4.5" Lift with 33's?

[Connect]

I've been out of town working so I just haven't had any time to even think let alone do anything to my jeep lately. So I've got the money for rims and tires (again *knocks on wood*)

I've been looking at alot of pictures of lifted jeeps and the 4.5" lift or bigger just looks worthless with 31x10.5's on them, And 32's are just rare and more expensive, I'd really like to set it on 33'x12.5's which I know will rub unless I trimmed the front fenders, but I was wondering how much trimming it would probably need, now I flex about as much as a lazy guy who sits on a couch all day drinking beer so I don't really want to go crazy. Truth be told I juist want to put some meat on the tires to hopefully weigh the axles down and give it a softer ride cause It's scary as hell on the highway.

 

[Scrub]

just do it and only trim what you need to after you get the tires on........

 

[EricsXJ]

33's on 4.5" lift needs an aggressive trim job if you want to do it right, and that includes the rear fenders also. The XJ in the pictures that Scrub posted looks like it has more than 4.5" lift to me, but I might be wrong. (Look at how much space there is between the front axle and the bottom of the stock bumper.) Looks like 6" to me, and I really don't think Connects is sitting that high. I have plenty of photos on my site of my rig when it was 5" lift and 31's and it doesn't look too bad. I ran that setup for 2 years.

Trimming is not the only thing you'll need to worry about.

I juist want to put some meat on the tires to hopefully weigh the axles down and give it a softer ride cause It's scary as hell on the highway.

If your stuff is "scary as hell on the highway" I doubt its because you have small tires. You have other issues going on. Maybe a new set of tires will help, if yours are out of round or out of balance, but its not really the size that matters. "Weigh the axles down" ???? Not quite sure what you mean here - the whole weight of the body, engine, suspension, etc is all on the axles. 10 more lbs of rubber isn't going to change the weight on the axles any. You mean unsprung weight? Yes, larger tires add more to the unsprung weight which is basically the axles, wheels and tires, but how does more unsprung weight equal a better ride? If anything it will be worse. With stock gears it will be more of a dog, sluggish on hills, takes more gas to get off the line... so dig deep because your gas mileage will suffer. That can be solved if you regear but it sounds like you probably don't have the money for that. Have you thought about brakes? They are not as effective due to the increase in rotating mass (ie: bigger tires).

All of that is just how larger tires might affect the ride on the street. Do you ever plan to wheel it? With 33's your Jeep is less reliable because you have the Dana 35, stock Dana 30, and stock steering. Sure people wheel all the time with 33's and stock axles, but it will break sooner on 33's than if you kept it down to 32's or 31's.

If I were you, I'd run 31's or 32's.

 

[Scrub]

Eric, Im not really sure how much that XJ in the pic has but the guy said 4.5" and on 33's so i just posted to show him.....

I've got about 4" of lift and here in about a month or so i will have 33's under it, but ive allready started trimming my fenders and its getting about an inch more lift at the same time as the wheels and im not scared to trim more either :yup:

 

[EricsXJ]

Could it be that Connect only has 3" of lift?

When I saw it, it didn't look as tall as that.

 

[Scrub]

that might be possible also, his seems lower than mine and mine measured out to 4" so im not sure.....

 

[EricsXJ]

Here's mine with 5" of lift and 31's. No trimming but when fully stuffed the tires rubbed on the front bumper endcaps.

The 5" of lift was with RE1462 leafs (4.5") in the rear with stock shackle. I got 6.5" out of them initially with the XJ unloaded. Settled down to between 5 and 5.5" within a month or two. I got exactly 4.5" gain from the front RE coils so I added a 3/4" coil spacer to level it out.

 

[blackwidow]

Could it be that Connect only has 3" of lift?

When I saw it, it didn't look as tall as that.

That's for sure eric... I have to say once I saw it I even commented that it looked like a 2 inch budget boost or something. I had the same lift he supposedly got and it sat up around 5 or 5.5" and you could tell. but trimming is definately in order for 33's.

 

[Connect]

I never measured actual lift but I do know it rides higher in front and the front got at least 4-5" of lift. The AAL in the rear because the spring pack is so worn it rides lower, more like 3.5-4" of lift.

When I said added more weight to the axles I meant it in the order of rotating mass of the larger tires would help as well as the cushioning of the wider tread.

Also I believe that the white XJ in the pictures has that plastic faschia under the bumper taken off, as mine does not yet.

vs. lifted

I know I have better pictures somewhere but thats all I could come up with right now.