My unmodified '04 Rubicon has 245 75/16 tires which I believe are 30.5"x 9.6". My question is, if I wanted to move up to 33" tires, what would I need to do? Doesn't one inch of lift give you 2 inches af available diameter?

I anticipate I will need to raise it, but do I raise the body or the suspension or both? How will raising it effect the driving characteristics? Since this Jeep is my Daily Driver, I don't want to do to much to it that will have adverse effects on the road.

Also, how does moving to a larger diameter affect the speedometer readings? Are there speedo-healers out there to compensate for this?

Alright you are correct on the stock tire size. Now for the lift aspect I would recomend suspension lift over the body.

The Rubicon comes from the factory with a built in 2" lift as compared to the other models. You should be able to get away with a 2" lift. To be sure look at at least 3" kits. You also need to look at aftermarket rims as well you need more backspacing on the rim then what is on the stock ones or use wheel spacers with the stock rims.

As for the body lift yes it would work but that is a hack lift. Yes it is cheaper but if you ever want to play off road you wont benefit from the tires or suspension travel.

Moving on to the tires your spedo will be off by approx 5 miles at highway speeds. Nothing noticeable around town.

I'm not sure I agree with all that. I've stepped up to 285s and they'd rub something awful if I'd tried 2" of lift. I'm not even sure that the Rubicons come with 2" of lift. Maybe 1", maybe just the tires make it sit higher. Regardless, I'm running a 4" Currie kit and it certainly won't allow 35" tires.

The problem is that when you try to turn, you start running into problems with the fenders. Worse, if you hit a bump or try to crawl over one, you'll end up jamming a tire into the fender well.

If you plan on using your stock 16" rims, you've got a very limited selection of tires.

Worse than all that, gearing is great for offroad, but as you go up in tire size the 6cyl engine runs out of power range fast. It just won't go when you want it to. Thats also accompanied by terrible fuel economy.

How would I know all this? I've got two of them, a 2003 and a 2006.

The Rubicon is a pretty capable stock 4wd. Unless you have specific off roading conditions to address, you may be better off keeping stock size tires, replacing the old ones as needed.

ok sounds like a PITA for now. I think I'll stick with just installing the sway bar disconnects and seeing where I can go.

It's not like I am planning on Moab or the Rubicon Trail this year or anything...

Short answer is you need 4" lift for 33" tires.

12.5" wide mud tires on stock rims will need 1" wheel spacers ($100 a pair) to not rub control arms.

15" aluminum wheels with proper backspacing and tires will likely be cheaper then 16" tires and the spacers.

If you're just looking for a bit more lift, and you want to maintain or even improve your current ride, then check out the OME lifts. These are springs and shocks that work much better then stock ones do, I've never heard anybody complain about them. They do give about 2" of lift give or take, but that's not the main purpose. That'll give you a bit more clearance underneath and a bit mor flex in case you do get offroad, but not harm your street ride.

This isn't an absolute, it's just one route for you to think about and ask us some questions.

ok so let me get this right, I have a Rubicon which has a factory 2" lift on it over other Wrangler models.

Does this mean I need to look for 4" lift kits to give me the extra 2 inches? What i am asking is, do I need to subtract the factory lift from my final desired height?

Also, how would this effect it as a daily driver?

Sorry for the confusion, just trying to muddle it all out.

The Rubi does not have a 2" lift over Wranglers, that is false, BS, wrong, not true, erroneous, mistaken and web wheeling BS. If you put the two springs side by side, it'd be pretty hard to tell the difference. the only time I've seen a difference was when installing Rubi springs on a friends '97 TJ with worn out everything. He got between 1/2" and 3/4", and a slightly stiffer ride.

The Rubi DOES have slightly stiffer springs for the heavier weight, and larger tires which overall make it a bit taller.

You need a 4" lift for 33's. No subtraction or other math required. The quality of the lift will affect how it rides, but in pretty much all cases ride quality will suffer. The differences are how much and will driveability, safety, and control suffer? For those of us who going offroad is really important, we accept the loss of ride quality for the improvement in offroad ability.

Based on your desire to not lose ride quality and to only do minimal offroading, that's why I suggested the Old Man Emu lift with your stock tires or similar. Go out and play some and decide later if you're ready to dump the thousands of $$ into a quality 4" lift and 33's. A properly built TJ that can run 33's is a pretty expensive deal.

Not any 4" lift will work, you will need a lift that offers both upper adjustable and lower replacement arms, has shocks matched to the springs, has adjustable front and rear track bars, and you'll need a new driveshaft in order to avoid using a transfer case drop. (Spending tons of $$ to lift, then dropping part of the Jeep in the process of the lift seems counter-intuitive.)

