What's the upgrade path?

[_TraMor]

Seems I need some advice, I'm getting more and more daring with my Tremor, which has a 2" level lift, 1" wheel spacers, a front mount winch, and a tune.

I'm not looking to go crazy but here in the northeast trails are narrow, muddy, and rocky. The issues I face are getting hung up on the underside on rocks and humps. I'm happy with the performance overall but I'm not sure what order to upgrade since I don't have the cheat code for unlimited money I'll be doing things a little at a time.

Here's what I've come up with so far;

1. Remove Tremor side steps and replace with rock sliders ($1k)
2. get larger tires to increase lift ($1.2-$1.5k)
3. install lift kit ($1.2-$3.5k)

I think the goal really is that if I get hung up on something on the underside I'm not going to do an incredible amount of damage, what's your take on the situation?

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[SDXLT]

I’m no expert but depending on where you are getting hung up will determine your path. Steps? Cheap, take them off. Between the other 2 if you are getting stuck on the diff you need bigger tires. 33” only get you 1/2” lift, 34 get you 1”. Not sure 35’s fit but you get the math. A higher lift gets better approach/departure angles and allows bigger tires.

 

[_TraMor]

The thought process on the tires was to also increase mud traction since the stock Grabbers just aren't cutting it but it sounds like the ground clearance wouldn't be improved much there.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

If “a little at a time” is your approach, do as Josh mentioned above and remove the steps - not the whole side step, just the step part - folks on here have done that and covered the holes with a strip of grip tape (like the stuff on skateboard decks).

Then see how else you might be getting hung up. Maybe you just need diff armour more than you need a lift kit right now.

Tires? Hmm, mud tires are not my thing but they might be yours if gas mileage isn’t a concern. Taller tires look great (I love mine) but give only a tiny bit of lift - likely negligible when aired down.

Good luck TraMor.

 

[_TraMor]

My only concern with just taking off the step is that I'm going to bash it and damage the body at the mount points. BUT... it's still better then bashing without it and not being able to open the door.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

If you're getting hung up a lot, you may want to look into the ARB skid plates

Currently on Sale for $650.

If I were bashing my truck off road I'd most certainly have a set.

ARB Skid Plates

They provide FAR more underbody protection than the factory plates.

There are several users on here who have them and have posted how-to videos for installation.

Shrockworks used to make a nice set as well but they are gone with the wind.

 

[ReigleCM]

Sounds like you need skid plates and sliders. Expensive but absolutely necessary if you are bashing rocks. Our trans pan is plastic, it's not hard to crack it or put a hole in it. Also if you damage the door sills it's way more expensive to repair than the $1000 you'll pay for real rock sliders. The rear diff hangs low, so you want to protect that too. It's all costly.

You have a level on your truck already, that's for tire clearance, it does not increase underbody clearance.

I would:
1 - Get real protection, skid plates (RCI), rear diff (Rough Country) and rock sliders (Hot Metal Fab).
2 - Go bigger for tires, 33s are what most of us run.

 

[_TraMor]

1 - Get real protection, skid plates (RCI), rear diff (Rough Country) and rock sliders (Hot Metal Fab).
2 - Go bigger for tires, 33s are what most of us run.

Do you have any additional info on the Rough Country item, I can't seem to find what you reference?

 

[ReigleCM]

Do you have any additional info on the Rough Country item, I can't seem to find what you reference?

This is the one most of us run. Cheap investment for protection! Takes 3 minutes to install too! We share the M220 rear diff with some Jeeps and the Bronco, so that's why that says for Jeep.

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

Avoiding large obstacles has always been my approach. If doing so isn't possible, that is the first sign that I'm about to wreck my vehicle. I don't mind if I bang the bottom of the truck on stuff, as long as it isn't anything too crazy. FX4 XLT with a leveling kit and slightly larger tires here and it sees a lot of time off-road.

 

[Frenchy]

You mentioned a leveling kit and wheel spacers...... Did you use spacers to level it? If so and your goal of Off-road then you would be best to remove the spacers. If you want it lifted(or leveled) then do it right without spacers of blocks, instead go with springs and shocks/struts. If you want a wider stance with the wheels then buy wheels that will pop out a little more, with spacers you run a high risk of breaking wheel studs and being SOL either on the trail or the road.

 

[_TraMor]

2 - Go bigger for tires, 33s are what most of us run.

Same size that's in your sig?

Avoiding large obstacles has always been my approach.

I mean, that's my goal too. I was at a fork in the road where either path was equally as sketchy, I tried both and bottomed out both ways. It's clear that a stock Jeep is short enough to not have had the same problem.

You mentioned a leveling kit and wheel spacers......

Yep, spaced out. The plan was never to do serious off-roading but here we are. I was just looking at the Old Man Emu kit and wondered. Maybe my better bet is to get something dedicated to wheeling.

 

[ReigleCM]

Same size that's in your sig?



Yep, spaced out. The plan was never to do serious off-roading but here we are. I was just looking at the Old Man Emu kit and wondered. Maybe my better bet is to get something dedicated to wheeling.

The size in my sig will only work if you also have 10 inch wide aftermarket wheels. You’ll need to use the tire calculator to see what width tires you need for stock rims. I’ll let @coloradoranger chime in, he has 33s on stock rims I think.

Spacers are perfectly fine as long as they are quality and you routinely check the torque. I had 1 inch spacers on my 4-rubber on 35s that I beat the crap out of off-road for years and never had a singe issue with the spacers.

I do however agree with Frenchy big time. Changing the suspension is like the best mod you can do to your truck. But once cry once, as they say. I have the OME kit and couldn’t be happier, Fox, Eibach, anything is better than stock.

(@coloradoranger also has a set of nice Eibachs for sale for a killer deal)

 

[Jhbryaniv]

You are going to get 100 different paths, and none are wrong.

For me, I added bed rack, and lights. Next will be adding sliders and skids. That's about it, for what I am doing the next steps beyond that to increase height and wheel travel would be in the thousands (long travel suspension).

Adding spacers doesn't do much besides make it look different, and allow slightly larger tires. Check out tinkerers adventures on youtube for the reasoning behind this.



He has a bunch of technical videos on the differences in some lift types - for Toyota but there are enough similarities.

 

[SDXLT]

OP is running a Tremor so he's already on FOX with 32's. I don't think you will get much bang for your buck going to different leafs/coils and you already leveled the front correct?

I'm in the desert and I like going fast on the wash's and don't do much rock crawling. I turned my FX4 into a Tremor by moving to 32" tires, installing the Eibach pro truck 2.0r kit and adding the Tremor leaf packs. I can do everything I want to and the last piece to complete my rig for now is to install the Icon tubular UCAs that are sitting in the garage.

I have done some wheeling in VT when I went to school out there and I know how fast the terrain changes. If you are getting places you can't keep going you probably need a different ORV or you will have to spend a bunch of money to lift the truck and go bigger tires. If it's worth it only you can decide. Or you can find different trails that don't have such treacherous obstacles.

Have any pictures of the obstacles or details on where you are getting hung up? It might help the folks who have way more off roading experience give you tips.

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