Jay from Somersworth, NH

[walshy78]

Hello All,

I'm a first time Jeep owner looking forward to getting out on the trails! I have a 2012 Unlimited Sport totally stock. Need to pick up an extinguisher and CB in the near term. Future mods include new tires and a lift. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Nothing crazy as Jimmy (that's what my kids named my JK) is also my daily driver.

Looking forward to becoming a member and putting some faces with names at the spring meet up next weekend!

[Carl McFly]

Jay - welcome aboard! As far as mods you got it right with the lift and new rubber. I'll let the JK crew handle anything after the basics. Look forward to seeing you at the meeting

Carl

[Hoodoo Man]

definitely want an evap skid and rock sliders to protect the body. a cheap budget boost will help you fit better tires at least 33s and bigger if you can swing it will help. the break over angle on the 4 door will limit what you can do. the street tires will work OK, i did my first few runs with the club on street tires and I scraped the hell out of my undercarriage. Rubicon take offs for rims and tires can be had for about 800 or less if you keep your eyes on craigs list...

oh and welcome to the forum!

[Kodi]

Hi Jay! Glad you filled this out, otherwise, as I said...I'd have to have done it for you! LOL....In case you folks are wondering where Jay came from, He's a great guy, at one of my accounts. Told him his license plate was falling off two weeks ago, now he's going to join us! Welcome, welcome, welcome!!!

psssst, can I drive it!?

[walshy78]

Carl - Thanks for the warm welcome!

Joliet Jake Blues - Much appreciation for the advice! Truth be told I'm a software guy... but prior to that I was an installer at Best Buy amongst other random "pay the bill" jobs. Point being, I have no prob admitting I'm not a mechanic or understand all of the parts and their use on a Jeep... But I do have a decent set of tools and I REALLY want to learn and built up Jimmy as much of my abilities will allow. I look to learn from your experience and def want to protect to prevent costly repairs down the road. Crawling under him I did notice there were some factory skid plates but not sure what or how much they were covering. I'll keep an eye on Craig's if I can't land a stock set of Rubi's would you still recommend the BFG's they come with? Also would you do a budget lift b/f new rubber? Any brand pref on the lift/height?

Kodi - I've never been so have to have someone give me ALMOST bad news when you saw my plate peeling back! Thank you for the kind words too! And "key's are on my desk" whenever you would like to take him for a spin!!!!

[ArticRubi]

Welcome Jay. A few things about the JK; as Jeff mentioned, pick up an evap skid, it's cheap insurance for an expensive part. Sliders are a good idea too, ACE Engineering makes a decent set pretty cheap (relatively) that hold up to the type of wheeling you'll be doing. I would not recommend the BFG's that come stock on the Rubicon.

As far as the wheel, tire, and lift subject goes, you're lucky you're in a JK. With a 2" lift you can fit 35's on there no problem. I would skip 33's all together, with the longer wheelbase of the 4 door it will improve your breakover angle. Your stock wheels have a 6" backspace, you will need a little less to fit a wider tire, most 33" tires are 12.5" wide as 35's are. You can purchase 1.5" wheel spacers, I would honestly not do that. They typically cost over $100 for a set of 2. You can pick up a set of new steel wheels with the correct backspace for your application (4.5") for around $55 - 75 each, just marginally more expensive than spacers for a better product. You can also sell your stock wheels and tires on CL for a minimum of $300 to recoup a bit of money.

I'll refer you to this thread on Jeepforum:
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/jk-f ... s-1074059/

It has answers to basically all of your questions regarding lift and tire size questions. It can be a bit intimidating at first to start wrenching on your brand new ride but I assure you it's simpler than it looks! If you have any questions or need any help, don't hesitate to ask!

Duncan

[walshy78]

Thanks so much for the direction Duncan! I'm very thankful you guys know your stuff!!! Looks like I have some shopping around to do! I'll focus on the evap skid plate first and see what else I can scope out..wile trying to keep the budget in check!

Many thanks again! I'll report back soon.

[Hoodoo Man]

Jay the only upside to the Rubicon take offs is they are cheap compared to going with new tires. I'm a fan of the goodyear MTR with Kevlar, if you are buying new I would say 34" or 35" tires are for sure the way to go but at that point you need to start considering reinforcing your axles. The other thing is TPMS sensors get expensive at about 100 a wheel, but if you buy a set of rubi take offs they are most likely in there.

I am definitely not a fan of wheel spacers, like Duncan said they are cheap, but if you don't torque them and loctite them they can cause major issues down the road. You can likely move your factory TPMS sensors over to the new rims but some tire shops will try to make you buy new ones or rebuild the ones you have.
The factory JK skids are OK but an aftermarket will be lower profile, you should get one to cover the oil pan back, I took a decent hit to that and dented it pretty good, every oil change after that the tech would let me know it was dented.

