countrydude1992

Ok guys, i'm almost 18, had my jeep for just over a year now. i've learned so much about my jk on this forum, and through just hours and hours of obsessing on the internet. i must say, i love my jeep now here's what's up. i've done a few mods on the jk, but nothing big. but i want to start saving to turn her into the machine she could be. you all know what i mean being 17, i have a low budget, and low know-how. i'm still a newbie by far. what i'm wanting is for you amazing guys and gals on the forum to help me decide what i need and how much i need for it. i dont really understand gears, or beefing up axels, or any of that.

my setup-
07' 2 door X

what i want-
37's.
4.88's (opinions? i want it capable but she's still my DD, and this was right smack in the middle)
bushwacker flat flares

everything else is up in the air.

you folks on the forum have been so helpful with me and helped answer any questions, and i would love your opinions, advice, comments, anything you have to offer tell me about your experiences, send me links to things i need, help me understand what is going on here haha. i hate people that just throw money into something and know nothing about it, so i want to learn what i need, and what it all means.

and who knows, maybe this can be the official "TEACH THE NEWBIES" thread. haha!

THANKS GUYS/GALS!!
-Destin

RchyRch650

good to hear im not the only 17 year old on here, ill keep a watch on this thread myself, i would kill to go 37s.

AndrewCote

even if you beef up your dana 30 front axle, it will not be able to withstand offroading with 37's and you will eventually break something. if you must though, you would deffinently need 5.13 gears to get a little power back. with flat fenders you could run 3 or 4 inches of lift and be ok. You need to have a new rear bumper and tire carrier to carry that big of a spare, you cant strap it to the door. To tell you the truth, seeing as how you are low budget, i would say do the teraflex 2.5 and a set of 35's. Its 1500 for 37 inch tires not counting rims, and like 600 for a lift with control arms to get the camber back, then a whopping 1000 and some change just for labor to get gears installed. You would also need a tuner to reset your speedo for those huge tires, and to get a little power back. 35's are a good idea, 37's are one hell of an investment

yafoz77

Your 17? Your lucky to have a JK! Awesome..

Truth is, anyone I know your age pushes theres vehicles hard. haha..

First take it easy on your Jeep, Slow Down! hahaa.. This will save you a lot of $$$$$$ off the bat.

I realize 37's are cool, I love them.. but I'd strongly say go with 35's.. Atleast for now untiill you can afford to get that front Dana 30 welded or replaced. Gussets/trusses and axles will help extend the life of the 35's.. 37's, at least a dana 44 would be nice..

Do you plan on going in to the trees (tight trails?) If so use the stock flares till you rip them off.. haha Than save up for Steel ones... I ran NO flares until I could afford steel ones..

I put all my money in to other things other than big tires.. Recovery being #1, Getting stuck is part of the game.. I'm just saying to run big tires you realy want to have other equipment that will hold up along with those bad boys. There is not much I have not destroyed on the stock 32's let alone 37's haha..

Just have fun and always keep some spare money because things will break..

Millerman999

Im 18 and graduating in 20 days. Seems like u are in the same boat I was. Heres wat I did. Worked my ass off in football and baseball. Worked a side job, got some good grades. Got a full ride to a college on a baseball scholarship and used $5000 of my dollars and beg the rents since they are separated to split 15000(7500 each). Since they aren't paying 200,000 for my college anymore it was easy to beg them into money saying well pretend this is just money for room and board and the first year. Got them convinced and they argued that I shouldn't put my money in my JEEP, they even offered to buy me a sweet used Beamer as a side car instead, but I insisted in my JEEP. 6 months later the Jeep is currently in the shop getting done the way I dreamed of. So here's my advice stick it out another year and see what you can come up with then.

Millerman999

Sorry to go against you but MKJEEP on here is rockin a D30 with 37s and he probably wheels his ride twice as much as mine on D60s with 40's on the sides

yafoz77

This is true...

It's more less a percaution though. It's trully pricy to replace anything on JK's, expecially axle's and housings.

We all wheel differently and we all wheel different obstacles. Using stock 32's I destroyed a front Dana 44, bending housing and C's. I had it replaced (got it covered somehow) haha. and decided to weld it up with gussets etc.

It's just a risky game and getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere sucks..

Otherwise, put the 37's on dana 30 and give er! Just drive slow over obstacles and avoid spinning too much.

I feel a lot of it is how you drive and what your driving on. I'll admit I push my JK, but I am not heavy on the foot.

Dex1

This is my take on the original question....
Since you are so young, and have very limited funds!!! MY opinion is...

Stay with 35s, they will do everything you need them to do and not over stress the D30 too bad. Or find a set of take off Rubicon tires someone switched out, they will be better than stock street tires! sometimes you can find them with very little miles on them for cheap!!!

If you can swing it, re-gear,,, go to 5:13, you're Jeep will love you for it... Or at the very least, find a set of 4:10s someone took out then all you have to buy is the gears for the front..

You really don't need more than a B.B. 2.5 lift for the 35s... big lifts are nice, but expensive...

Keep the stock flares until you rip them off, flat fenders are cool, but expensive, wait until you either need them or just have the extra $$$ to buy them...

Find a local friend's dad who has a welder and have him weld in some c-gussets for you.

The same dad (if he is handy with sheet metal) can fab up some skid plates for you, show him some pics and specs (if you can get them) of skids for everything you can cover up.. protect you're belly...

Keep an eye on the "for sale" section of the forum and other forums, there is always stuff for sale from others modding their jeeps or upgrading to bigger and better!!

And look at the "garage sale" or "open box" sections of the parts company sites on the web, they sometimes have items that were returned or used for pictures or something that they are discounting...

I understand about wanting a jeep like allot of those on the web and in magazines, but in reality, a stock and/or mildly modded jeep is very capable, and unless you rock crawl much you really don't need all the stuff those guys with deep pockets have!
You will have much more fun and save a ton of $$$ if you go slow, and do all or most of the mods you're self and with the help of friends and family...
You will be amazed at what all you can get done by asking around you're area with you're friends' dads and guys with shops around town.. there are allot of real handy guys who would be more than happy to take you under their wings, and help you out with mods like welding, fab work, paint, parts replacements etc..... Offer you're help back to them like sweeping out their shop/garage, mowing their lawn, bailing hay, or whatever you can help them with in trade for their time...

It's great you are a young dude and into Jeeping!!!!! you have started a great hobby you can do for the rest of you're life! and someday you will be the (go to guy) when there is a young dude looking for a hand with their new found love....

yafoz77

Well said!

JKred

Props to you dude. If this is what you wanna do then go for, just keep in mind two things.

First and prolly most important, what everyone is saying is right, take your time, do things right the first time and save yourself the problems later. Shit breaks, and the bigger you go the harder your gunna be pushing your JK. Everyone wants to have a bad ass Jeep, but anything is better than stock, so don't reject any ideas just cause there not HUGE. Some of the best looking Jeeps I've seen on here have had small lifts and 33's.

Second off, I'm assuming your going to be entering college soon, and if that's the case, and your not getting a free ride, college is tough on the wallet. I just finished my junior year so I know. You don't want to put yourself in a money hole before you even leave school, especially in today's world.

With that said, your Jeep is your build, and everyone has their dream ride. Its a
personal thing and I think you should make it exactly what you want it to be. Have fun!