Suggestions from experienced Jeepers welcome

Chris1015

Chris1015

Member
Hi, All

Let me bury you with some cliches. I know this saying is very true, "give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"

I come to you all humbly asking and seeking your opinion/suggestions on how to mod up my first ever new 2017 Sahara Unlimited because I know way too little and was hoping for some guidance on Do's and Dont's in this process. I am reading as much as I can on my own but at this point am feeling like a chicken with my head cut off and running around in circles. Can anyone start me off with some of the fundamental ways of thinking modding a Jeep through? What do I need to be aware of? Any stories you may have of "live and learn"? Warranty voiding to be aware of? Do dealerships really flag your vin for modding? Reliable brands to use? What kinds of tires do you all run? What life expectancy can I expect from a 35" All Terrain tire?

I'm interested in lifting 2.5", 35" All-Terrain tires for time being. I predominantly drive roads now with my schedule but am very interested in testing out the capabilities of this thing on some terrain. Will I damage anything by running this mostly on a street?

Please let the help fly! I'm ready to learn!
 
Sharkey

Sharkey

Word Ninja
If you build a man a fire he will stay warm for the night; if you light a man on fire he will stay warm for the rest of his life. :bleh:

I strongly advise against having a dealer perform mods on your Jeep. They will be waaaay overpriced, often incomplete, and often not done correctly. Best advice I can give you is take your time, keep reading and learning, and drive as many different kinds of lifted Jeeps as you can before you spend your hard earned money. That, and wheel your Jeep in the meantime. You will be surprised what it can do.
 
benatc1

benatc1

Hooked
Sharkey you make some great points which I for sure agree with. one common theme i see is asking yourself what size tire you want to run and then build with that plan. alot may change between 35's and 37's. Another good question on where to start is what do you want to do with your jeep (daily driver, rocks, basic trails, or a bit of everything) lots of ways to take any build. lots of these answers will come from driving other jeeps and checking out other jeeps as well. best of luck tho you will like your new Jeep!

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jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
Sharkey said:
If you build a man a fire he will stay warm for the night; if you light a man on fire he will stay warm for the rest of his life. :bleh:

I strongly advise against having a dealer perform mods on your Jeep. They will be waaaay overpriced, often incomplete, and often not done correctly. Best advice I can give you is take your time, keep reading and learning, and drive as many different kinds of lifted Jeeps as you can before you spend your hard earned money. That, and wheel your Jeep in the meantime. You will be surprised what it can do.
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x2 get to know your Jeep, how all the off-road functions work and how it handles before changing anything.

There are a lot of things easily done in a driveway or parking lot with a few tools.

The dealer will tell you if they install it, it won't void your warranty - this is a lie!

yes, once you mod the dealer can flag your Jeep but i think it's less often now that Mopar has gotten in the mod game and dealers realize it will cost them business.

only way a warranty repair can be denied is if the dealer can prove the mod caused the issue - be prepared to argue otherwise, they like using this excuse.
 
jmatta33

jmatta33

New member
Chris1015 said:
I'm interested in lifting 2.5", 35" All-Terrain tires for time being. I predominantly drive roads now with my schedule but am very interested in testing out the capabilities of this thing on some terrain. Will I damage anything by running this mostly on a street?

Please let the help fly! I'm ready to learn!
Click to expand...

EVO Leveling Kit and BFG Mud Terrains, FTW. I am currently running the EVO leveling kit with some Rubi shocks and 35" BFG Mud Terrains and they are very nice for on road and fairly capable off road. Not a lot of road noise and still enough grip to do some moderate off-roading. I am also running this setup on my stock D30/D44 on a JKU Sport. Took it off road a couple times but was very careful and everything held up fine. If you are running stock fenders though, you will definitely run into rubbing issues when you are at full flex. I would suggest, trimming the stock fenders if you want to do this type of setup.
 
jmatta33

jmatta33

New member
One thing I would HIGHLY recommend when you go off road is ALWAYS have recovery gear and ALWAYS ride with a friend if you don't have a winch (and honestly even if you do).
 
chitown35

chitown35

LOSER
I would say if you are new to jeeps, find the free time to do as much as you can on your own. It can be intimidating, but there is no vehicle like a jeep where you we'll find as much information and fellow jeepers willing to help you out. You learn soooooo much in the process. It will help you in knowing how to fix anything on the trail if you need to, knowing how to make whatever mods you have chosen fit together, knowing WHICH further mods to buy, and being able to communicate effectively with the dealer. I can't say this enough. I was brand new to everything with the exception of oil changes and am so glad I did everything myself.
 
chitown35

chitown35

LOSER
Btw also I've studied the warranties extensively. Factory warranty can't be voided unless they prove your mods did any damage, but they can certainly try and force you to take them to court if you disagree. Extended warranty they can do whatever they want. They can talk and say a lot but in the end what I wrote above is where you are at.

