[Advice] Bumpers, winches, lifts & stuff?

[n1v3kt]

So...i may have done myself a disservice. I've got a 14 JKU Rubicon. I recently bought a winch and front bumper. However, when I purchased them I was operating on the assumption that I was going to do my lift+tires next year when I had a bit more budget to work with (want to go to 35's). That said...it occurs to me after having bought my bumper and winch that there's going to be sagging(on top of the slight stock sag) on the front of the vehicle. I've looked leveling kits (teraflex...dont really know any other brands) and the leveling kit is ~400 for parts(spring based, puck is 150...puck vs. spring, who wins?). Seeing that I'm now really boiling my noodle because Teraflex does a 2.5" lift kit for $357 (no aftermarket shocks). SO...what to do? Do i look for some spacers to help out the bumper+winch...or do the lift kit now with the bumper/winch and worry about wheels/tyres next year. Anyway...any advice would be welcome

PS: I'm not very mechanically inclined and do not have a garage/tools on hand to really do any of this myself +it's my daily...i have a buddy who was gonna help me with the bumper/winch cause it is pretty straight forward (apart from the odd sheet metal saw/grind work and vacuum relocation). However, with the lift kits...i really don't trust myself to do that.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Do you get out and wheel much to the point where the winch and bumper would actually be used? If not, I would hold off on installing the bumper until you can afford the lift and tires.

 

[redrussell]

Do you get out and wheel much to the point where the winch and bumper would actually be used? If not, I would hold off on installing the bumper until you can afford the lift and tires.

I agree with Steve, don't spend a few hundred that you aren't even wanting just to have it be a temp fix. I speak from the voice if experience but do right and how you want it the first time. If you aren't going to wheel it or be where you will need the winch or use it, don't waste money getting it on and causing another issue you have to spend money on.

 

[n1v3kt]

At the moment I'm hitting 2-3x a month and doing the likes of AF canyon,5mile and up in the Uintas, but would like to be getting out more regularly fur the sake of my sanity. My main wheeling buddy has a SxS he uses, so the winch was incase I get myself borked or he does. My other friend has a winch on his Defender, but he's maybe a 1x a month guy.

 

[TRD270]

I had a '12 Rubicon and installed the teraflex 2.5 in lift along with a bumper and winch. I ended up having to swap the front coils out to 3in springs to make it level. Also one big thing I would advise, if your going to lift go long arm if you can afford it, at a minimum get adjustable control arms. Even at 2.5in the lift totally screwed up my road manners, I didn't have the funds to upgrade to adjustable arms while I still had it so I just dealt with it.

 

[n1v3kt]

Did you do a spring or puck?

 

[Rock Taco]

sounds like you might have some use for the bumper and winch or at least the possibility of it. Although if it were me I would rather hold out for the long arm kit I know that sometimes you just need to get out. You could do the smaller lift now and and then save for the long arm and sell the short arm kit later to try to recoup some of your cost. Either way contact Mesha on here for killer deals on Teraflex stuff.

 

[TRD270]

Did you do a spring or puck?

Spring front and rear in the end 3in up front 2.5 in the rear to sit level with the teraflex epic bumper and a warn winch with cable

All purchased from Mesha except the winch

 

[Marsh99]

Do you have a 2 door or a 4 door?

 

[nnnnnate]

I have a '13 2 door JK sport since last Thanksgiving and have put nearly 15k miles on it, this is what I did.

I first bought Rubi take off wheels and tires to replace my cute 29" pizza cutters. I did a lot of off roading like that and ended up buying the 2.5" spring lift with shock extensions from TF and installed them myself in February. I got about 3" total lift, a little more lift in front than in the back which seemed to level things out. I'm still with stock bumpers F/R and no winch. I'm not super auto mechanic either but I took my time with the lift and followed the directions and got it done on a Friday evening and most of a Saturday. (You only need basic sockets and wrenches other than a torque wrench.) This is the lift kit I bought (SKU: 1352002) with the shock extensions.[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]

After I installed my lift I continued to use my rubicon take off wheels/tires and I think it still looks great. I am able to do all the wheeling I want with the tires and to me it still looks proportional. My steering seemed a little "flighty" if that makes sense and I bought and installed a TF tracbar a month after the lift which brought back my steering to stock. With a 2.5" lift you can run 35's and 37's. To run 37s you have to get flat fender flares or cut the stock ones down but you can do it.

