East Coast mods w/o lift suggestions

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

alkaline747trio said:
But being a broke ass high school kid, $200 bucks is alot to be throwing away, espically right before college.
Click to expand...

How do you expect to afford a TJM bumper, sliders, 33s, and the other things on your list then? The cost of an OME medium lift is less than the 33" tires you are talking about (or a bumper or sliders for that matter). And you are still running 33s so you don't necessarily need to regear.
 
I will be able to afford a majority of the mods, but there will have to be a year between lift and the other stuff which ever way I go since J's with all the fixins is about $1300 + tires, and bumper, sliders and skids being the same + tires. I am asking you guys which I should do first. A stock height truck w/ 33's can do all the trails I am gonna see, but protection will keep the truck out of the shop. A lift might not keep me out of a shop, but put me in a harder line that might make the damage worse.
 
I would think that if your truck will run all the trails you want to, on the stock suspension, then bumpers and skids wouldnt be so essential. I think there are a decent of people with only the stock skid underneath and have not had problem. A little bit of caution can go a long way on the trail. I would think that sliders and a lift should be the first things to do.

Also,

You made a reference to Ary wheeling URE with his stock 80, you know he is fully locked, right?

I vote:
sliders, lift, locker(s)
 
Last edited:
Erratic said:
And the east coast doesn't have much wheeling anyway. What little bit is legal is basically a fire road. There's some stuff, but most of it's private property. Nearest off road park is in Penn. I'd like to go someday.
Click to expand...

Huh????? WTF???? I guess defining east coast may help (north / south) but there are plenty of places in NC, SC, TN, VA, KY and WV and that's all south of the Mason-Dixon line...

As far as this thread goes, I go to Uwharrie a lot too (only an hour away) and I have invested in armor (hanna sliders, arb front, skid plate) before OME stuff.

I can do 99% of the trails stock height and have piece of mind in the protection department. Def would like more clearance / load carrying ability and that's next...
 
alkaline747trio said:
I will be able to afford a majority of the mods, but there will have to be a year between lift and the other stuff which ever way I go since J's with all the fixins is about $1300 + tires, and bumper, sliders and skids being the same + tires. I am asking you guys which I should do first. A stock height truck w/ 33's can do all the trails I am gonna see, but protection will keep the truck out of the shop. A lift might not keep me out of a shop, but put me in a harder line that might make the damage worse.
Click to expand...

Putting all that weight on a stock vehicle will bottom out your suspension, cause the 33's to rub, and otherwise hinder your vehicle WAY more than having an OME'd vehicle with no armor ever will.

Do you not trust yourself to be aware of your limitations? The lift won't put you in any line you dont put yourself in.

If you are just going to run 33's, which would be pushing it for a non-regeared 3FE as it is, you won't need J springs. Heavies would be enough.

Asking which should come first, the accessories or the springs to support the accessories, is like asking if you should buy the furniture first or the house to put it in.
 
alkaline747trio said:
I will be able to afford a majority of the mods, but there will have to be a year between lift and the other stuff which ever way I go since J's with all the fixins is about $1300 + tires, and bumper, sliders and skids being the same + tires.
Click to expand...

Why does it have to be stock or J's with all the fixins and 35s? You can get a OME 2.5" lift from MAF for $675 and have more clearance and better load carrying capacity. I'd get that before a front bumper or roof rack personally.
 
txkndu, yours sounds like mine -- 33" Revos on a locked stock truck. My plan is for undercarriage protection next, then lift, then front/rear bumpers. It's probably a two or three year project to pull it all together.

Chatty I know, but the second sentence could be taken as a techie opinion.
 
shocker said:
Putting all that weight on a stock vehicle will bottom out your suspension, cause the 33's to rub, and otherwise hinder your vehicle WAY more than having an OME'd vehicle with no armor ever will.

Do you not trust yourself to be aware of your limitations? The lift won't put you in any line you dont put yourself in.

If you are just going to run 33's, which would be pushing it for a non-regeared 3FE as it is, you won't need J springs. Heavies would be enough.

Asking which should come first, the accessories or the springs to support the accessories, is like asking if you should buy the furniture first or the house to put it in.
Click to expand...


My eventual plan WAS to run J's + spacers on 35's w/ 4.88s or 5.29s on road, and 9.00r16's on the trails, w/ stock bumper, skids and sliders. But I found that this option was about $2-3k. So I had changed the plan to J/863s AFTER bumper, skids and sliders but keep it stock for the time being.

But, I have decided I would get better use out of it right now if I just put protection and maybe 33's. I am asking you guys before I make the mistakes that everyone has pointed out, but the problem is money in my situation and can't be buying stuff for a year or two's use then trying to sell it and taking a big hit in the wallet.

With about a $1500 budget this year, I want to know what will be the best option after taking ~$500 out for new tires (new 31's or 33-35's depending) for me to do some medium difficulty trails, and not come out with more body damage than a derby car.
 
alkaline747trio said:
With about a $1500 budget this year, I want to know what will be the best option after taking ~$500 out for new tires (new 31's or 33-35's depending) for me to do some medium difficulty trails, and not come out with more body damage than a derby car.
Click to expand...

