building up my 03 wrangler

If it's only going to be a DD and occasionally offroad, I'd go budget boost with 33's and call it done. Maybe some skid plates but much more then that you'd be wasting your money. To do 35's right, you need much more then just a lift and bigger tires. If I had it to do all over again, I'd stick to a budget boost, 1" body lift, 33's and some good shocks (OME). Leave it right there. Much more then that and you'll find out quick that you won't like driving it every day.

Ask anyone here who has put all the money into 35's or 37's just to return to 33's in the long run.

Just my $.02

Honestly it's because Rough Country lifts are junk. What I'm getting at, is that once you go to 35's and 4" lift you NEED an SYE, gears, adjustable upper and lower control arms, track bars, tires, rims, if you offroad much at all you'll want that 44 and gears and then you've just sunk $3500 or more into it if you can install all that yourself. If not, your easily into $5000 or more. After all that, if you decide to sell it you'll sell it for less then a stock jeep.

I'm not telling you what to do, but you asked for opinions, so I'm just telling you what most of us have found out the hard way.

You also said you wanted to know if you would spend all that and end up not liking it. I can guarantee, as many others can attest to also, you won't like it as a daily driver.

Later

a cheap 4" lift is going to ride horribly. Be prepared for a pretty firm (harsh) ride, especially on rough roads (pot holes, speedbumps, whatever). I also suggest sticking with 33s, they are bigger than most people expect.

I'm not sure what you mean with "unique", there are a ton of Jeeps out there with 4" lifts and 35" tires. I'm not trying to bust on you, just not sure what you meant.

Rough Country is probably the most replaced lift kit in the Jeep world. They are known for the extremely harsh ride quality, one customer of mine said it rode like a tank.

Quote from jberry03

what do you recomend over the rough country lift remember i want to stay away from the body lift

Depends on what your budget is ,TBH .

I can't comment about the RC lift , I have no experience with them . Only know what I have read .
Sounds like you will at the very least need to invest in decent shocks after you install the lift .
Why no body lift ? If you ever decide to install a Tummy tuck you would most likely need it anyway .

IMO run a BB and a body lift with 33's and save for a real lift . Do some more research the decide

Here is what a RE 3.5 and a JKS B/L looks like with 33's FWIW .

Can you even notice the body lift in my pic ?

I have some axles already geared and locked ready to be thrown into a TJ... Would be perfect for 35s. Will save you the hassle of buying gears, install kits, lockers, and paying someone to put them all in.

heres a picture of a jeep with a 4" lift and 35"s.

how does that look to you, is that the look your going for?

Take a look at 3 stages of my jeep.

A) Stock on 31's - Went anywhere other than basically high blues and blacks at RC. Otherwise it did everything I wanted it to do and drove like, well, stock. I decided RC was what I wanted, so I went to the next stage.

B) 2" BB + 1.25" BL with 33's and stock gears - Went damn near anywhere I pointed it, including "blacks" at RC. The driver was usually the limiting factor. Still drove real well and no issues being my DD.

C) Clayton 4" LA + 1.25" BL with 35's and 4.88's - The big jump. There is no doubt, the driver is about the only limiting factor now. It goes anywhere I want, and it drives better than stock. Yes, believe it because it is still my DD and make the 500+ mile round-trip to NY often. You get what you pay for, just don't ask me about the installation because that is a whole different can of worms. If you are going big, like 35's or 37's, then skip all the short arm steps and save for a long arm. Clayton, Nth Degree, Rubicon Express, all make great lifts but it is a long and expensive parts list.

So, to recap, I wasn't satisfied with "A" so I quickly went to "B". That was the cost of a BB, BL, MML, Tires, and Rims. Probably about $1,600 total into it at this point neglecting the skid plates and buying used tires. When you go from "B" to "C", I am not going to say how much I have into it, but I will say it is more than $5,000 above and beyond what "B" cost me. Think long and hard before you do it. If you carry out your plan, you are going to be just another, in a very long line of posters asking "Why does my jeep vibrate?", "Why does it ride so harsh?", "I keep busting [insert one of many parts here], how do I stop it from happening?", "My jeep has no power, what can I do?", "I only get 12 mpg, why?", and the list goes on. The answer to every single one of those involves spending more money. If you are going to disregard all the good advice already given by folks that have been through this, then please, don't waste anyone's time asking then not listening, or subsequently asking how to fix it...

Really, all I am saying, as have others, is to not kid yourself about this project. If you even have to consider money, forget 4" or bigger for now. Do the BB + BL with 33's and call it a day. Your rig will look good, drive well, be reliable, and you will get a chance to learn how to drive it before you decide the next step.

to do 35's correctly and not "hate" the jeep here is a parts and approxamate cost break down, not including installation

4-6 long arm lift kit $2800 (includes springs shocks control arms and track bars)
sye $300
rear drive shaft $300
rims/tires- $1200 if new, $800 used
gears $175 per axle, so you will need two
install kits for the gears $90 per axle, so two
depending on what gears are in the jeep now, you will need carriers, figure $ 225 per for open, $500+ per for lockers
steering dampner $40
brake lines $90

that is all keeping what is on the jeep now. If you want to do axles on top of it, add $1500 absolute minimum.

Just giving you an idea of what you are getting your self into.

this is not just my personal opinion, this is over 4 and 1/2 years working in the aftermarket jeep world.

first off, welcome to the forum. there are a lot of great people here. and a lot of knowledgeable and experienced people who can offer great advice.

which brings me to my second point. please don't take offense - everyone here is trying to help, but you don't seem to be listening. you've seemingly come here for suggestions, yet it appears that you already have your mind made up. you stated that this project was something that you'd be willing to 'waste' money on, but that your budget isn't all that great. as with many things, in the world of jeep mods, 'doing it right' and 'doing it cheap' are mutually exclusive.

the costs of going bigger are exponential. what i mean by this is that bigger costs money, and a little bigger than that costs a LOT more money.

if money is no object, then go for it. otherwise, reread Artie's post:

Quote from Artie

to do 35's correctly and not "hate" the jeep here is a parts and approxamate cost break down, not including installation

4-6 long arm lift kit $2800 (includes springs shocks control arms and track bars)
sye $300
rear drive shaft $300
rims/tires- $1200 if new, $800 used
gears $175 per axle, so you will need two
install kits for the gears $90 per axle, so two
depending on what gears are in the jeep now, you will need carriers, figure $ 225 per for open, $500+ per for lockers
steering dampner $40
brake lines $90

that is all keeping what is on the jeep now. If you want to do axles on top of it, add $1500 absolute minimum.

Just giving you an idea of what you are getting your self into.

this is not just my personal opinion, this is over 4 and 1/2 years working in the aftermarket jeep world.

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if you are not ready to spend five grand or more not including installation, then heed this wise advice:

Quote from Quantum73

Really, all I am saying, as have others, is to not kid yourself about this project. If you even have to consider money, forget 4" or bigger for now. Do the BB + BL with 33's and call it a day. Your rig will look good, drive well, be reliable, and you will get a chance to learn how to drive it before you decide the next step.