Welcome to the world of offroad Jeeps! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> Yes, indeed! It is an expensive sport. You're definitely on a good course, and, the TeraFlex suspension is a good system. One way to reduce costs is to do some of the modifications on your own and/or with the help of your Jeep buddies. If you're going to be a BigDog, you've got to plan on installing front and rear lockers. This is one area where it's best to have a professional perform the work. Economically, plan to upgrade the ring and pinion gears when the lockers are installed. I suggest considering a Detroit full locker in the rear and an ARB selectable full locker in the front differential.
The BFG KO tires are a compromise between a highway tire and an offroad tire; I get about 60,000 miles with these tires (I run these tires on my 98 TJ and 05 LJ which rarely see even a moderately difficult trail). The KO series is for the occasional offroad excursions, not for serious traction on rocks, or, sand and mud.
The bumper with large tire mount you discussed is a good way to go; it's a convenient method of carrying the spare and usually has a mount for gas/water cans, hi-lift jack, and CB/radio antenna. The receiver in the bumper is useful for a portable winch or a hefty D-ring shackle mount, or trailer hitch. I tow an small offroad trailer behind the 94 YJ for my camping gear. Howver, you have to beware that some bumpers are not rated for a trailer hitch.
Yeah, were talking about developing a plan and considering ideas of various modifications. IMHO you're doing well. Take your time and enjoy what you now have. I suspect what you'll find is that a rockcrawler is multifunctional; it'll traverse the rocky trails in CA as well as the slippery trails in the Maine Woods. Jeeps IMHO are not the best rig for deep mud holes or deep water crossings, nor getting seriously airborne on sand dunes; not that they can't or are not modified for those offroad venues.

Take A Look At What Is Being Discussed Seriously. If you look at the bottom of this post you will see what I have done to my TJ. Just about everything you have thought about, I'm riding with. My R/P is stock I believe 3.73, I am not happy with it. The deli ma here is with the 35" tires. I need to get the R/P changed to about or at least 4.56. But with the new gears I will need to upgrade to larger axles to handle stress. At that point I can go with a sort of locker.
Moral of my story plan for a long time and think about finances, before you get stuck in a hole with a long time to wait to get out.
Your in a good place to learn what to do.
GOOD LUCK! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Get the 4" suspension lift and the 1" body lift. The body lift will be needed if you do a TT (tummy tuck).



Good all around tire. They just donÆt work well in mud.



Its normally used for a portable winch, but I requested it to support the front end of my kayak. Something like this, except with only two supports, one from the front bumper and one in the rear bumper:




You really donÆt need one in the back just install the bracket that comes with the kit.

On the front, itÆs another story. I would recommend purchasing an adjustable track bar for the front and doing away with the bracket.

reepersteve - What does your TJ have for axles? The TJ Unl. has rear Dana 44 and front Dana 30, which I've read is more than adequite for most offroad driving with 35's.

Thanks guys for the input on the tires - that was a huge concern for me. Your responses are consistent with everyone else I've talked to. I'm not planning on mudding so that shouldn't be a problem. The tread patterns on most mud terrain tires looks so much more functional for off roading and bada$$, but I will be doing a lot of street and highway driving with this, so unfortunately functionality won and I went with all terrains. I think the tread pattern on the BFG's is still kinda gnarly and the small side biters look like they will grab when needed but won't be too loud on the highway.

OK so I got pricing on the lift, bumpers, rockers, tire rack, winch, wheel spacers, etc. Also pricing for slip yolk eliminator and drive shaft if vibration occurs. Bottom line is I now can't afford to do everything I want to, or at least not how I want to.

My cousin is a mechanic apprentice and I am confident that we can do the body modifications ourselves - winch, bumpers, tire rack, rockers. I don't want to touch the suspension, and the garage I want to use for labor has lifted a TJ Unl. before so I definitely plan on having them do that.

So my gameplan I guess is going to be the same as my previous post. Can I run without regearing for a while or will that be bad for the Jeep? I WILL get it done guys, but that's one significantly expensive item (also I will get lockers at same time) that I feel could possibly wait. I WILL get it done though when I can afford it, unless you guys all tell me that I absolutely have to do it now (see how much respect I have for this forum!).

reepersteve - your running 3.73 (assumed) with 6" susp. lift and 35's - what type of terrain are you riding? Where have you seen a significant disadvantage?

Guys, I'm not going to be at Moab any time soon - I'm going to be off roading, but not crazy week long expeditions or EXTREME terrain until I get confident and really know my post-op Jeep. Could the Jeep handle the type riding I will be doing? I know I'm being an a$$ on this one asking the same question over and over after getting good answers from you guys, but that's the only logical aspect of the Jeep construction that I can see to put on hold and still be able to take the Jeep off road on tough terrain. I mean it's gonna be like $2500-$3500 for r/p & lockers... after $5000+ for lift and tires... $1000 for winch...

Or I could go with a standard suspension lift and not the long arm, but I don't want to give up the long arm...

Thanks again all.

I'm running two sets of tires for the same reason, the MT are just too loud for daily drivers. For the street, I'm running Nitto Terra Grapplers. It runs great on the road and the voids in the tire will probably clean better than the KO's.





