HELP!!

I have a bone stock 03 Rubicon, 5 speed manual
I want to build it up, but still have it drive okay around town and occasional highway.

I have 2 different opinions from 2 shops:
3” BDS Lift + 33s
"higher lift requires regearing... a lot of labor and cost"

6” lift + 33s
"anything lower will rub when you turn,
especially on the trail... also you will
have an option to switch to 35s later"

Who is right?
What size lift/tires are appropriate?
Is regearing needed???!!!

I have an '03 Rubi I bought new. I've done a 4 1/2" Rubicon short arm Lift with 33x12.5 MTR's and Tom Woods drive shafts. I did the Rubicon Trail in'04 with the original 4:11's and had no problems in keeping up with the 6" lifts and 35's. In some cases a few of them had trouble keeping up with me. I since have gone to 4:88's. I did it not because of off road use, but street and highway use was sluggish. The 4:88's brought the street performance back to original or better. My Rubi will do a comfortable 70 mph all day long. Remember, the higher you go, you take the center of gravity with you. When you change tire size and gears you'll need to go to Dakota Digital to correct your speedo. Hope this helps in getting you started.

yeah, I'd hafta disagree with both shops on this one...but I'd do the 3" before the 6" for a daily driver. I also have the RE 4.5 Superflex lift, I'm running 4.88 gears also, and I have been running 33's also. Ran like this for over 2 years, just put 1.25" BL, 1" MML, and 35's on. Daily driver with over 50 miles a day, no probs.

3" lift may not clear the tires at full flex, tearing up the fenders. 6" is to tall for daily driver or stock wheelbase rig on the trail...IMHO of course! Regearing is a personnal preference, but it's not required with 4.11 gears and 33's, and the 4:1 tcase will be OK offroad with that also. If $$ is an issue, you can hold off, many run 33's without ever regearing.

Good luck,
Mark

Something left out so far is the terrain the daily driver will be traveling. 4" lift an P285s work just fine. If the shop is competent and installs correctly adjusted bump stops (and tends to the steering stops), most drivers won't have a problem.

Its easier with stick shift. You just select a gear your jeep will run comfortably at and go for it.

From the guy above that says his TJ will run at 70 all day long, I wonder how much of his day will be spent in filling stations. At that speed they get such lousy gas mileage you'll probably spend as much time cruising as you do refilling. I mention that because the gearing you seek should be adjusted to reflect the speeds you travel.

if you'd want to keep it lower cost, you could do a 2" budget boost and 1" bodylift + 1" motormount lift to run 33s
And for 33s with a stick shift the 4.10 gears should be just fine

Hey Dick, I mentioned the 70 mph all day long just to let him know the gearing and a 4.5 RE lift was not a problem for comfortable street use. At 70 MPH with 4:88’s and 33’s you'll tach about 2800. I normally drive the hwy at 55-60. If he’s going to go to 33’s he needs to go to 4:56’s to maintain stock performance. On another note, one day in the high desert I was following an '05 Rubi with a 3" lift that picked up a good size rock with his right rear tire and wedge it between the tire and his quarter panel. It took several of us and a good high jack to free the rock which had created major damage to the quarter panel. Just some food for thought.

I also have an '03 Rubicon w/5speed and the 4.5 Rubicon Express SF lift. I'm running 33x12.5 on 15" wheels with 3.75" backspacing. I just got back from Colorado where I put it to the test with great results and no rubbing. The 4.10 factory gearing and 4:1 transfer case let me crawl over bolder fields at a snail's pace at an idle without riding the clutch and when it came to hitting the hwy. back to camp, the 5 speed worked fine in 4th when climbing hills. Bottom line is: you can do fine without regearing with the setup you have. Also, since you have an'03, your speedometer will be right on with 33s.

We recently did an '03 Rubi 5 speed for a customer. We went with the RK 5.5" longarm, 1" bodylift, 4.56 gears and 35x13.50x16 Nitto Mud Grapplers. He drives his Rubi daily and loves it.

Here's a pic to give you an idea.