Jeff

[Carl McFly]

It can be a bit intimidating at first to start wrenching on your brand new ride but I assure you it's simpler than it looks! If you have any questions or need any help, don't hesitate to ask!

Duncan

X2! Thanks to the talented crew at BSJ, I learned a lot over the last few years. Still learning my way around JK's, but just last weekend, I attended a Geometry 101 class, where we covered placing 1-ton axles under a JK

[ArticRubi]

I'll focus on the evap skid plate first and see what else I can scope out..wile trying to keep the budget in check!

Many thanks again! I'll report back soon.

Budget is always the tough part, guns or butter. I will suggest not going "cheap" on the wheel and tire aspect, it's a big investment that you'll want to last several years. Get what you want now or you'll be kicking yourself later for not spending a few hundred bucks more. As I mentioned above, I'd definitely recommend getting new wheels. You will need the offset to be less with wider tires or your fronts will rub the frame. While wheel spacers will accomplish that, a set of 4 is almost as expensive as a quality steel wheel that already has the correct backspace. ProComp has a few models that can be had for as low as $55. I have a good vendor I can set you up with if you'd like, he always finds great pricing for me.

[walshy78]

Hi All,

Thanks SO much for all the quick follow ups! I was away this past weekend down on the Cape and was lucky enough to have a Willy's roll up next to me when the misses and I were enjoying a beach view. Thought I would take a couple pix to share on the forum.

Also on the skid plate topic I found this spec on the JKU: http://www.jeep.com/en/2012/wrangler_un ... rformance/

Which I thought was pretty good factory coverage. I think there is one for the oil pan too.

It sounds like priority of my purchases are:
1- CB/Antenna
-
- Dont know what antenna to get.....
2 - Evap Skid
- http://shop.poisonspyder.com/Jeep-Evap- ... 56-010.htm
3 - Rock Rails
- http://www.autoanything.com/jeep-tops/61A4792A0A0.aspx
4 - 2.5 Lift
- http://www.quadratec.com/products/16194_0003_07.htm
5 - And I was also checking out these at Town Fair.
- http://toyotires.com/tire/pattern/open- ... rain-tires

It sounds like 35s will give me more ability on the trail but I'm also worried its going to add more wear and require more modifications then 33's. I would like to make enough mods to be able to have fun but not loose on on performance in the other 80% of driving around town and highway. Can I stay in the 33 size and still hang with the club? If I stay with 33's I think is would be more affordable to stay with the factory 17's too because they would not require spacers?

Any other thoughts on the equipment links?

Hope you guys/gals enjoy the pix too!

[DDewar53]

Hi Jay
You'll love those Toyo Open Country ATs. I put a set on my '07 JK in the summer of 2007, just before the MOAB trip. They performed great out in MOAB, I had absolutely no complaints. They're still on there, after 45K miles, and if I didn't off road the truck they'd probably make it until fall. As it is, they're getting a little slick in the mud, so I'm going to have to get a new set.
I have the same budget boost that you're looking at, the only suggestion I can make is to call Lou at Elias 4-Wheel Drive center and give him a shot at selling them to you. Tell him you're with Baystate. He may get a few dollars more than the big internet dealers, but in my opinion it's definitely worth it. Lou takes good care of us, I highly recommend getting to know him.

[Carl McFly]

Can I stay in the 33 size and still hang with the club? If I stay with 33's I think is would be more affordable to stay with the factory 17's too because they would not require spacers?

Without a doubt! Lots of us roll on 33's. A survey was done not long ago and IIRC, that was the most popular tire size in the club. There's lots of trails (and company) for peeps who roll on 3's

and cool pics! What a difference a few generations make

[walshy78]

Great! Thank you again for the feedback. I can't wait to get out on the trails

[walshy78]

Hi Jay
You'll love those Toyo Open Country ATs. I put a set on my '07 JK in the summer of 2007, just before the MOAB trip. They performed great out in MOAB, I had absolutely no complaints. They're still on there, after 45K miles, and if I didn't off road the truck they'd probably make it until fall. As it is, they're getting a little slick in the mud, so I'm going to have to get a new set.
I have the same budget boost that you're looking at, the only suggestion I can make is to call Lou at Elias 4-Wheel Drive center and give him a shot at selling them to you. Tell him you're with Baystate. He may get a few dollars more than the big internet dealers, but in my opinion it's definitely worth it. Lou takes good care of us, I highly recommend getting to know him.

Thanks DDewar53! I'm happy to hear the Toyo's worked out for you. They looked semi-aggressive for an AT and they had some good reviews from other Jeep owners. As soon as I'm closer to buying I'll reach out to Lou. I'm all about purchasing local when at all possible.

Glad you like the pix.