OK, if the durometer rating of a tire measures its softness, does the Durhamometer rating of a hood measure its flexability? Probably not. However, the high-clearance hoods offered by Chris Durham Motorsports aren't fiberglass like you're used to. The hoods are built from a flexible plastic that can bend up to 45 degrees before cracking for an added measure of clearance and bashability.
Contact: Chris Durham Motorsports, 864/420-1274
While there are a few others on the market, the Rubicon Express 4-inch stretch kit not only replaces the rear control arms with high-clearance radius arms for simplified packaging that allows a fullsize muffler, it also relocates the rear coil spring buckets to fully take advantage of the new rear axle's position 4 inches farther to the rear.
Contact: Rubicon Express, 877/367-7824, rubiconexpress.com
For TJ and YJ owners, Gen-Right Off Road makes it easy to stretch out your wheelbase by 4 inches for a 98-inch stance. The company's signature fuel tank accepts the factory Wrangler sending unit and makes room for the rear axle layback without the need to add a fuel cell to the interior. Plus, the company includes its rocker guards with 4 inches of extra material on the rear side and its corner guards with wheel openings that are 4 inches farther back than stock.
Contact: Gen-Right Off Road,805/584-8635, genright.com
If you're considering an XJ or MJ, be prepared that unless you're willing to mess with the body a little, you're going to need a 6-inch lift to clear tires as small as 33s. Cutting the rear wheel openings a bit will help keep the rear stance down, and adding a set of aftermarket fiberglass fenders will go a long way toward providing room for your front tires to breathe. There are several companies offering up fiberglass XJ and MJ front fenders, so your best bet is to just do a Google search for your year and model.
While they were originally a gnarly band of Viking warriors, nowadays they're a cool, larger-than-stock replacement fender for a ZJ. Icelandoffroad.com offers its line of Go Berserk fender flares for ZJs that allow a 35x12.50 tire with only a 4-inch lift. For those non-ZJ guys, that may not seem like a lot of tire, but trust us, it is. And if you're hankering for 37s on your ZJ, the company says you can squeeze 'em under with only a 6-inch lift when used with its fenders.
Contact: Icelandoffroad.com, 801/427-5998, icelandoffroad.com
Whether you do it with wheel spacers, rims with the right backspacing, or wider axles, you're most likely going to need to space very large tires and wheels away from your springs and body to prevent unwanted contact. This may mean running wheel spacers if you've already sunk a lot of money into wheels with a deep backspacing. If not, consider rims with a 3.5-inch or 3.25-inch backspacing as mandatory for large diameter tires on most Wrangler or other common Jeeps. And if you're up for it, how about throwing some fullsize 1-ton axles under there to really increase the track width?
There are a few cool YJ suspensions out there that move the axles a little bit here and there, but we were pleased with our time in Superlift's YJ equipped with the company's X2 suspension system. At 7 inches of lift, the X2 offers a lot of height for the 37-inch tires the company recommends. We say take full advantage of the front coilover conversion and heavy-duty spring-over rear springs and torque arm traction bar to run 40s or bigger. The front control arms are high clearance and are angled in for tire clearance, so there's little worry of rubbing at full lock.
Contact: Superlift, 888/299-4692,superlift.com