a little advice for a new jeep owner. 2002 wrangler

[Jason]

:hide:

What was I thinking, the Rubicons come with front and rear D44's. Thanks for checking.

When I ordered my 2002 one of the few options was a Heavy Duty rear axle, this upgraded the D35 to D44 and if I remember correctly it was less then $300.00. Boy did I luck out seeing how I knew very little about all this stuff.

I knew less than you. I bought the last of the YJs.:hide: I did the 8.8 upgrade though.

Sorry to the OP, I have leaf springs. Can't help you on the choice of lifts.

[2blk2drs]

a front lunchbox locker will get you places you never thought possible.
best ~$200 i have spent

[JeepGal]

Before you lock it, get to know what its capabilities are first.

Youll be very suprised where a stockish Jeep can go, and when you finally lock it, youll be a more capable driver.

[brokenujoint]

Before you lock it, get to know what its capabilities are first.

Youll be very suprised where a stockish Jeep can go, and when you finally lock it, youll be a more capable driver.

You beat me to the punch..

There is nothing more fun than taking a stock jeep out (with other jeeps) and seeing what it (and you) are capable of and comfortable doing. I had the most fun with my new jeep, stock gears, 31 inch tires and open diffs. When something broke, I upgraded it. When I realized that 31's werent cutting it I moved up to 32's then took a HUGE leap to 35's. If I just jumped to a long arm and large tires/lockers, my jeep would be destroyed by now. You gotta learn to use what you got, then move up...

If you never plan on going more than 32's or 33's then you can do a mild lift and keep it on a budget.. If you ever get the bug and believe me YOU WILL, you'll wanna just do it right the 1st time and not look back. Whats the 1st time? Well, how much can you afford? Then when you figure that out, figure another 50% on top of that. Expect to go hungry saving for something and being obsessed about jeep stuff. You'll be fighting with your spouse why you HAVE to have this or that. You'll be at work drawing your jeep, looking online at pics of your jeep. You get the idea.

I dont know your lifestyle, your income, your living conditions, your mechanical aptitude and so on, but my advice is to wheel it as hard as you can with what you got and upgrade it while it breaks.
OR, if you just want the looks, do a body lift, spring spacers and some shocks, tires, wheels and call it good.