One very popular and well regarded lift for Rubi's is the Rubicon Express 4.5" Superflex lift with 3.5" springs. This is a 4" lift, RE just under rates springs in case a really heavy Jeep is lifted. (3.5" is 4" and the 4.5" springs are about 6".) This covers pretty much everything except the rear adj track bar. This lift is advertised at about $1500, rear track bar not included is another $160 or so. Driveshaft is about $400. Tires are about $1000. OME long travel shocks designed specifically for this lift to get a decent ride run about $75 each.

Now, after spending all that money on the lift, tires, shocks, and stuff you still have relatively weak steering components, the cure for those ranges from about $400 for the Currie setup to about $600 for Off Road Only setup. don't forget the $200 for wheel spacers if you run the stock Moab wheels.

Oh, after spending all this money, there's no guarantee that you will have a nice riding Jeep, or even acceptable, as each Jeep is different and sometimes the ride is still crappy even with quality components.

Oh, now that you have the 33" tires, you are putting more stress on components like ball joints, wheel hubs, steering ends, so your maintenance bills will increase also. Hopefully you have a money tree or are good with a wrench!

Lets say you do a few trails, really enjoy it, and start heading up more difficult stuff. You will soon start having trouble with your front axle shafts because the factory skimped on the heat treating and the ears "waller" out and spit the u-joint caps out. Quality replacement chromalloy shafts with lifetime warranties will run you about $800 or so front and rear.

Now if you got a spare $5000, you have a fair chance of having a decent Jeep, but it won't ride anything like stock. Or, for around $600 or so you get the OME lift with known good ride characteristics and no probs with install. If you decide later to go the expensive 33" tire route, you can sell your used OME lift for about half what you paid for it.

Whew...I'm tired now Hope this helps, holler if any more questions.

Oh, and I've learned these lessons the hard and expensive way...

I'll learn form you then. I want to get a winch and bumpers first anyway.

I have my sway bar disconnects on order, so I guess I can wait on the rest.

I have to take exception to the 4" lift requirement (see my sig). I do just fine with my 33's, my OME, my 1" BL, wheel spacers, and two washers under my steering stops.

I must agree with the Squid. I have an '03 Rubicon, and after trial and error and many hours of work and frustration, I went with the 4.5 RE SF lift, 15" wheels with 3 1/2" back spacing, 33"X12.5X15 tires, Chromoly axles and so on. My experience was that if I disconneced the swaybar and really flexed it to the max, which you will do, I got into the fenders with any less lift. Good write-up Squid.

You can cure the fender problem by adjusting your bump stops.

Seriously, I know this is a rock crawler forum, but unless you do extreme rock crawling, the extreme mods are not necessary for tires in the 30-33" range.

Jeff,

What it boils down to is how much you are willing to compromise. Yes, bumpstops can be increased to make up for a lack of suspension flex, limiting articulation and ultimately stability in some situations. If the axle can't droop to put a tire on the ground when weight shifts as you traverse an obstacle, then the whole vehicle must move. Spring spacers can be used instead of lift springs, and the ride quality will suffer without any real increase in flex, just an axle slightly farther from the frame. Washers under the steering stops equates to loss of turn radius...usually not a prob on the street, but a real concern on tight trails. I realize style of wheeling and type of trails do make a huge difference in build requirements also...I imagine in FL there's a lot of mud and soft stuff, but the nearest rocks are in north GA? Here in Memphis it's similar, that's why our club goes out to Hot Springs and Superlift ORV Park so much. I wish I could get away with about $1000 invested and have my Jeep tackle the trails I like, but it'd be more like driving a powered hammer then a vehicle as it tried to hammer the rocks flat!

REC,

Thanks!

We seem to agree more than disagree. I have a cumulative 1/8" of an inch on the steering stops, still lets me run on, and turn on, horse trails. The bump stops have been adjusted by 1" down, that doesn't impact how far down the tire can go, just how far up. Spring spacer - I agree, I got rid of mine a long time ago, my current OME is a dream. Again, though, I don't run rocks, as you point out, my nearest rocks are an 18 hour drive away in N. Ga. I run sand, some muck, and a lot of wood trails.

Squid, that is the best advice I've read on any Jeep board in a LONG time.

Nicely done.

I agree with Squid. I currently run 2" spacers. And the ride is stiff, Forget about going offroad, even with the front sway bar connected the tires get into the fender wells, granted I have after market wheels with 3-1/2 BS, and a 12.50 wide tire. Metric tires are narrower.