Sure you can. But like others have said you will notice it. I had 4.10 gears when I jumped to 33" and it ran fine on the highway except when I got into the hill country. Lots of shifting into 4th just to keep my speed. Since then I have moved to 4.88 and now I need a bigger tire to bring my RPM down while on the highway.

TYT have you given any thought to STOPPING those big tires.. That is another area of concern when installing large circumference tires..
Most here would advise leaving the rig alone until you have found just how many obsticles you come upon that you cannot get over.. AS built that Jeep is 2ed only to a rubi in ability.. Just drive it a while and see what it might be lacking and then make up your mind as to what you really need. Forget the beauty contest! Just make modifications that are NEEDED to your rig.
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Something else I forgot to add. If and when you change to a bigger tire, your speedometer and odometer will be off.

I used a TruSpeed Speedometer Recalibrator.



It corrected my speedo when I went from 31" to 33". If I decide to go up to 35" tires I can adjust again to correct the speedometer without extra expense.

Jim, I've already come across terrain that I can't cross without risking or knowingly incurring serious damage. I'm not getting all the work done tomorrow - I'm gonna ride it more and learn my Jeep better, but I feel like I can't take it a lot of places now that I want to, and I've been learning my Jeep since I got it. I've had to leave my Jeep on the trail and hop in another Jeep in order to keep going down the trail - it sucks. I'm still getting great input from everyone here, but I'm getting close to knowing exactly what I want and feel confident enough in my handling abilities to know that as long as I take it easy and learn slowly that I will be alright.

Please let me know what is cosmetic on my list - if I can avoid buying ANYTHING that's what I want to do!!! Ohhh, if you're saying that b/c of my signature - it's kind of a joke mocking myself vs. all of your souped up Jeeps, but it is a true statement. My Jeep is my daily driver and I might as well keep it clean as much as possible, that is until it's time to get it dirty (soon hopefully!).

Thanks

This has been said a lot already and I would think since you are asking the questions you would be aware of it, but gear ratio is important in multiple aspects. The 2 main things I think about when sizing tires to an existing engine, trans, and gear ratio, are what will my crawl ratio be, and what will my final drive RMP be at around town and highway speeds. I have not lifted my 99 XJ yet, and with the stock gears (3.07Æs), and trans (AX15), I am not sure I want to. I can speak from experience on my Æ79 F-150 though. I had driven it for a few years with 33Æs and when it came time to replace tires, I sat down with a MS Excel file, and had Speed vs RPM laid out for each gear of the transmission, and high and low range of the Transfer Case for both 33Æs and 35Æs. My Ford has stock 3.50 gears, and it does great on the highway (~70 MPH, ~2700 RPM) with 35Æs, it was like getting an overdrive, but I only have a 4 speed (NP435) in the truck. I did loose a little around town though, and I have to shift more frequently between 3rd and 4th in the 25 -30 MPH range. First gear I never used anyway around town, which I believe is around 6:1, so its intended to be a granny gear rather than a true first gear. I didnÆt feel like I lost anything on the trails either, I just use low range most all the time when wheeling, rather than using 4 high. All that being said a Ford 400 which has been mildly built (Cam, .040 over pistons, Eldelbrock performer intake, and Holley 600 Double pumper) is going to put out more HP and Torque than a Jeep 4.0 and is going to be able to ôabsorbö slightly oversized tires easier, so performance losses will be less noticeable. If I had my Ford to build ideally and not worry about money, I would go with 3.73 gears, and add in a ôdoublerö type transfer case, that would allow me to get back closer to stock gear ratio, and give me overdrive and give me an additional underdrive, but then I donÆt know if that actually exists for my application.

There is a lot to be said for gear ratio. One of the guys we used to go wheeling with back in college, had a early 80Æs solid axle Toyota, just running the 22RE, but he had very low gears, and a doubler case, and was running 35ö SSRÆs. I canÆt remember the actual crawl ratio, but it was way up there, and his rig would run through almost anything even with that little 4 cyl, putting out a whopping ~120HP. He almost never had to worry about stalling the engine either because of the crawl ratio he had, he would just idle through things.

If you want I can send you the Excel file I used, you will just have to plug in your gear ratios for your trans, tx case, axles, and tires size. It will at least give you a mathematical reference for what RPMÆs you will be turning at various vehicle speeds. Granted there will be additional losses involved in turning the larger tires, but it will be close.

The other thing I will mention too, you did say something along the lines of you were hitting trails you could not pass with your rig, and other guys you were going with could pass. There is a lot to be said for picking the right line to get through an obstacle, you can get most any rig stuck if you do not pick the right line no mater how itÆs built. Just because there is a giant mud hole there doesnÆt mean you have to go through it. Part of going wheeling is being smart, and knowing the limits of your rig. Now I am not saying donÆt modify or lift your rig, I am just saying take your time and think about your line. The only time I have ever had to park my truck and hop in with someone else was when I broke a transmission shift fork. And I have seen areas I knew I could not get through, if I just drove through the area, but when I picked my line carefully I was able to keep it so I did not bury myself in a mud hole, or drive around the mud hole. I have high centered axles, I have gotten stuck and had to dig out, but ultimately, eventually I would always find a way around and onto the next obstacle.


Sean

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> "Part of going wheeling is being smart ... " -BigBird <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />