Jeep sure took their sweet time to realize they should sell OEM lift kits, but as of now you can finally buy 2" and 4" lifts at the same place you bought your new Wrangler, along with a pretty solid list of other off-road upgrades.
Mopar will offer a 2" lift for 2012-and-newer JK Wranglers for about $1,500, and one for the '07 to 2011 vehicles for about $900. Setups for older vehicles with the bigger, crappier 3.8 V6 cost less because they don't need to include a new driveshaft.
Jeep says 2"-up is enough to fit 35" tires, which is a pretty popular setup in the off-road Wrangler scene right now. But they'll also offer a 4" lift for those who want even more clearance, that's $2,250.
Kits are a lot more comprehensive than a set of spacers; you get "springs, brake lines and control arms, four specially tuned remote reservoir shocks, all necessary brackets, a double cardan driveshaft and yoke, a steering damper and a high-steer conversion kit."
Jeep's also bringing big brake kits ($795) plus "Master Cylinder and Booster" upgrades ($245) to their catalog. That should help reel in your newly-upsized tires.
Also awesome; Dana 60 crate axles can now be purchased from your Jeep dealer. These include "standard one-ton truck disc brakes with dual-piston calipers, 1550 size u-joints, premium locking hubs and heavy-duty mounting brackets." They're are engineered to work with standard steering and braking systems. A Dana 60 can handle more weight, power, and abuse than current Wrangler offerings and will cost $4,000 to $7,000 depending on your application.
Flat-top fender flares, true beadlock wheels, rock sliders (for the Wrangler, Grand Cherokee, and even the regular Cherokee) plus Mopar "door checks" will soon be options as well.
This is a great move by Mopar's product planning office. People buy a Wrangler because they love the idea of adventure, not because they want cheap or practical transportation (the Wrangler is of course neither)... so off-road upgrades for these things market themselves.
Having parts like this available at the dealership negates warranty-voiding concerns for folks who want to modify their new JK right away, and will hopefully inspire more of the Jeep-buying public to use their Wranglers for what they were born to do. Just to be clear, "drive from a condo to an office park" is not what your Wrangler was born to do.
I was about to say "I can't believe it took Jeep so long to start marketing their own lifts" but then I remembered it took them, what, forty(?) years to figure out a four-door Wrangler would sell. So they're not exactly running a fast market-reacting operation over there.
Can't wait to hear what people say about these parts after a few hundred miles in the field. I drove the Easter Jeep Safari prototypes with both 2" and 4" lifts around in circles for about an hour and nothing exploded... so all good so far.
Images via Jeep, Mark Victor Arnold
Andrew P. Collins is Jalopnik's off-road and adventure guy. Shoot him an email at andrew@jalopnik.com or hit him up on Twitter @andr3wcollins to talk trucks.