Suspension

Jeep Wrangler JK Leveling Kit vs 2.5″ vs 3.5″ vs 4″ – How To Select The Best Jeep Lift Kit

Jeep Wrangler JK Leveling Kit vs 2.5" vs 3.5" vs 4" - How To Select The Best Jeep Lift Kit

Hi guys! Today I’m going to walk you through choosing a body Kit for Jeep. When choosing a lift kit for your JK, the only thing that matters now is which tire size you want to drive on your Jeep. If you’re having trouble making this decision, you can also read useful articles on my blog. So today I’m going to walk you through the four main sizes of lift kits you can get on a JK and give you my recommendation as to which tire is best for each of these lift kits, besides you can read the article about the benefits of installing a lift kit. Alright, let’s jump right in and see what you can choose!

As a leveling kit, there is a TeraFlex leveling kit without shock absorbers, a two-and-a-half-inch lift, the Rough Country two and a half inches with shock absorbers. There is also the JKS Jspec three and a half inch JKontrol lift kit and finally a TeraFlex four-inch lift kit with flex arms. If you plan to drive your Jeep with a stock tire or a 31, a small 32, but still want to level the ride height and get rid of the factory rake, then a Jeep Lift Kit is a good option for you. Well, there are some people who drive 33s or even 35s on their jeep with a flat fender and only a leveling kit. But you need to know that with a setup like this you will be giving up a lot of the upside. So, if you’re planning on going off-road at all, I’d recommend sticking with a stock tire or a smaller tire, say 31 or 32 inches just for a leveling kit.

Jeep Wrangler JK Leveling Kit vs 2.5" vs 3.5" vs 4" - How To Select The Best Jeep Lift KitYou should also make sure that if you are riding a slightly larger tire that you properly adjust your bumpers to eliminate any risk of damage. Now if you want to use a leveling kit, I highly recommend taking a look at this TeraFlex leveling kit without a shock absorber. The Kit for Jeep comes with a pair of coil spring spacers for the front of the jeep and a set for the rear. So, it will give you some boost all around. But again, this is specifically designed to balance the ride height of your Jeep, not so much to give you a lot of lift. It comes with a new set of stabilizer end links. You insert these into the rear of the Jeep by sliding the factory rear stabilizer end connections forward so that you get the full length you need to drive your Jeep at a slightly higher and shallower ride height. If you want to run a set of 33 “tires on your Jeep, I would recommend two and a half inches of hub. Of course, you can run a smaller tire, even a factory-size tire, with two and a half inches of travel. But personally, I think it’s going to look a little weird.

There are some people who step on a 35-inch tire with two and a half inches of travel. But you have to keep in mind that every time you ride a bigger tire on a smaller lift, you’ll have to give up some uphill travel and possibly make some adjustments to the suspension to ensure you don’t have any issues with the tire hitting the body.

Jeep Wrangler JK Leveling Kit vs 2.5" vs 3.5" vs 4" - How To Select The Best Jeep Lift KitIf you want to run 33-inch tires on your Jeep and want two and a half inches more lift, I recommend getting this Rough Country two-and-a-half-inch lift kit with shock absorbers for an economical solution. This kit contains your larger coil springs, your shock absorbers and also some brake line extension brackets. But not many of the other bells and whistles that come with a lift kit can drive up the cost. So, this will be a little less expensive and it will be a really nice base to build on over time.

If you’re looking to ride 35-inch tires on your Jeep, three and a half inches of lift is definitely the way to go. You can always ride a smaller 33-inch tire with a three-and-a-half-inch lift kit if you’d like. But even here it will look a little weird in my opinion. You can drive up to 37. But as already mentioned, you will forego some upward travel and thus some off-road performance. 35s go really well with a three and a half inch stroke on a JK. If you are looking to do this setup, I would definitely recommend checking out this JKS Jspec three and a half inch JKontrol lift kit. And if you’re in search for recommendations, the best jk lift kit for 35 would be an ideal choice.

Well, this is really the opposite of that Rough Country lift kit. This Rough Country lift kit is a cheaper entry lift kit. This has all the bells and whistles. This has everything you could want in a lift kit, and it will come at a higher price too. This kit includes your springs and your shock absorbers, of course. This includes a set of FOX shock absorbers. So, you’ll be driving really comfortably. It will separate your stabilizers, it will have your trackbar mounts, but this kit will also include an adjustable front trackbar and an upside down drag link as well. The corresponding trackbar mount is also included in this kit. This will flatten your trackbar angles. It’ll give you a bit of a nicer ride with three and a half inches of lift. For those who might not need an extensive lift, you could also consider a jeep jk leveling kit as an alternative.

Jeep Wrangler JK Leveling Kit vs 2.5" vs 3.5" vs 4" - How To Select The Best Jeep Lift KitYou also get some geometry mounts that will help hold your pinion and caster angle in place without the need for more expensive wishbones. As I said, this is a very complete set. This one contains a lot of really high quality, well-made components. So, if you have the budget and are looking for a very high quality three-and-a-half-inch lift kit to push 35s under your JK this is going to be a really nice kit.

Obviously, if you want to run 37-inch tires on your Jeep you will need the greatest stroke and that will be about four inches for your JK. Of course, as mentioned earlier, you can always drive a smaller tire. It’s just going to look a little weird. Not that you want to drive anything much bigger than a 37. But if you tried, you’d have some sharing issues. Now when you’re doing a large elevator like this, you will need all of the components that go with it to make everything work properly.

Jeep Wrangler JK Leveling Kit vs 2.5" vs 3.5" vs 4" - How To Select The Best Jeep Lift KitThe TeraFlex 4-inch lift kit with flex arms but no damper, which also includes a front tie rod, will be a very comprehensive kit. Except, as the name suggests, it doesn’t come with shocks. You need to add that if you go for this lift kit. So, you will have your springs and spring spacers that make up your 10cm of travel, all of your bumper extensions, trackbar mounts, and of course that front adjustable trackbar. The kit also contains your brake lines, all of the other hardware that goes with something like this. But as the name suggests, this kit also includes a set of flex arms. So, this will help lock your sprocket and caster angle in both the front and rear and give you a ton more articulation.

This also has your adjustable tie rod that allows you to completely center the front axle under the Jeep. All you really need to add to this kit is a set of shock absorbers and you have a very, very complete kit. Since this contains all components, including all eight wishbones, this will of course be a more expensive lift kit than many others on the market.

Now, it’s also important to note that if you’re planning on driving a set of 37-inch tires, a 4-inch lift kit isn’t the only thing you’ll need. You’ll also need to upgrade your axles, new gears, and a few other things. But as far as the lift is concerned with which tire, 37er you will want to drive with a four-inch lift kit or even more. So, these are the four most important lift sizes you can get for your JK and which tire sizes I would recommend for each of these sizes.

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Andy Shane

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