Buuuuut, IMO this is way overblown. There aren't (hopefully) a lot of warrantable repairs you will have to deal with relating to mods you've done. Get busy livin' or get busy dying.

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S

sblackf1

New member
Here's my .02 cents.
The great thing about jeeps are that fact that millions are on the road and yet each one unique. Depending on what you want to do with your jeep will determine what kind of build. (ie. beach cruising? getting vertical rock crawling? or overlanding/camping?) The great thing is that if you change your mind, start building it differently.

I suggest staying away from dealerships and their warranties and do our own work as much as you are able to (and continue to push your mechanical skill limits).
35" tires will wear out like any other tire depending use and driving behavior.

As far as mods go, for people that can't afford to build up their jeep in one giant leap, many people start their mods in the order of 1.) protection (skid plates/rock sliders/ bumpers etc), 2.) lifts (and tires/gear ratio), and 3.) recovery (winch, dual battery, etc). But its entirely up to you on how you want to proceed.

for me: I am building my jeep in stages based on Money and how quickly I can get into some of the trails I wanted to accomplish.
stage 1: Lift and tires (lift was for protection).
stage 2: Recovery (dual batteries, hi-lift, winch, and front bumper).
stage 3: rear bumper
stage 4: gear ratio change
stage 5+ undecided but my ideas or rather dreams float around stronger axles, long arms, coilovers, atlas 4.

For me, driving with my doors nad top off to the grocery store blasting music is *almost* as fun as going out and doing trails.... ALmost.

It's fun to build, research/plan, build more and watch your jeep take shape into your own jeep.
 
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Goldeneagle1LC

Goldeneagle1LC

Member
Don't do anything to your jeep soon. Drive it as is for a while. Learn how ridiculously capable it is stock. It is amazing where they will go in 2wd. Once you know that and what you want to do you will have a better idea of what you really want and it will save you money from modding something twice.
 
S

sblackf1

New member
Goldeneagle1LC said:
Don't do anything to your jeep soon. Drive it as is for a while. Learn how ridiculously capable it is stock. It is amazing where they will go in 2wd. Once you know that and what you want to do you will have a better idea of what you really want and it will save you money from modding something twice.
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Good advice!

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R

RUBEERCON

New member
My opinion after wheeling in stock form.

Depending on the size of the rocks in your area I would consider protection. I was always banging on my undercarriage and rock rails at stock height. Shop for rock rails that do not hang low, stay away from rails that have low hoops that are mainly intended for steps.

If your on a budget you can find used Rubicon rails and check out a Smittybuilt skid plate system for now. You can sell the used items if and when you upgrade later.

Diff covers were my next step before I lifted / 35s. I just dented up my stock bumpers until I upgraded those, the stock replacement bumpers are hard to give away and all over the Net if you dent one right away. JMO.

Send us progress pics!


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Chris1015

Chris1015

Member
Guys, these opinions are truly helpful and all great ideas. Likely would have never seen it from these perspectives. Truly appreciate the words. Jeepers rock.

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R

RUBEERCON

New member
I forgot to mention a headlight upgrade will add some safety and pleasure to your ride. Lots of opinions on this topic if you search or ask. 100 to 750 can be spent on headlights so research fully if you decide to make a purchase.


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Chris1015

Chris1015

Member
RUBEERCON said:
I forgot to mention a headlight upgrade will add some safety and pleasure to your ride. Lots of opinions on this topic if you search or ask. 100 to 750 can be spent on headlights so research fully if you decide to make a purchase.


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Are you speaking on actual headlights or light bars? I have LED headlights in right now i actually really dig the look especially with the granite color. Light bar would be cool too for offroad though!

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Brute

Brute

Hooked
Goldeneagle1LC said:
Don't do anything to your jeep soon. Drive it as is for a while. Learn how ridiculously capable it is stock. It is amazing where they will go in 2wd. Once you know that and what you want to do you will have a better idea of what you really want and it will save you money from modding something twice.
Click to expand...

Roger that...

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day...teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink"
 
Chris1015

Chris1015

Member
Goldeneagle1LC said:
Don't do anything to your jeep soon. Drive it as is for a while. Learn how ridiculously capable it is stock. It is amazing where they will go in 2wd. Once you know that and what you want to do you will have a better idea of what you really want and it will save you money from modding something twice.
Click to expand...
So before hitting a trail you would say ride as is? Or just pick a trail I won't get into anything over my head?

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