it entail

allwaystvjim

How do the spacers work, what are they, sorry guys but I'm mechanically illiterate

mkjeep

Some good info here

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...ery-Newbie-Has

wheel spacers, backspacing and such in this section
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...74&postcount=3