Some of you following on my blog perhaps came over from one of the popular Jeep forums and in that case are maybe already familiar with my build of a stock 2012 Jeep Wrangler to the current VagabondExpedition model as it sits today (build list here).
Going forward, I’ll be keeping the blog up to date with details of my build, and hopefully document things I do on the Jeep with a bit more attention to detail that the posts on the Jeep forums.
One of my early modifications was of course, new wheels, tires and a lift. My featured image above shows the build just after the lift, wheels and tires were completed.
The guys at Trucks Plus in Edmonton hooked me up, although they seemed to be more interested in selling me what they had (SWAT: Sell What’s Available Today), I compromised and went with a 3.5″ procomp lift (as opposed to 4″). For wheels, I hoped for 17″ Worx Triads, but settled on the 18″ Worx Triad’s instead. I won’t be able to ‘air down’ as much as if I had a 17″, but then, I also won’t be doing much for hard-core rock crawling where airing down the tires would be beneficial. For tires, the Dunlop Fierce Attitude’s fit the bill at both function and a good price.
Now, no offence to the Trucks Plus guys, but I think they typically build Jeep’s for appearance only as opposed to real-life function. They assured me that some tiny brackets inside the tail gate is all that is required to support the new 35×12.5×18″ spare tire, but the first time I ended up on the trails, I knew I needed to improve my spare tire support….
I wasn’t a fan of the red and chrome “Worx” logo on the wheels, but a couple of coats of “plasti-dip” quickly turned them black. Here is a good view of the blacked out Worx Wheels logo taken on a trip to Drumheller Alberta.
That being said, I’m quite happy with the lift, wheels and tires. The tires throw the mud, and the wheels look good.
View my Jeep build posts here.
Nice build. I have a similar one. Just have 2.5 lift. Have 35s. Did you need a new front drive shaft?
I didn’t do any modifications to the drive shaft… yet. My hardcore off-roading has been quite limited so far and what I have done to date hasn’t shown any issues being manifested so far, and I just had a very thorough inspection done recently. I’ll be more involved in running difficult trails in this coming season, so I’ll be keeping a close eye and monitoring things to see if a replacement will be necessary.
Good to hear about the drive shaft. I am not a huge rock crawler. I do like getting on some trails with good friends though. Xkid