Lift kit advice

[Pilsner]

Not wanting to rain on your parade, only offering some experience-derived wisdom...

Having owned a JT for a number of years, I think your primary concern should be the lack of power you'll have to contend with the taller tires. With respect to towing, you'd certainly be looking at a regear if you want anything like you currently experience.

Mine is doggy with 5.13 gears and 37" tires, and I do not consider my truck capable of adequately towing anything

I tow frequently with 4.88s and 37s. I only tow 2500-3000lbs, but it pulls fine. I would not want to pull a 6k+ trailer at all though.

Sponsored

 

[PixelWelder]

I'm on the Mopar 2" lift with the Max Tow and 35's. Last summer I pulled a 5000# trailer from Utah to Oregon over some crazy long mountain passes. It did okay with the 4.10's... not great, but okay. The suspension had no issues with the weight distribution arms on the hitch. I did recently gear to 5.13's and the truck is so much happier pulling the trailer. I'll be going to 37's when these 35's wear out, I'm hoping it will still be happy enough.

I'd be careful with just doing a spacer lift and not updating the control arms. You don't want to get death wobble while towing because your caster is wrong. The Mopar kit comes with new lower front control arms that are just a little longer to keep your castor correct.

 

[Rubi-Vroom]

If I can give you my two cents, my first advice is “Don’t get towing advice on the internet; Get towing advice from people who tow A LOT.”

Based on the information your question is lacking, I’d say you have no more real-world experience than I do when it comes to towing. When I was trailer shopping 2 years ago, I had the good fortune of having a really informative salesman. His 35 years in trailer sales made him my temporary guru in the art of building my rig appropriately. One thing that I’d like to share with you is that he definitely impressed upon me that you should not plan on towing more than 80% of your tow capacity. I’ll say that again because I think it’s important:

Don’t plan to tow more than 80% of your towing capacity.

I’d like to remind you at this point that I am not an expert, so anyone please feel free to tell me if you think that’s bad advice.

Secondly, towing safely involves much more than just comparing tow weight to tow capacity. For example, if you’re going to put 35” tires, then I’d hope you have at least as much knowledge as I do about unsprung weight and how that affects just about everything (i.e. handling, braking, stress on components, etc.). Adding a lift kit will most-likely exacerbate any negative effects and greatly reduce safety. Not just your safety, but to the people driving near you, too.

One thing I’d really like you to consult a tow expert about is how to reduce the likelihood of losing control of your rig. I don’t know where you plan on towing, but I personally use my JTR with 10-ply 35” tires to tow my 4,400lb, 17’ Icehouse in all climates from Minnesota’s “snowy North” to the mountains of Colorado and the high desert of Utah. One thing that I found tremendously valuable was a $200 rear stabilizer. (After installing it, I’m really curious as to why it isn’t just ‘standard’.)

Even driving without a trailer, the rear stabilizer is noticeably effective. Now, I must add that I haven’t done any off-roading since installing the rear stabilizer, so I don’t yet have real world experience in that regard, but I don’t even know if that’s important to you. But…

When it comes to lift kits or other mods, I highly recommend you watch this 30-minute video from Ozark Overland Adventures:

If nothing else, I think you’ll benefit from the section wherein he talks about what vital components are missing in many lift kits. Ultimately, I decided not to lift mine until I have completed many of the trails I won’t need a lift kit for, so I - when it comes to towing with a lift - I revert back to my initial advice: Don’t get towing advice on the internet; Get it from a pro.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

If I can give you my two cents, my first advice is “Don’t get towing advice on the internet; Get towing advice from people who tow A LOT.”

Based on the information your question is lacking, I’d say you have no more real-world experience than I do when it comes to towing. When I was trailer shopping 2 years ago, I had the good fortune of having a really informative salesman. His 35 years in trailer sales made him my temporary guru in the art of building my rig appropriately. One thing that I’d like to share with you is that he definitely impressed upon me that you should not plan on towing more than 80% of your tow capacity. I’ll say that again because I think it’s important:

Don’t plan to tow more than 80% of your towing capacity.

I’d like to remind you at this point that I am not an expert, so anyone please feel free to tell me if you think that’s bad advice.

Secondly, towing safely involves much more than just comparing tow weight to tow capacity. For example, if you’re going to put 35” tires, then I’d hope you have at least as much knowledge as I do about unsprung weight and how that affects just about everything (i.e. handling, braking, stress on components, etc.). Adding a lift kit will most-likely exacerbate any negative effects and greatly reduce safety. Not just your safety, but to the people driving near you, too.

One thing I’d really like you to consult a tow expert about is how to reduce the likelihood of losing control of your rig. I don’t know where you plan on towing, but I personally use my JTR with 10-ply 35” tires to tow my 4,400lb, 17’ Icehouse in all climates from Minnesota’s “snowy North” to the mountains of Colorado and the high desert of Utah. One thing that I found tremendously valuable was a $200 rear stabilizer. (After installing it, I’m really curious as to why it isn’t just ‘standard’.)

Even driving without a trailer, the rear stabilizer is noticeably effective. Now, I must add that I haven’t done any off-roading since installing the rear stabilizer, so I don’t yet have real world experience in that regard, but I don’t even know if that’s important to you. But…

When it comes to lift kits or other mods, I highly recommend you watch this 30-minute video from Ozark Overland Adventures:

If nothing else, I think you’ll benefit from the section wherein he talks about what vital components are missing in many lift kits. Ultimately, I decided not to lift mine until I have completed many of the trails I won’t need a lift kit for, so I - when it comes to towing with a lift - I revert back to my initial advice: Don’t get towing advice on the internet; Get it from a pro.

Are we supposed to read between the first and last sentence?

 

[Minty JL]

I would recommend regear to 4.88 followed with the AEV spacer lift because you will retain the factory springs which are the backbone of the Tow Max package.

Retain towing, get 2" of lift and the gearing will accommodate the 35s with no reduction in towing performance

 

[Smash615]

Yes, the Max Tow will tow 7750, but after doing it, I came to the realization that the JT is NOT happy about doing it. It rarely gets higher than 5th gear unless I'm going downhill. I REALLY want 35s but doing that will ensure that the truck can't get into 5th gear when towing my camper...

Sponsored