New Lift/Tires/Rims and already planning for more...

I got my lift on finally... 3" BDS full packs with 31x10.50 ProComp AT's and an OME stabilizer... pretty typical, eh? It sits quite a bit higher. A friend has an XJ at 4" with 31x9.50's on it and mine sits higher.

Now onto the question at hand... a guy with an XJ at my school has a 3.5" with Bushwackers and 33's. It looks good, but I wonder what type of problems it has.

To me, this seems like an ideal set-up.

What would be needed to make those 33's work? Do I need to regear? If I bumstop I don't think I will have much rub, but if anyone knows I'm wrong, say so please.

Few pics of the lift...

Me doin' the nasty with the Jeep...
http://tinypic.com/2jz3ic

Driveway poser shot...
http://tinypic.com/2jz3na

sawzall (the fun part ), bumpstops, and i'd suggest 4.56 gears...this is a very good setup, keeps it nice and low with plenty of tire

I have a three inch lift with bushwackers and 31s. I will be going to 33s soon after a .75" spacer kit. My lift has sagged a little. I am running 4.10 gears, and do mostly daily driving. It wont be too bad, if and when i go larger i will regear though. Good luck

ahhh the question that everyone wants to know...

welp - trim
gear to 4.56 - but if you have anything less than 29spl 8.25 - you know what that means! NEW REAR AXLE (if you ever want to lock it)

33's on a d30 works ok, but smaller (numericaly) backspacing kills unit hubs rather quickly....

and dont forget to think about brakes - 33's have quite a bit more mass than your 31's and will take a toll on your pads - might look into a new rear axle just to take care of that...

::shrug:: do what you will!

XJ_ranger said:

and dont forget to think about brakes - 33's have quite a bit more mass than your 31's and will take a toll on your pads - might look into a new rear axle just to take care of that...

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brakes...good call missed that one

"Now onto the question at hand... a guy with an XJ at my school has a 3.5" with Bushwackers and 33's. It looks good, but I wonder what type of problems it has."

i have the same setup your friend has. R.E. 3.5" lift with some 33" BFG mtr's. the only real problem i had was the driveshaft. never got an sye or a t-case drop so it came out on the highway etc...etc... after that i got a new one and threw on an sye kit now its running like a champ. never regeared, never got new brakes, however i did hack up the fenders pretty good. i dont mind the gearing much, but u can definately feel a difference in the brakes. they still stop fine and, but like said above the pads seem to go quicker than usual. hopefully some rear dic brakes are in the not too distant future...

forgot to take the sway bar links off...

Thanks everyone for the input. I know that I can tuck the 33's pretty much no prob. I have a good 6 inches fender clearance with my lift and the 31's, but I was unsure about regearing.

If I DO NOT regear, what would be some downsides? I know there will be a loss of initial power, but will my Jeep suffer anything else?

I have a D35, would that be adequate without having to drop in a new rear axle? 'cuz that would be a bitch, and I'm kinda strapped right now (just bought the lift, tires, rims, Hella 550's, LED's, and put a $1500 sound system in it about 3 months ago ).

Gears don't cost too much, but I've heard they are a bitch to install. My step-dad and I did all other installs ourselves easily (he's built plenty of 4x4's). He said he can't do gears 'cuz he doesn't have the right tools

Thanks again...

depending on what gears you have now, you will want to regear if you plan to wheel at all. I would seriously consider a new rear axle if you plan to wheel. I would suggest 4.56 for 33s. Its alot of money your gettin into!:laugh3: :wave:

once you pass 31's you get into a lot of money pits like i have noticed

brakes
tie rod "hd steering"
re-gear 4.56
axle swaps
bumpstops
trimming
etc....

personally i would lock it with maybe an aussie locker or something to see how much you can do with your current setup, after I installed my locker i realized how much a rig can do with lift and 31's

my main reason to go to 33's is that i got the re 4.5 and the 31's just look plain small after trimming, and my bfg at's are just about dead so its time for new rubber anyways

here is what i have bought so far for my 33's
4.56 gears and ovehaul kits = $415
new open carriers "front and rear= $110 (rear aussie locker already installed)
dana 44 fron 87 XJ= $250
ZJ v-8 tie rod= $80


i still need to buy tires (trxus 33's $675) and get the gears installed ( $400)

so as you can see its quite expensive

rangerjoe2001 said:

once you pass 31's you get into a lot of money pits like i have noticed

brakes
tie rod "hd steering"
re-gear 4.56
axle swaps
bumpstops
trimming
etc....

