2.5" lift kit advice

JKJonny

New Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2020
Messages
9
Location
New Jersey
Ive been reading and watching youtube from other JK owners. im not sure if i need to replace my shocks/springs when im lifting my JKU. I plan to do some mudding and some low level trails in my off time. I recently had my oil changed and the mechanic showed me remnants of fluid coming out of my stock shocks. is that normal? otherwise id just get extenders for the shocks. My goal is to get 35" tires with 18" wheels or can i get away with 20" wheels?
 
If there is fluid coming from the shocks they need replaced. If your lifting the JKU you'll need new coil springs that are made for the lift that you need and then new shocks that are made for the lifted coils that you get.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JKJonny
If there is fluid coming from the shocks they need replaced. If your lifting the JKU you'll need new coil springs that are made for the lift that you need and then new shocks that are made for the lifted coils that you get.

thanks for the advice. I saw your post from the new member page. I'll get a pic up once ASAP lol
 
Ive been reading and watching youtube from other JK owners. im not sure if i need to replace my shocks/springs when im lifting my JKU. I plan to do some mudding and some low level trails in my off time. I recently had my oil changed and the mechanic showed me remnants of fluid coming out of my stock shocks. is that normal? otherwise id just get extenders for the shocks. My goal is to get 35" tires with 18" wheels or can i get away with 20" wheels?

You could technically do a spacer lift which would keep your stock springs and add spacers, but you'd still need to add longer shocks, there's no way around that. Still, if you're going through that effort, replacing the springs with longer springs will be the preferable way to lift it to 2.5", whether you're planning on doing on-road, off-road, or both.

Fluid shouldn't be coming out of your shocks, no. That means they are probably slowly leaking.

With 35s you need 4" of lift or more, not 2". 2" of lift is simply not enough for 35s. You'll lose up-travel, which will make your ride quality worse both on-road, and especially off-road.

You can run 20" wheels and a 35" tire with a 4" lift. However, a 20" wheel is going to be a bad idea if you plan on doing any real off-roading. You'll want more sidewall on your tire if you're actually going to off-road it, and a 20" is going to be closer to rubber band tires (think Pimp My Ride).
 
point taken. I dont plan on hitting aggressive trails. I just want to do some muddin work permitting. So im not too concerned about up travel. I thought i could get away with doing a 2.5" lift with 35s. I really dont want to have make the other necessary adjustments that go along with a 4"lift.

which brings me to my next question is which kits should i be looking into since theres a ton out there?
 
Ive been reading and watching youtube from other JK owners. im not sure if i need to replace my shocks/springs when im lifting my JKU. I plan to do some mudding and some low level trails in my off time. I recently had my oil changed and the mechanic showed me remnants of fluid coming out of my stock shocks. is that normal? otherwise id just get extenders for the shocks. My goal is to get 35" tires with 18" wheels or can i get away with 20" wheels?
I did a 3.5” Rough Country lift with shocks and a Rough Country steering stabilizer all for $1,000 and that was professionally installed. I have 20”x10” wheels and 35” tires. It rides phenomenal, no steering issues and looks great.
CE05C3F5-B9DD-40EF-A6E5-B2BE5B9EC9D1.jpeg
5FC797A4-98DE-4BB0-BA62-E1AF35FDA5C6.jpeg
45F771C8-4734-4071-B4E1-4956AAE3B343.jpeg
95C6BA31-E101-4581-A5FF-E417FDC74DC8.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Firekat82
point taken. I dont plan on hitting aggressive trails. I just want to do some muddin work permitting. So im not too concerned about up travel. I thought i could get away with doing a 2.5" lift with 35s. I really dont want to have make the other necessary adjustments that go along with a 4"lift.

which brings me to my next question is which kits should i be looking into since theres a ton out there?
I had a 2” lift before and it didn’t look good with 35” tires. I suggest Rough Country 3.25” or 3.5” with shocks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JKJonny
Just bought my 2012 JKU Sport. I want to put 33" tires on 17" rims. what is a good lift kit suggestion? I plan on some light trails and probably sand dunes. How high should i go to make sure I have good clearance? 2.5"? 3"?
 
Just bought my 2012 JKU Sport. I want to put 33" tires on 17" rims. what is a good lift kit suggestion? I plan on some light trails and probably sand dunes. How high should i go to make sure I have good clearance? 2.5"? 3"?
With 33” tires you shouldn’t have any problems if you do 2” or more. I did 35” tires and a Rough Country 3.5” lift with zero issues. A lot of the “experts” on here will say don’t use Rough Country but I haven’t had any issues with their products and they are very economical.