I don't intend to do super gnarly trails with my JK, I'm more than happy to do Fins and Hells revenge type trails rather than Pritchet Canyon and the like but this is pretty subjective. Only you will know what you are going to know what kind of trails you will want to do now and another few years down the line. With my lift and tires I decided I didn't need to replace my control arms right now, that may change in the future but right now my steering is great and I don't see any geometry issues.

You said you have a JKUR, my coworker put a 3" Rancho lift on his '13 JKU and got like 4.5" lift out of it. His 32s looked ridiculous and he had a lot of steering issues. He bought a steering stabilizer (which from what I read only masks the issue) and is content with the steering but has also since upgraded to 35s. I think if you went with a TF 2.5" lift you would be good running your rubi tires. If you are concerned about not having shocks get the extensions (or come to my house and I'll give you mine) and get new shocks down the line.

My biggest thing is that I don't want to constantly keep doing the same mod over and over. I'll spend a bit more time figuring out exactly what I want before dropping the money on it. My build is going slow but I'm happy with where I'm at and have been able to see and do everything I've wanted to with my rig. You just have to have realistic expectations and know what your rig can handle.

 

[nnnnnate]

Here is an okay before/after lift comparison of my rig.

 

[nnnnnate]

Also, you don't need a winch to self recover when you get yourself in a pickle. If you are worried about extra sag before you get a lift throw in a few tow straps, d-ring shackles, and a hi-lift. I was alone both times, I was an idiot in the first pic and in the second pic the shoulder was soft, I really couldn't have done anything different to not have put myself in that situation.

 

[n1v3kt]

First off: Thanks for all the help guys. So, I think what I'm gonna do is a level for now (~$70 after discount), then next spring I'm going to do an all out 3" with long arms and steering stabilizers. I think I'll avoid the spacer lift cause I've been seeing a lot of reports on death wobble with the spacer 2.5+35in tires. Everything seems to point to a long arm+shocks&stabilizer for real wheeling. Whatcha think?

 

[BCGPER]

Sorry, I'm late to the show. Level it, you'll reuse that later. If you decide to go bigger, things get pricey. The lift will cost, plus tires and wheels. Plan on a tuner no matter how much lift.

I'm at 3.5" on short arms, all Tera adjustables. Drives nice, but I'd avoid Tera's shocks. Go with Bilstien 5100's.

I'm on 37's so gearing had to be added, depends on how far you plan on going. Baby steps, till you get her where you want.

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[nnnnnate]

Plan on a tuner no matter how much lift.

You think a tuner is needed with a '14? Are you saying something to recal tire and gear sizes or a tuner to get more out of the motor?

 

[Kevin B.]

That looks really familiar. Were you above Bountiful south of Ward Canyon?

 

[nnnnnate]

I was headed east from the area you describe on the backside of the mountain. A few hundred yards past this pic were signs of for Hardscrabble CWMU. Real tight right turn with the hill be covered in brush, I tried to hug it best I could but still was too close to the shoulder. Pretty sure this is a SxS track and not a Jeep track. Regardless of whether I went forward or reverse my tail end was sliding down the embankment. I had a tree stump in the middle of my driver door that I was worried about but ended up using it as a pivot. Thank goodness for my sliders that come out from the side of my rockers.

 

[Kevin B.]

Gravy and I were up there last summer to help a kid who went down that and couldn't get back up. Got him out without straps, but that's a pretty sketchy spot.

Sorry, hijack over, except I guess to prove the point that you can get out of a lot of tight spots without a winch.

 

[BCGPER]

You think a tuner is needed with a '14? Are you saying something to recal tire and gear sizes or a tuner to get more out of the motor?

You'll need a tuner to calibrate tire size and lower the TPS settings. Your Speedo looks at wheel speed, so gear ratio is not a factor.


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[nnnnnate]

You'll need a tuner to calibrate tire size and lower the TPS settings. Your Speedo looks at wheel speed, so gear ratio is not a factor.

Thanks for clarification. I have the superchips flashcal which I have made those changes with. I guess the gear ratio would have to do with automatic tranny shift points right? I've got a manual but I changed them anyway.

Kevin:
Someone was kind enough to leave a hefty piece of rebar in the ground that I was able to hi-lift off of, it shifted around a bit but stayed in the ground. Was that you guys? I was up there two weekends ago.