New guy needs help with first jk build

pathfinder

New member
Hi, I am new to this website and I'm currently a new owner of a 2010 JK Rubicon. I currently have 35" tires with stock gears :grayno:, planning on upgrading to 37" tires with 5.13 gears. I was told to ditch the 44 Axels and stock lockers to go with PR44 front and PR60 rear with ABR lockers, is this necessary? Has anyone upgraded their stock Rubicon axels to run 37" or bigger tires? Also, does anyone run a dual tires setup (ex: one set for DD and other Trails)? If so, is it a good idea or a waste of money? Thanks
 

dchew

Caught the Bug
Welcome to WAYALIFE! I don't think upgrading the dana 44 is necessary for 37's. It would be nice, but not necessary. If you are planning to go larger in the future or if you wheel a whole lot, then maybe.

You will need c-gussets for the front if you stick with the dana 44, but they would be only a couple hundred dollars installed vs. thousands for the PR44 & 60.

In regards to the dual tire / wheels, the problem is gears. If you regear to 5.13, then throwing stock or close to stock tires on won't be a fun experience as a DD. If you don't regear, it might make sense if you can make do on the trail with 4.10's. But if you are anything like me I would be too lazy to change all 5 tires back to stock after wheeling. Is it a manual or auto? If it is a manual you might stick with the 4.10's and see how you get along.

Dave
 

dchew

Caught the Bug
Oops just re-read your post and saw you have 35's now. I guess you already know what it is like to wheel with the 4.10 so you know you will regear. I don't think it will be worth swapping the 37's for 35's for daily driving. You prolly will not get any gas mileage benefit with the 35's & 5.13's. Might even be worse.

Dave
 

msax

New member
I personally think that dual set of tires would be a waste of money. If you do regear to 5.13, any benefit to smaller dd tires would be negated by the rpm ud be running. In addition you would have to adjust the speedo with a procal each time you changed tires. Just not worth the hassle in my opinion.
 

The Wandering Jeeper

Caught the Bug
Welcome to the WAYALIFE family. If you are only running 37's right now your 44's will be just fine with a little work. Sleeve and gusset the front and replace the stock ball joints. Changing out the axles are up to you. I am running RCV's, Reid knuckles and Teraflex diff cover in addition to what I just mentioned. Haven't had a problem and I beat the hell out of the Jeep last year. I do have a N'th Degree rear skid plate on the rear to protect that. From the scrapes on that it was a great investment as you can see from the picture. This is after one trail and I took it off to inspect it.

Until you go above 37's I wouldn't change out to a D60. I'm on MT/R's @ 37" w/ 5:13 FYI

Skid Plate.jpg
 

pathfinder

New member
Stupid phone what I meant by a dual tires set up was same tire size but running an at vs a mt with a beadlock and will stock lockers be ok with 37 or is an arb a must

Sent from my DROID RAZR using WAYALIFE mobile app
 

dchew

Caught the Bug
Stupid phone what I meant by a dual tires set up was same tire size but running an at vs a mt with a beadlock and will stock lockers be ok with 37 or is an arb a must

I think there are plenty of good tires out there that will do quite well for both applications. Lot's of people run beadlocks on their DD. I don't think the ARB locker is a must, but I'm just building mine now so I can't comment from experience with 37's. New lockers are not part of my build.

Dave
 

Tim

Member
Running MT and AT of the same size would definitely be a waste of money, and you would probably get tired of switching after a couple times. Just pick a good all round tire. Falken Wildpeaks, Mickey Thompson MTZ, Goodyear Duratrac, even Nitto Trail Grapplers are decent on the street.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Hi, I am new to this website and I'm currently a new owner of a 2010 JK Rubicon. I currently have 35" tires with stock gears :grayno:, planning on upgrading to 37" tires with 5.13 gears. I was told to ditch the 44 Axels and stock lockers to go with PR44 front and PR60 rear with ABR lockers, is this necessary? Has anyone upgraded their stock Rubicon axels to run 37" or bigger tires? Also, does anyone run a dual tires setup (ex: one set for DD and other Trails)? If so, is it a good idea or a waste of money? Thanks

It really depends on the kind of wheeling you do but for the most part, you can make your factory 44 axles last for quite a while. I personally would gusset up your axle C's if they haven't been already but, I would hold off on sleeves. While they are cheap insurance, they are far from necessary. I would instead pick up a set of chromoly axle shafts with full circle clips as you are more likely to break a shaft than a housing any day of the week. RCV's are nice but far from necessary. I personally would save my money and use it for something I really needed. Of course, if you play really hard, your Jeep will let you know when it's time to upgrade things. Having said all that, if you play really hard and you can afford to get a PR44 and PR60, it would be a good to get them before you need them as it would save you money in the long run.
 
Top Bottom