2010 JK Sport- Question/Opinions needed about Lift

That shop is bending you over and asking you to provide your own lube.

There are about a hundred and forty seventeen different 2.5" lifts, and 8K for any of them, including wheels and tires, seems... excessive.

I'm looking at an invoice from 4WD. A Rough Country 3.25" lift with shocks was $490. Installation was $860. A set of five 18x9" Rockstar II wheels was $1500. Five 35x12.5 Toyo Open Country M/T tires were $2400. Balanced and mounted. So $1350 for the lift and $3900 for wheels & tires. $5250 for the whole mess. What's the extra near-$3000 for?

With 2.5" on a Sport, I think I'd stop at 33" tires, especially if you don't want to regear (which tends to be pricey). You can probably run 35's if you have no plans to take it off roading, but it will almost certainly rub if you flex it.

Your Sport should have either 3.21 or 3.73 gears from the factory. If you have the 3.21 gears and go to 33" tires, you will notice that it feels like you have lost a fair bit of your (already meager) 200HP. If you go to 35's, you will likely be pretty unhappy with the lack of acceleration. With 35" tires, it's likely that you will be happier if you swap in a set of 4.10 gears, but some people have been satisfied with 3.73 gears. I suspect that's mostly people who don't drive over mountains often.

You can run your VIN through various decoders and that should tell you what gears were originally installed. Or you can jack up both rear tires. Mark the tire and drive shaft with chalk (or whatever) and start spinning the tire by hand. Count how many times your driveshaft turns during one full rotation of the tire. That's your gear ratio.

You need new wheels to reduce the backspacing. The OEM wheels have 6" of backspacing, and you need to drop that down to about 4.5" for proper fitment. Many people do this with spacers, although I personally am not a fan. There are good arguments on both sides of the spacer debate.

Since you have new-ish tires on it now, my suggestion would be to postpone the lift until you wear them out. Then do the lift, wheels and tires all at the same time. Doing the lift without changing tire size is likely to look a little derpy. And changing to larger tires on the OEM wheels will require spacers.

[Edit]
If you're planning this for off-roading, I'd plan on swapping out the fender fares (or cutting them) for additional clearance to run 35's. I'd also plan on 4.10 gears and, since you've got the differentials apart anyway, a pair of lockers. You can go high dollar with Detroits or ARB's, but you can also get really good results with one of the various lunchbox lockers, especially in a rig that isn't exactly over-powered.

The guy is pulling your leg. The 2.5” teraflex from what I understand is a good lift. We went the AEV 2.5” lift, everyone “required” is included. If you do a search you’ll see my detailed write up on the system. The cost was $1,100 plus tax and shipping. Installed it myself. I am driving around on 32” tires on a 17” rims. Yes the tires look a little small but they work just fine.

Just last week bought the BFG KM3, 33” and new 17” wheels for my wife’s JK for around $3,300 for a set of five. As @Dirty Dog said with larger tires most likely you’ll need to change the backspacing with spacers or new wheels. I am not a fan of spacers, recently went out wheeling with some friends, got on the freeway and wham, a guy lost his tire and spacer. He was lucky no one got hurt or damage to his jeep.

Just plan it out and take pieces at a time. I’ve got a 6SP manual 4:10 and would love to put 35” on, but need to wait. The tires may look a little small, but I’ve got the big picture in mind. No way can I afford it all at once. I’ll try and take picture of mine tomorrow and post if so you can see what it looks like.

If you are mechanically inclined and have tools, a lot of this you can do yourself. Just be patient, see if a friend and help and go for it.

Here is a picture of my jeep with a 2.5” lift, which netted just over 3”. Tires are LT255/75 R17

Danarch said:

Here is a picture of my jeep with a 2.5” lift, which netted just over 3”. Tires are LT255/75 R17

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Bear in mind that your Rubicon started about 2" higher than their Sport, and that it has higher clearance fenders.

Interesting, I was under the impression that the Rubicon’s were basically the same height. I know a different coil and shock, but thought only the Recon sat about 1” higher.

Danarch said:

Interesting, I was under the impression that the Rubicon’s were basically the same height. I know a different coil and shock, but thought only the Recon sat about 1” higher.

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I could be wrong, but my understanding is that the Rubicon has different shocks/springs that cause it to sit 1-2" higher, and that the fenders were tweaked tom provide a bit more clearance.

Dirty Dog said:

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that the Rubicon has different shocks/springs that cause it to sit 1-2" higher, and that the fenders were tweaked tom provide a bit more clearance.

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I'm pretty sure this depends on the year. I don't think there was much difference in the JKs, though I can't speak to the Recon package. In the JL the Rubicon front "fenders" are higher.

JK Rubicon packages were more about the lockers, sway bar disconnect, gear ratio, and front end dana 44. I don't remember there being anything different in the shocks.