Click to expand...

new driveshafts
adjustable control arms
cutting and re-welding perches for the new driveshaft
gas mileage goes down the shitter with sotck gears

going to 33's on a very tight budget is risky at best - most times leading to debt-- (unless you dont care about the on-road ability of your rig)
ask McFly about that one...

XJ_ranger said:

new driveshafts
adjustable control arms
cutting and re-welding perches for the new driveshaft
gas mileage goes down the shitter with sotck gears

going to 33's on a very tight budget is risky at best - most times leading to debt-- (unless you dont care about the on-road ability of your rig)
ask McFly about that one...

Click to expand...

why would he need new driveshafts? that problem comes with the lift he already has so im guessing if he doesnt need it now, he wont.. .. he just wants to trim and add bigger tires?

rangerjoe2001 said:

why would he need new driveshafts? that problem comes with the lift he already has so im guessing if he doesnt need it now, he wont.. .. he just wants to trim and add bigger tires?

Click to expand...

welp -
new driveshaft in the front comes from blowing one up from bad pinion angle - as well as once you get the control amrs and move your front axle forward (so it doesnt hit the rear of the wheelwell - you will need a slightly loinger driveshaft

the need for one in the rear comes from the strength and bind issue - while 3" isnt all that bad, the forces of the driveshaft coming up and going down are placed on the end of the output shaft as a sideload on the bearings as well as a "pushing in" load.
The steeper the DS angle - the more the side load -
*to do it properly* i would use a new driveshaft in the rear....


oh yeah - and be prepared to pay 150 an axle for gear instalations - some shops charge in the neighborhood of 250 per axle (on the bench)

ive never had a problem witrh my front ds but maybe thats just me.. im assuming he already has a sye if he has that lift anyways

rangerjoe2001 said:

ive never had a problem witrh my front ds but maybe thats just me.. im assuming he already has a sye if he has that lift anyways

Click to expand...

i have the ax-15 which is shorter from the factory than the aw4 - meaning that rather than the 33" front DS that you have (at midpoint) mine is a 30" DS a difference was made on my rig...

:shrug:

rangerjoe2001 said:

so as you can see its quite expensive

Click to expand...

Yes, I know it will be expensive, but I needed to know EXACTLY how much I would be getting myself into, and if at all possible, eliminate buying things I don't need.

XJ_rangerjoe2001 said:

going to 33's on a very tight budget is risky at best

Click to expand...

I wouldn't be doing this immediately, but it is the direction I would like to take it.

rangerjoe2001 said:

he just wants to trim and add bigger tires?

Click to expand...

That was my original idea, but I just needed to know if it was feasible.

rangerjoe2001 said:

im assuming he already has a sye if he has that lift anyways

Click to expand...

Nope- I have a T-Case drop I haven't installed yet 'cuz I didn't think I'd need it, but according to my step-dad, the kind of not-so-much-grinding-but-close noise coming from under my Jeep is my U-Joints... not good- that's the next thing to be done; T-Case drop on and new U-Joints.

So basically I just wanted to know for future references. I am a weekend wheeler, and it's usually nothing too extreme. It's mostly just mild trails with mudpits and a few steep inversions here and there; nothing too extreme like I said.

I can't decide whether or not to keep this Jeep at this level and after I get far enough along through college, I sell it and get the new body style (which is what I really wanted) with this set-up that was mentioned.

Thanks everyone.