Spacer vs Lift Kit

[Rdevine16]

Hi,

Long time follower, first time post!

I am the the happy new owner of a 2022 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon. I don't have really any experience with cars, and this is my first Jeep. I plan to take full advantage of owning it and taking it off roading as much as I can. I am in the process of upgrading the jeep as well as educating myself as much as possible. The first question I have is when to use a spacer vs a lift kit.

I am currently running 33" stock tires. I want to look at upgrading to 37" tires. In many of the threads I hear the comment of "I went 35" and wish I went 37". This alone makes me want to skip the 35" and go straight to 37".

With the Rubicon, do I need to have a lift kit for the 37" tires or is the spacer going to give me the same result? Also, with that, do I need to consider upgrading something else to accommodate the size and width? I have been seeing that I may need to change the gears from 4:10 to 4:88 (over even 5:13). The other additional weight that I have added is a Go Rhino bed rack. There will also be an upgraded bumper in the near future.

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[NachoRuby]

You'll get the same clearance with spacers, but you won't get the articulation. That said, I'm on spacers. I'm not doing anything wild enough to need more articulation than the Rubicon already provides stock. Also, if you want to go over 2-ish inches, you'll have to get a full lift kit.

Drive it and wheel it a little before you decide. 37s and even 35s have some tradeoffs in fuel economy and handling.

If you decide you want 37s, yes, a spacer lift will get you there, but without the articulation of a full lift kit. You can get away with 35s on stock 4.1 gears. I don't know about 37s, because I'm on 35s, but it probably gets you to the realm of suck without regearing. Also 37s make getting in and out a bit more difficult. 35s do too, for that matter.

Don't just do it because everyone else does. Build it the way you will use it.

 

[sass JT]

Here is my basic answer… you bought a top of line model. Do you a) want to put the cheap lift in with spacers or b) go full lift kit to get the geometry correct so not only you can look pretty but you can off-road and daily drive everyday.

personally 37’s require a real lift kit with steering modifications to make it ride and drive better than stock and perform exceptionally well off-road .

now this my opinion but you do you and I’ll do me.
Cheers.

 

[Rdevine16]

I appreciate the honesty.

When it comes to lift kits, are there brands that are more well known and “reliable”? I want to check them out and learn all I can.

 

[sass JT]

Clayton, metalcloak, teraflex, evo mfg. just to name a few.

then look at shocks. Fox, kings, teraflex, bilstein, edi eclicks etc etc

 

[NachoRuby]

Personally, I was just looking for a little more clearance so the bed doesn't scrape so much off-road, and so the oil pan would sit a little higher. 35s fit fine stock with no lift at all on a Rubicon. I'm not a crawler. So if you are, or if you're doing things that need more articulation, go for the full lift. But with 1.5 teraflex on front, and .75" Daystar in back, my alignment/geometry are still in spec, and it drives great on/off-road. These are jeeps after all, and the Rubicon does come stock with a pretty good off-road suspension. But geometry is why I say about 2" is the limit on a spacer lift, and that's pushing it without geometry correction. I like the stock suspension, and didn't want to mess with it too much. Plus, price is a factor, since I just wanted more clearance from rocks. Too bad the differential is still close to the ground, I need skids there now. Or 37s. Or both.

I agree with much of what @sass JT said, depending on your usage. It just seems like if you just got the thing you haven't gotten a chance to really wheel it stock yet. From there, you'll figure out what you need.

 

[Rdevine16]

I’ve been a seeing some good stuff on Clayton 3.5 Overland plus with falcon piggyback shocks. Curious everyone’s opinion on this setup. I think I’ll hold off on the lift kit till im ready to buy the rims/tires. Afraid the 33” tires will be weird with a 3.5 lift.


https://www.claytonoffroad.com/product/jeep-wrangler-performance-package-35-overland-0

 

[Cavitt]

Here's my 2 cents (Ok, probably more than that, but I hope it helps). My goal was always to run a decent lift and at least 37's but keep the truck looking stock-ish. My approach was to eventually get everything I wanted, but pay for it as I went (I don't exchange debt for toys).

I had my Rubicon about 10 days before putting the 1.5" Tereflex spacer in the front and .75 Daystar in back. This is super affordable and I like the look vs stock, plus it didn't hurt anything with the ride or comfort of the truck. There's nothing wrong with this setup.

Next add the Rockslide Engineering slider/steps so that my wife could easily get in and out of the truck as it evolved (got taller). This was important because I didn't want her to fall while making a large step out of the truck on to the Minnesota ice. Ok, I really didn't want to hear her bitch about the step-in height either... I only include this because it delayed other choices I made in the build. If you don't care about the wife, ice, or step-in height then insert any of the following here!

I've since added the Clayton 2.5" Overland Plus lift , Fox 2.0 Remote Reservoir shocks tuned by AccuTune for my set up, and BFG 37x12.5 tires. I added the lift before the tires in case I thought it looked fine without the lift, and didn't want to compromise on that in the end. I want to use my truck for it's intended purpose and knew I'd probably settle if I did the tires first. In the end it looked fine with the factory tires and lift. Also note that the spacer setup would have been fine with the BFG "37's".

So that's my current set up a year later. I'm still running the 4:10's in somewhat hilly Minnesota. I picked the BFG "37's" because they run small and would give me the look I wanted without the necessity to re-gear. I will eventually re-gear, but I tweaked my Pedal Monster and am not finding that as critical as I thought it would be. I maintain 7th gear more than 8th, but honestly it was never in danger of wearing out 8th gear with the stock tires. It does still see 8th gear, but it's more of a cameo, but a small hill and/or headwind and I never saw 8th gear stock.

At the end of the day I feel I have a pretty good set up. I think it drives and rides better than stock, and didn't throw away a lot a cash re-purchasing stuff in the process. I'm hanging on to the spacers in case I put on a bigger tire and want to maintain the fender spacing. I'll eventually add wheels, but I really like that it looks so stock given the changes. I think it's kind of cool that it really doesn't look THAT different from stock, but is significantly more capable.

I've attached pictures of the progression.

Stock:

Spacers:

Clayton 2.5" Lift / Stock Tires

Clayton 2.5" Lift / Stock Tires / Articulation Ramp

Clayton 2.5 Lift / BFG 37/12.3 KM3's Stock Wheels

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