Good morning: I'm scheduled for an install of a AEV 3.5" lift & 35" tires & 4:88 gears. After some thought, now I'm questioning should I go with a 4.5" lift & 37" tires???? My primary use will be 90-95% on road & 5-10% off road, but I don't want to have any regrets??? I am very confident where I am having the work done and they did recommend the 3.5" & 35" tires for my use... I also have picked up that if I do go more than 3.5" I now need to mess with drive shafts??? Kindly give me your opinions, pros & cons, & pictures of your rigs... Thank You BeverageGuy
3.5" with 37's, but know that you'll eventually need a new front driveshaft and you should definitely beef up your front D44. If you have a D30, don't even think about 37's.
Mine's is equipped with a MetalCloak 3.5 and 37" Nittos.
3.5" with 37's, but know that you'll eventually need a new front driveshaft and you should definitely beef up your front D44. If you have a D30, don't even think about 37's.
Mine's is equipped with a MetalCloak 3.5 and 37" Nittos.
For a DD or mall crawler a D30 will be fine. You do realize the D30 and D44 have the exact same tubes and cs and unit bearings, outter shafts .The D44 has larger inner axle shafts and center section but that is it. They both will be fine for highway use and light offroad. Its when you get into the rocks or heavy trail use in 4LO that you will destroy the D30 ring and pinion.
And here is my Gecko on a 2.5" lift with flatties and 37s. Oh I wheel the piss out of it too. Yep my D30 is a ticking time bomb but I have money set aside o replace it with a Core 44 if it blows
If you do 37s, do not go up in lift - get flat Fenders.
I run 37s on a 2.5 lift with flat Fenders - low center of gravity build works better for two doors. Four doors just need extra lift if they wheel to get the belly up.
I would just do 35's and the smaller lift if it were going to be a mall crawler. I would personally do 5.13 gears though. It really depends on what your offroading will be, if driving on a dirt road is off road you don't need much.
For a DD or mall crawler a D30 will be fine. You do realize the D30 and D44 have the exact same tubes and cs and unit bearings, outter shafts .The D44 has larger inner axle shafts and center section but that is it. They both will be fine for highway use and light offroad. Its when you get into the rocks or heavy trail use in 4LO that you will destroy the D30 ring and pinion.
And here is my Gecko on a 2.5" lift with flatties and 37s. Oh I wheel the piss out of it too. Yep my D30 is a ticking time bomb but I have money set aside o replace it with a Core 44 if it blows
I had a dana 30 in my TJ with gearing, lockers and 35's and never had an issue with it. I also use to have a Chevy Blazer with a dana 44 front end with 44" boggers and a built big block that i use to do competition mud bogs in. I never broke or bent it either.
Unless you are constantly climbing rock walls and wheel hopping the piss out of your jeep or doing full throttle clutch drops your front end will last for quite a while. RCV's have a lifetime warranty and are only 1K, you shouldn't have to worry about bending your housing unless you are jumping the thing.
I thinks there is a lot of unwarranted hype around the whole front axle thing personally. The 44 has been the go to axle for almost every manufacturer on full sized trucks with V8's for years, if there was an issue with them being weak every truck would have a dana 60 in it.
37s look better in my opinion and if your already considering them then just do it right the first time. I would also do the 3.5 lift though with flat fenders
So all you guys smushing 37's into 2.5 in lift 2door/4door haven't had any problems as a daily driver? Just planning on this but a shop is telling me 3.5 in lift is minimum for 37's due to articulation. Obviously he is trying to sell his kits versus the 2.5 Teraflex lift I already have in a box waiting for install. But I also don't want to have problems either.
Thank you everyone for your opinions, advice, & pictures, your Jeeps look great. As I have mentioned in the past, I am not very mechanical, so some of the advice about the dana 30, 44, 60, kind of went over my head, I'm sorry to admit it, but that is the truth, however I did speak to the people doing the work, and as someone here also mentioned about the center of gravity, that I did understand, and it looks like I am staying with the 3.5" AEV lift & 35" tires & 4:88 gears.... Thank you BeverageGuy
I run a 2.5 lift with 37s and chopped fenders. This setup is ideal for a two door. Bigger lifts and bigger tires the two doors get top heavy and start getting less stable and more tippy. The big tires give the axle clearance. The two doors already have much much better breakover angle than the four door - we don't need the body to be lifted any more than needed to clear the tires.
I have run the hard core extreme rock crawling trails. My build impressed even the buggy guys on tons and 40-42 inch tires what it could do. My LCOG was key on many of the obstacles. With an extra inch lift, that could've been just enough loss of stability to be tbe difference between a flop and driving home.
In this picture if you blow it up you can really see the lean I may not have survived with a higher lift. And notice I also have my spare in cargo rather than on the back end - keeping that weight and center of gravity as low as I can.
^yup. I should snap a couple pics at different speeds too. It would be cool for comparison sake. What do your tires actually measure out to?
3.6 and "35's" (generic terminology), 4.10's are a good match. 3.8 and you probably want 4.88's.
I agree on the LCG lift and big tires. These JK's and JKU's are extremely capable rigs with very mild lifts. I like big tires and flat fenders. Doesn't get the stop light ego boosting attention but they get around off-road where it counts.
^yup. I should snap a couple pics at different speeds too. It would be cool for comparison sake. What do your tires actually measure out to? 3.6 and "35's" (generic terminology), 4.10's are a good match. 3.8 and you probably want 4.88's. I agree on the LCG lift and big tires. These JK's and JKU's are extremely capable rigs with very mild lifts. I like big tires and flat fenders. Doesn't get the stop light ego boosting attention but they get around off-road where it counts.
They are 37" Deegans but I have them as 35.25" in my Procal to get an exact speedo matched to a GPS with the 4.56 gears. Mind you these have 35k miles so they are taller when new.
According to AEV, 3.5" and 35" tires is the best balance and geometry for Wranglers. You don't need 4.5" and 37" unless you plan on hitting some very difficult trails. The smaller setup can handle most anything. The larger setup would be fit for Moab or the Rubicon in terms of difficulty.
And yes, you can run 37s on a D30 front. Have been wheeling that combo for years.
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