brooks1083

My whole life I've wanted to have a jeep. Parents didn't think it was a good idea in high school. I pitched the idea to the wife over a year ago and she was cool with it. My main criteria was that I wanted Jeep Green, and wanted it to be a Sahara (I like the painted fenders). I found one like I wanted that we bought a little over a year ago (last November). I've just recently got the itch to do some modding to her. Let me start by saying, this is still my daily commuter, but I want her to have a little more aggressive look. I am pretty good with my hands, have help from several mechanically minded people, and have plenty of tools at my disposal. I'm the type of person that takes pride in doing something myself and doing it right.

So anyway, I kind of have an idea of what I want to do. I was thinking maybe something like the OME 2" HD lift (I hope to add a winch soon and tow a fairly large boat a little here and there). Eventually, I would like to add some 33's (maybe 35's), I also want some form of mostly black wheels (something like a pro comp 7189), some more aggressive looking tires, new bumpers with a winch (I like the looks of the mopar bumper that you can run a winch through), and maybe some willys decals among other things. So here is my real question from poking around on here...what are the other things I need to consider when I do this? I've seen stuff about gearing, driveshafts, brake lines, bumpstops (I think this is more of an issue if I went with 35's), etc... Like I said, I'm not planning on doing any serious wheeling (at the moment) but I will get her off the beaten path now and then. I know I am a total newbie with this stuff so I apologize if I butchered anything.

Oh yeah, heres a pic of her about a month or two after we got her.

rodney

If you dont plan on spending alot i would just run 33's with something under a 3" lift that way you dont need to regear or change drive shafts if would look great with a 2.5" lift with 33's with a nice front bumper and rear bumper with a cool tire carrier. Just keep it cheap and try not to go over board so you can save your warrenty.

Just my 2cents

brooks1083

So if I were to do a 2.5" BB, is there anything else I would need to do to make sure it runs smoothly or everything fits together?

bigbluejk

Go OME and 35s. It will have a great ride, and if you are thinking anywhere in your head that you might want 35s you will hate yourself for getting 33s a couple months after you buy them and your tire budget is blown. (Ask me how I know). A 2.5 teraflex BB would be nice too.

brooks1083

So if I were to just go with like a 2.5" TF BB, I could still do 35's since I don't plan on doing any serious wheeling. So if I were to do that, what other considerations would I need to make?

jat9058

Okay, so not 6 months ago I was pondering all your questions. What I went with was a 4" Rough Country lift and 33" tires and ATX Predator rims. I would definitely recommend taking a look at the American Racing ATX series stuff, the wheels I got are teflon coated and look amazing on my Jeep Green!

I still have plenty of room to move up to 35" if I want. I didn't plan on doing any serious off roading either, just wanted it to look cool. With the 4" I have plenty of room. I went with Toyo Open Country AT tires as they handle off-road and provide a nice stable, smooth on road ride (at least I like them).

A couple of points though that I found out through experience (if you can call it that) is that once the lift is on, the Jeep with drive much different, you may not like it...however, in order to get it right where you want it, there are several additions you can make to get there that aren't terribly more expensive. Just want you to be aware since I learned the hard way. One, I got the RC dual steering stabilizer and it definitely helps with some of the bounciness and flightiness. I have a set of upper front adjustable control arms on the way, these are supposed to help adjust my caster angle since once the lift is on, that setting gets thrown way out of whack.

In addition, my spedometer is off and am going to purchase a programmer as soon as the tax refund comes in for $130 or something like that. This will allow me to set my new tire size and correct some of the spedo being off. Plus, I will be able to precisely set the steering to center (as I don't think the tire shop did it very well) and turn on my daytime running lights...

I have a 6-speed and the 3.21 gears that comes with the X, when I got the 33" tires on, I lost 6th and just cannot accelerate like I want to. I am now considering re-gearing, but need to wait until I've got the funds, I've heard it runs anywhere from $1200 to $2000 to do this? It is almost a necessity at this point for me though, as I want to zip around like I'm in a sports car...lol

So, the basics, once you start you won't ever want to stop...I would recommend the Toyo ATs, the ATX wheels and taking a look at other options, steering stabilizer, control arms, etc. Although none of this may be "necessary" it is something to consider.

My Jeep

TeraFlex

Download the 2009 TeraFlex catalog from my sig and take a look at the 6 different 2.5" kits we have. Plus feel free to give me a call if you have any questions. Welcome to the forum!

hawgrider1200

U said u wanted to use this JEEP to tow a larger boat U didn't say how large or if u had an automatic tranny. I would not tow a larger boat with an automatic until I put an aftermarket tranny cooler on. I'd also have to know how large that boat is and what ur current gear ratio is.

If u r going to run 35 inch tires u r gonna need to regear. U might be able to get away with 4:10 gears if u have a manual tranny. smoke on that for a minute, b4 u go out and buy 35" tires.

It's a daily driver put 32 in tires on it and forget the lift. U say u ain't gonna wheel much so u don't need it. lift might give the dealer cause to void ur warranty. especially on things like ball joints whic half the dudes on here say theirs are wearing out prematurely. if u just gotta make it look just a little taller u might go with a 2" body lift. leave that suspension just the way it is.

Mark Doiron

I agree completely with this. People do it and say it works for them, but I have 4:10s and 33s and would definitely NOT want to lose any more to 35s. You didn't mention rock rails (or I missed it)--that definitely adds to the look and offers good protection for the occasional off-road trip. And I love the black ProComp 7089 wheels:

brooks1083

The boat is a 22 ft mastercraft. It has a tandem axle trailer and I think the total weight is about 3300 lbs. I haven't really been that concerned about it because I would only be pulling it about 7-10 miles to the lake and back a couple of times a month during the warm months. I have the stock setup with the 08 Sahara and tow pkg, I think the ratio is 3.73, and it is an auto.

EDIT: Yeah, I was wanting to get rid of my steps and put some rock rails on.