Mud terrain tires (maybe TrXus blems to save money), sliders, and a Slee transfer case crossmember eats up your budget for the year. If you have any left over I'd get a lunchbox locker for the rear.
 
cruiser4life said:
Huh????? WTF???? I guess defining east coast may help (north / south) but there are plenty of places in NC, SC, TN, VA, KY and WV and that's all south of the Mason-Dixon line...

As far as this thread goes, I go to Uwharrie a lot too (only an hour away) and I have invested in armor (hanna sliders, arb front, skid plate) before OME stuff.

I can do 99% of the trails stock height and have piece of mind in the protection department. Def would like more clearance / load carrying ability and that's next...
Click to expand...


Well, it seems that someone who is familiar with UREs knows that the lift isn't a top priority for what we run. It also appears that he runs essentially what I had planned before posting this thread. Just curious, but do you wish you had done lift first? Are the mods you made more beneficial for UREs than a lift would be?

dirtyharry said:
Mud terrain tires (maybe TrXus blems to save money), sliders, and a Slee transfer case crossmember eats up your budget for the year. If you have any left over I'd get a lunchbox locker for the rear.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I had planned because the front bumper and roof box will cost nothing except the time for the bumper. For a locker, an Aussie might be squeezed into that budget if the pops helps out with the tires since the current ones are getting pretty thin.

ed97fzj80 said:
Has anyone mentioned limiting damage by driving within the limits of the vehicle? Or is that just crazy talk?
Click to expand...

The vehicle has been proven capable, stock (lockers may or may not have made the difference), on the trails I plan to run. I have yet to damage anything on my vehicle due to my own error, but there have been several close calls that I think might have been saved by some greater being. The damage I am talking about is on my front bumper (why I have talked about making a schottz clone to replace it), which is where one of the close calls would have done the damage. The other is my rockers over all the whoops at URE, the slee skid and some sliders would solve this problem.

About being weighed down, the only weight on the truck while doing stuff that get close to the limits would be the bumper and the sliders; the camping gear/roof box wouldn't be on the truck, they are just going to be used where any ole 4x4 can go.
 
alkaline747trio said:
Well, it seems that someone who is familiar with UREs knows that the lift isn't a top priority for what we run. It also appears that he runs essentially what I had planned before posting this thread. Just curious, but do you wish you had done lift first? Are the mods you made more beneficial for UREs than a lift would be?
Click to expand...

We aren't speaking just of off-road performance, we are speaking of on the road driveability too.

And when we are talking about off-road performance, we are talking about basic off-road driving situations found in ANY spot, regardless of geographic location.

And it is a FACT that all the stuff you are talking about adding is heavy, and all that stuff will overpower stock springs.

And it's a FACT that we aren't saying you need to lift your truck. We are saying that you need the springs to carry the weight of the mods you want to put on your truck. The lift is just a side effect.

Sure, you CAN do it the other way around. But at what sacrifice?

But it seems as if you've already made up your mind to spend all your dimes on the visual bling and dont care what 90% of the people here have to say.

Which begs the question: why did you ask in the first place?
 
Given that you are in HS and on a budget.
Gas is not getting cheaper.
Increasing tire size decrease gas mpg. When I went from stock 275 to 285's my mpg went from 16 down to 14 mpg on the highway less in mixed and city. 285's AT's fit under my stock 80 and do not rub at all.
You keep mentioning staying stock then you jump to J's. Clearly what I am hearing is that you are not comfortable with either solution. You want bigger tires but you really do not want to take the mpg hit of going to 35's or bigger therefore you have no need for J's. Get the OME-Heavy 2.5" and take LandTank up on his offer of the tires (he is giving you a bone - bite it or I will).
Just my 2 cents.
Once you have done this then fab up some sliders and bumpers yourself. If you do not know how then take a welding class at a community college. Your young get skills early
 
Ok, so let's say I go with the 2.5 heavy and new 33's, would I have the money left over for sliders and the skid? I'm thinking that it isn't probable since lift $700, tires $200-500 (if the pops helps out), sliders $750-850, slee skid $150. That puts me at $1900-2200, $400-700 over my budget. Sliders are high on my priorities, but I don't trust myself making them since I haven't seen anyone piece them together like I have seen on schottz bumper.

I can't do the 315's LandTank, it would mean regearing, and 315s don't fit 15" rims, so go ahead and take them...it hurts to know what I'm missing out on though.

I am having so much trouble because I ultimatly want 4-6" of lift and the ability to run 9.00r16's and don't want to have to take so many steps losing so much money in the process.

I haven't made up my mind, I'm just trying to get all the answers I can for a best solution for me. I don't have the money or resources to try several different things till I get it right, I need to find out what works for my trail and driving use without having to take such a hit in the wallet when I go bigger (the J's/35's).
 
ed97fzj80 said:
Still have the dead '91 in your sig? Start scavenging. :D
Click to expand...

Trying to save it for when things go bad on the '92 since it is only dead by 2 cracked pistons, it's just not worth it to keep it running, but keeping it for spare parts is good I just hate that most of the body panels are dented or bondo'd.

landtank said:
:doh: , that's right it's a 92, sorry
Click to expand...

No prob, thanks for the offer though!
 
I agree 100%. Mudders, sliders and Aussie locker. You don't have to spend all of your budget right now. Use the leftover as part of next years budget.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom