Best Mods for East to West Travel for Offroading?

[Tazman]

I bought a 2021 JT with a 6 1/2" lift and 40" x 13.5" tires. It's a monster truck and not practical. I want this to become an Offroad camping trailer (Patriot) puller for traveling around the Western US and Canada. The problem? I live in Kentucky. I am trying to figure out the best lift size and the best tire size to interstate drive with my trailer and then to offroad once I arrive. My inexperienced ideas:

• Switch to 37" tires so I can store the 5th under the bed
• Switch the springs to like an EVO 4" lift
• Buy cheap stock rims and then stock tires to do the cross country trips with and then switch to the larger tires once on location. (I would need to create something to carry tires with) (May not be possible)
• Maybe its better to just trailer the jeep to the site. (Might be cheaper on gas, HAHA)

I would appreciate any thoughts on what might work best even if it is outside the box.
Thanks for your help

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[JTdiRtyD]

I guess the first question is, what kind of off-roading are we talking about? Crawling? Exploring trails?

 

[Jaxmax]

Check what the gear ratios in rears are , and if you are overlanding and not doing big stuff don’t go too high on tires or lift, perhaps 35” and 2.5”. Possibility selling the big lift and tires can fund some of your work you are doing. Spend some time searching stuff and really figure out what you have right now and where you want to be. Welcome to the forum….Jack

 

[Metalhead]

I'm building my gladiator to do similar things. I went with the mopar 2 inch lift and 35 inch tires. It probably gave me close to 3 inches of lift total. For tires I went with the Mickey thompson baja boss a/t's in 255/85r17 size. I think its the perfect combination to do what I want to do.

 

[Free2roam]

Clayton Overland lift 2.5 should get you more than enough. 35's? Gas or diesel?
Gearing currently?

 

[BunkieJeeper75]

I bought a 2021 JT with a 6 1/2" lift and 40" x 13.5" tires. It's a monster truck and not practical. I want this to become an Offroad camping trailer (Patriot) puller for traveling around the Western US and Canada. The problem? I live in Kentucky. I am trying to figure out the best lift size and the best tire size to interstate drive with my trailer and then to offroad once I arrive. My inexperienced ideas:

• Switch to 37" tires so I can store the 5th under the bed
• Switch the springs to like an EVO 4" lift
• Buy cheap stock rims and then stock tires to do the cross country trips with and then switch to the larger tires once on location. (I would need to create something to carry tires with) (May not be possible)
• Maybe its better to just trailer the jeep to the site. (Might be cheaper on gas, HAHA)

I would appreciate any thoughts on what might work best even if it is outside the box.
Thanks for your help

I like my setup and I’m about 30, 000 miles of overlanding in the west/canada/alaska ! I do not pull a trailer but I’m sure I could.
3-1/2 inch lift Clayton overland with HD rear springs, 37” tires, with a SmartCap loaded with frig/drawers/aux battery/rooftop tent/etc.
I’m not a rock crawler but I do hit some tough trails along my travels. I have 3.6l gas and regeared to 5.13.

 

[Tazman]

I guess the first question is, what kind of off-roading are we talking about? Crawling? Exploring trails?

I think trail exploration initially, especially towing the trailer

 

[Tazman]

I like my setup and I’m about 30, 000 miles of overlanding in the west/canada/alaska ! I do not pull a trailer but I’m sure I could.
3-1/2 inch lift Clayton overland with HD rear springs, 37” tires, with a SmartCap loaded with frig/drawers/aux battery/rooftop tent/etc.
I’m not a rock crawler but I do hit some tough trails along my travels. I have 3.6l gas and regeared to 5.13.

Awesome info. I think I will do a Cap as well for secure storage as I travel and maybe even a sleeping area for bear country. I also have a tendency to be over prepared so I thought I would remove my back seats to make more room as well.

 

[BunkieJeeper75]

Awesome info. I think I will do a Cap as well for secure storage as I travel and maybe even a sleeping area for bear country. I also have a tendency to be over prepared so I thought I would remove my back seats to make more room as well.

Yes a rear seat delete (whole or partial) maybe my next step !

 

[Tazman]

Check what the gear ratios in rears are , and if you are overlanding and not doing big stuff don’t go too high on tires or lift, perhaps 35” and 2.5”. Possibility selling the big lift and tires can fund some of your work you are doing. Spend some time searching stuff and really figure out what you have right now and where you want to be. Welcome to the forum….Jack

Thanks so much. I have 5.33 gears in the rear. I will definitely sell the springs and tires and rims. What's your thoughts on offset on the rims.

 

[Zachanadandy]

If you even think for a minute you'll want to get into the bigger rock trails out west like the rubicon, Pritchett Canyon, John Bull etc I'd leave it as is. You have enough gearing for the 40s and the breakover and departure of something as long as a gladiator I'd want all the clearance I could get. Even on 37s and 4" of lift I drag the belly, hitch, and rear bumper a lot in the big rocks. Even with my setup it tows just fine. Even overloaded towing an 8200lb trailer 600 miles to our AZ property to build our cabin. It's going to get terrible mileage towing a large trailer no matter what, but don't hold your breath on saving fuel towing the Jeep unless it's with a diesel (and even there it wouldn't be much). Towing our lifted JLUR on 38s on a trailer behind my 5.7L hemi ram was fine from a comfort and stability setup, but its such a tall wind block back there I'd average 8mpg at freeway speeds. Driving the Jeep it gets 13-14mpg.

 

[Tazman]

I guess the first question is, what kind of off-roading are we talking about? Crawling? Exploring trails?

Exploring trails initially.

 

[Tazman]

If you even think for a minute you'll want to get into the bigger rock trails out west like the rubicon, Pritchett Canyon, John Bull etc I'd leave it as is. You have enough gearing for the 40s and the breakover and departure of something as long as a gladiator I'd want all the clearance I could get. Even on 37s and 4" of lift I drag the belly, hitch, and rear bumper a lot in the big rocks. Even with my setup it tows just fine. Even overloaded towing an 8200lb trailer 600 miles to our AZ property to build our cabin. It's going to get terrible mileage towing a large trailer no matter what, but don't hold your breath on saving fuel towing the Jeep unless it's with a diesel (and even there it wouldn't be much). Towing our lifted JLUR on 38s on a trailer behind my 5.7L hemi ram was fine from a comfort and stability setup, but its such a tall wind block back there I'd average 8mpg at freeway speeds. Driving the Jeep it gets 13-14mpg.

Great info. Thanks. Any nervousness about breaking a stock axle with the 40's? I was thinking of the truck- trailer idea as a mileage, wear and tear, and tire savor more than saving fuel. Those are great numbers to have on the tire size and lift. Side note- Honestly it rides pretty good on the 40's on the interstate.

 

[JT1]

Great info. Thanks. Any nervousness about breaking a stock axle with the 40's? I was thinking of the truck- trailer idea as a mileage, wear and tear, and tire savor more than saving fuel. Those are great numbers to have on the tire size and lift. Side note- Honestly it rides pretty good on the 40's on the interstate.

Bone stock M210/M220 on 40's? Absolutely there is a chance. Can you minimize it? yes.

Since you said GAS in one of your previous posts, I'm going to assume you have a 3.6 and either 5.13 or 5.38 gearing. The low fenders indicate a 2.72:1 transfercase, so if you are nice on the skinny pedal and aren't trying to do sandy hollow or johnson valley, you might be ok?

On the flipside, with 40's, are you prepared to replace front axles/u joints or rear axles? If the answer is no, I'd consider dropping to a 38, and even then, bad luck happens.

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