That depends a lot on what you are doing with the Jeep. With 37" tires, 100" is a pretty versatile wheelbase, but If climbing big ledges or other extremely steep obstacles is your thing, you will want to be more in the 105-110" range. If maneuverability and break-over angle is important (tight wooded trails, technical boulder sections) sub 100" wheelbase is really nice. 100-105" is a nice compromise between the two generally.

Basically it is a trade off between maneuverability and stability, as well as approach/departure and break-over angle.

By stock body, I assume you mean that you don't want to comp cut the rear? If that is the case, 4-5" is pretty much the limit of how far you can push the rear back. You will need to address the gas tank. I know Genright and probably a few others make "stretch" tanks, which are essentially reduced capacity tanks that mount in the stock location and are designed to clear your rear axle once it has been relocated.

By the way, 4-5" of rear stretch will put you at 98-99" of wheel base. I have a rig on 38s with 99" of wheel base, and it is noticeably more stable than the original 94" wheel base, although it is hard to say how much of that is due to the full width axles. I am planning on going to 105" in the future though because I like to go up big ledges.

 

Here is what the Jeep looks like right now. And yes by stock body I mean no comp cut rear. I currently have a GenRight Extended Range tank in the TJ and would swap it for a Crawler Comp23 tank which according to GenRights web site will allow 6" stretch.
I know most of the aftermarket vendors offer rear corner guards that will allow me to push the rear back 4" roughly.

Looking at getting the rest of the stretch from a TNT Custom front stretch.

You explained my main type of wheelin better than I could figure out how to say. Tight wooded trail, technical bolder sections. Yes I do some climbing ledges and such but not often. I'm trying to hit that balance between a good tight trail rig but able to do some more extreme trails also.

I'm limited on some of the things I can do to because I need to keep the ORO AiRock air bag system (which is going to be a challenge since my frame is already notched for outboard shocks) and I want to keep a stock style fuel tank because with my V-8 swap I don't feel 15 gal is enough fuel.

I have a HP44 front and CRD60 rear axles in the Jeep and both are stock width for the narrow tight trails. And yes the improved approach and departure angles is a nice added benefit.

Dont know how well 4-5 inches of strech will work without fuel cell.

With my yj 3 inchs stretch with a 8.8 and it hit the tank.

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You can get custom fuel tanks from GenRight that keep the stock 19 gal capacity for up to 6" stretch with a D60 rear axle. You can get more stretch with a 11 gal tank. With what I am shooting for I can now get a 23 gal tank also.

 

Dont know how well 4-5 inches of strech will work without fuel cell.

With my yj 3 inchs stretch with a 8.8 and it hit the tank.

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It sounds to me like 100" should serve you pretty well then. I figured based on your location, wooded trails would be in your repertoire. Most of the PNW rigs I have seen don't go much over 100".

 

Based on my research I'm going to say I can go back 4-5" and then 3" in the front.
So I would actually be at 101-102" depending on how much I can stretch each end.

My biggest issue is that I had already notch the frame for outboard shocks. So I would have to close that area back up and move the shock mounts father back. Not saying it can't be done but it might pose an issue.

I found this kit from Barnes 4WD for the rear upper spring mounts.
https://www.barnes4wd.com/Jeep-TJ-and-LJ-Rear-Coil-Spring-Relocation-Kit-_p_253.html

Based on what I am wanting to do I am going to have to do a custom suspension as no one makes a kit to stretch the front and rear.

Now in a few years my daughter graduates from high school and then I plan on traveling around the US and hitting trails all over the US. So a rig that will work in other areas is also what I am trying for.

 

Their website is kind of screwed up, but the kit from TNT has options for front and rear stretch. You may need to call them since the website won't let you spec it out. It is a bit spendy, but looks like a good piece.

https://www.tntcustoms.com/jeep_par...parts/tj_long_arm_upgrade_rock_tek_high_clearance_97_06_wrangler_tj_tnt_customs

 

Yes been talking with TNT Custom and I am really looking at their front stretch. For the rear they said they can't offer any help. Since my frame is notched they said what they normally do is back half the frame. But I am not sure doing that would allow me to keep a GenRight tank and be able to mount the upper coil bucket mounts.

 

In the club Jays jeep is 100" wb, Have you seen it?

 

No I don't think I have.

 

Being that we appear to run a lot of same area, I think anything right around 100 is about perfect. I run primarily upper trails at Rimrock where tight is an understatement and a decent amount around Liberty. A buddies buggy is 108" and when I started building mine he said he felt 108" was about the max he'd wanna try and squeeze through the trees. I didn't want to fully comp cut mine so I stretched it to the max while trying to preserve at least some of the radius on the rear corner. Mines sitting at 102"

[/url]IMG_20181222_124955048 by Alex Velasquez, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

Simple72CJ,
That is a awesome looking rig. I like all your custom work on it.

Thanks for the help.