I have AEV control arm drop brackets on my Jeep now. I just got my new 8Adj control arms in. I was wondering if i should install the adj control arms with the drop brackets. would this pose a problem or have any gains like more flex? as long as i could still get the castor correct. Thanks for any info.

 

You will be fine if you can set the arms at factory length. The drop brackets offer benifits that just control arms can not do in terms of handling. You would at least have stronger arms over the factory. You will not get anymore flex out of you jeep by adding adjustable arms.

 

I already have the adj arms in was just making sure I could bolt them up to the drop brackets rather than the stock location

 

The more horizontal your lower arms are the better the ride. Only thing that suffers is clearance. I know kjeeper10 is running adjustables on drop brackets, or at least was at one time.

 

Is there a way to measure the better handling the lower brackets provide?

I just installed the TF 2.5in coil lift kit on my JKU using Bilstein shocks and Synergy longer lower arms. Sincerely, I felt it riding very similar to stock on highways speed (up to 80mph). Actually a bit firmer than with the Rubi shocks I was using before.

In a couple trails I rode this past week, lower brackets would have been hammered by some rocks laying on the trails that I just drove over.

However, if adding those brackets can offer a measurable improvement I'd go for it since I'm always trying to figure out ways to improve my Jeep.

 

Sounds like your good where you are. It helps by transferring less shock to the frame of the Jeep when hitting an obstacle like a pot hole for example. When the arm is level and it hits a pothole or bump, the arm pivots upward. Not much of the impact carries through the arm to the frame. But when the Jeep is lifted and the arm is more at an angle, picture it in your head, the impact will be transferred through the arm to the frame as well as up, more and more as the angle becomes steeper. It's kind of like stubbing your finger.

Here's a crappy picture that may help decipher my gibberish.

 

Try without the drop brackets. I had the brackets and then went with just arms on my current lift. Obviously, there are more variables at play, but my Jeep rides and drives better now than on my old lift with the brackets. Just get the caster right on the arms (4.5-5 degrees).

 

I run both on my JKU, I have a 6" teraflex short arm and I was maxing out droop without the drop bracket due to the arms hitting the lower mount cup on the axle. With the AEV brackets it helped a lot and I measured about 2" of lost clearance at the base of the control arm at the frame, but its still highter than my engine skid and crossmember.

 

Thanks! Makes sense. I was looking at the Synergy low arm I got and it is angled like in the (crappy) diagram below. Therefore, the impact does not go directly to the pivot point on the frame. Instead it also creates a torsion effect like when using a lower bracket to hold the low arm. It has been working fine so far, even though I never tried the other to compare.

 

The force is still applied to the frame mount as if it was a straight arm. The arms are bent for clearance.