New JKU owner I desperately need new shocks, have been toying with putting a leveling kit on as well to accommodate my bigger tires, I don't want to go the full lift kit route. The mechanic I had spoken with said that the Teraflex 1.5 leveling kit with front swaybar links will not work with the stock wheels. I just wanted to confirm that is true. If it is true whats another option that will help me achieve getting me more space for the tires. Thank you in advance
Leveling kit with stock tires
- Thread starter smokeyma48
- Start date
Welcome to the forum! According to Teraflex you can only go up to a 33". Anything bigger you will need 4.75" backspacing. You could run 1.5" wheel spacers. Many on here will steer you clear of wheel spacers. I ran spacers on my WJ for about 10 years. I have spacers on my JKU for 4 years now. Wheeled both at AOAA and Rausch Creek. I don't rock crawl though. You could also look into high fenders for clearance.
To your point - it seems as though plenty of people run 285/70R17 on OEM wheels without spacers. Bumping up to a 315 (12.5") width necessitates either a spacer or different wheel, regardless of diameter. In other words, you can probably get away with a larger pizza cutter on the OEM wheels.
I'm still running 255/75 on OEM Rubicon springs and a 1" spacer in front. it seems like I would have plenty of room for a 285/70, although I'll probably go to a 34" or 35" tire and a lift - just don't want to buy tires twice! I'm not doing anything that's really pushing the travel though.
Of course we don't know the OP's application but I'll assume it's not extreme rock crawling.
FYI - My theory on spacers after using on other high performance vehicles is:
1) Don't cheap out
2) Check them on a routine basis along with lug torques
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I just re-read this. Do you already have larger tires than stock? If so, what size?
I have a 2917 JKU and just installed the Teraflex Leveling kit that replaces coils and front sway bar links. I also replaced the shocks with Bilstein 5100 shocks . Tires at that time where stock rims with KO2 265/70R17. They worked well with the leveling kit. I have replaced tires and rims with Fuel rims and KO2 33/12.5R/17 had the alignment and all works great. Enjoy!
