3inch or 2inch

CBoston

CBoston

New member
Hey all

Buying either a 3inch Trail Lift or a 2inch Sport from Rancho both come with the 9000xl shocks. Only thing is, no budget for Tires right away... How stupid will it look with a 3inch lift and 32inch Duratrac's ?
Should I just go with lower COG ? Or Fork out and get the 3inch and just suffer looking silly...
Going with 35's Come September at the Earliest...
 
Personally I would go with at least the 3". I ran 2.5" for the last 2 years and have wanted taller ever since. I am now going up to 3.5" as we speak and I get to re-buy everything including shocks - yeah! Look at it this way, have you ever been wheeling with somebody that said "I wish I had a smaller lift" ? me neither. Go with the 3" or even bigger from the get go do you don't end up re-doing everything
 
What's your end goal? 35" tires and flat or factory fenders? The fenders make a difference. I wouldn't go over 3" with 35" tires personally.
 
olram30 said:
What's your end goal? 35" tires and flat or factory fenders? The fenders make a difference. I wouldn't go over 3" with 35" tires personally.
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Utah_Jay said:
Personally I would go with at least the 3". I ran 2.5" for the last 2 years and have wanted taller ever since. I am now going up to 3.5" as we speak and I get to re-buy everything including shocks - yeah! Look at it this way, have you ever been wheeling with somebody that said "I wish I had a smaller lift" ? me neither. Go with the 3" or even bigger from the get go do you don't end up re-doing everything
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End Go is 35's with MetalCloak Fenders, I know they claim you can put 37's Stock with their Fenders. just cant do it all at once one the terrible thing called a budget, haha. 2inch Sport Kit only comes with coils and bump stops with the shocks. Versus the 3 inch Trail with Adjustable CA, Track Bar and so on.... Figure down the road those will be needed. But I am new to all this and just seeking some experienced input and opinions about it.
 
The trail lift sounds more complete, you could always buy it and not put it on until the tire budget comes through. Then it would be a huge change all at once. I have 3 1/3" with the stock rubicon tires on spacers, it looks ok but not great honestly
 
Get the one you want the first time. As stated, you dont HAVE TO buy the lift now, or put it on for that matter. Set the money aside till tire money shows up, then go crazy with it.
 
I'm on Northridge's website, looking at TJ Express long arm lift kits, and the mono tube shock is cheaper than the twin tube set up. Is one better than the other?
 
MedixJK said:
Get the one you want the first time. As stated, you dont HAVE TO buy the lift now, or put it on for that matter. Set the money aside till tire money shows up, then go crazy with it.
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That's what I'm doing. From tires, to lift, to axles, to winch and more. One shot and I get a decent rig to ride, and then add the little stuff.
 
CBoston said:
Hey all

Buying either a 3inch Trail Lift or a 2inch Sport from Rancho both come with the 9000xl shocks. Only thing is, no budget for Tires right away... How stupid will it look with a 3inch lift and 32inch Duratrac's ?
Should I just go with lower COG ? Or Fork out and get the 3inch and just suffer looking silly...
Going with 35's Come September at the Earliest...
Click to expand...

Go 3". I had a 2" BB on my jkur. It cleared 35's with a little rubbing on stock fenders. If I had cut the fenders it would have resolved the rubbing issues.

My main issue was lack of frame clearance on the trail. I just installed an evo enforcer pro. Sitting with about 3.5" of lift. I added flat fenders and it makes my 35's look like roller skate wheels (slight over exageration). If I had put the factory fenders back on, it would look fine. My end goal is 37's.

You'll be fine on the 32's for a while. Remember, looks aren't as important as functionality (unless you are building a mall crawler).

Don't forget to buy a front driveline with the 3" kit. I can attest that the driveline will hit the exhaust for lifts over 2.5". I had to take off the driveline just to get enough droop to install my lift.
 
JKbrick said:
...you could always buy it and not put it on until the tire budget comes through.
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I second this suggestion, and it's pretty much what I'm about to do. I'm going to order a different kit from Rancho before the end of the month so I can still take advantage of the rebate, but I'm not going to install it until I get new tires and drive shafts closer to the end of the summer. The main reason to have a lift is to fit the larger tires, so there's not much benefit when you're off road of having the lift without the tires anyway. And a lift without larger tires will give your rig a roller skate look too.

As far as what size lift to get, like olram30 mentioned you can fit 35" tires with a 3" lift and leaving your stock fenders flares on, or just no lift and flat fenders flares (including cutting the stock flares). The no lift route will also require you have 1.5" wheel adapters or new wheels with less backspacing, and depending on how old your Jeep is, you might need to trim the pinch seam and rock rail too. I'm not exactly sure about the Metalcloak flares (personally I think they're damn ugly, so I've never looked into them), but they should be able to fit 35s without a lift too. If you don't want to trim the stock flares or can't add the Metalcloak fenders the same time as the lift, then a 3" kit is what you will want.
 
4 door - 3 inch

2 door - 2 inch

And everyone already covered fenders, driveshafts, spacers, etc. Don't be concerned with how it looks. It's "under construction." Sometimes it won't look "cool" when you're on a budget trying to piece mods together. My 2 pennies!
 
MarkW13 said:
Go 3". I had a 2" BB on my jkur. It cleared 35's with a little rubbing on stock fenders. If I had cut the fenders it would have resolved the rubbing issues.

My main issue was lack of frame clearance on the trail. I just installed an evo enforcer pro. Sitting with about 3.5" of lift. I added flat fenders and it makes my 35's look like roller skate wheels (slight over exageration). If I had put the factory fenders back on, it would look fine. My end goal is 37's.

You'll be fine on the 32's for a while. Remember, looks aren't as important as functionality (unless you are building a mall crawler).

Don't forget to buy a front driveline with the 3" kit. I can attest that the driveline will hit the exhaust for lifts over 2.5". I had to take off the driveline just to get enough droop to install my lift.
Click to expand...

I heard something earlier about the 2007-2010 not needing the front drive shaft.... But I could be wrong...
 
Having 3" lift and 32's will not look bad at all. It's better to have a taller lift so that you can put more aggressive tires next time.
 
If I were in your shoes I would get a entry level 2.5"-3" lift from a reputable manufacturer. You really need springs, sway bar links, bump stops, rear tb bracket and a front track bar. Geometry correction brackets would be a great investment too. This would hopefully save you money up front and allow you to get your tires sooner. I would add control arms down the road when the funds are available if necessary, you can sell those geo brackets very easily on the forum when its time.
 
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