nthinuf

Uppers are cheaper, lowers have a better range of adjustability. (uppers are shortened to increase caster. Lowers are lengthened to increase caster). Either will work, but in general, lowers would be the better choice.

Can't comment on which brand would be better than any other, but:
One plus to Curries is that the uppers are known to be about the shortest out there. If you decide to save a bit of money and get uppers only, they are probably the ones you want.

wayoflife

what he said - uppers are cheaper but also a bit harder to install as you will need to cut the bolt at the frame end. lower are way easy to install and you will have more adjustablity. personally, i would go with the lowers.

as far as brands go, i have installed and run both currie arms and teraflex arms and they are both good.

aristobrat

Oh! The only reason I said that is I'm already happy with my JK's on-pavement performance, so the reason I'd want a long-arm is for the extra off-pavement capability. But as long as my JK is my DD, I'm not comfortable with the type of wheeling that would make use of that extra capability.

Are you running that with stock bumpstops and sway bar links?

wayoflife

okay, i guess there won't be any need for you to get long arms then.

since you are not aware of this, anytime you lift a jeep, the appropriate height bumpstop extension should be installed in order to prevent the over compression of your coils. as far as sway bar links go, i installed a set of northridge adjustable links in the rear and installed the factory rear links up front.

AdEcec

PERFECT PICS wayoflife. Thanks. Ive been looking for a set up similar like yours as option 2. Nice to see the OME and flat fenders give the clearence I expected. Looks like 37 would be no problem with that set up.

I am still on the fence about the whole set up. The AEV kit is def designed for exactly what I want on paper but when you are dropping this kind of coin you dont want to wonder what ifs.

Humor me with this. if you were going to do this one piece at a time, which piece first. Im leaning towards bumper because its the one that if I dont do it soon I will talk myself out of it because of price.

bumper - Probably sit the jeep nose down .5" or so till its lifted
wheels - can run the pintlers wiith my 285/70 for a few weeks
lift - wont look too redic if I stick to the 3.5"

DCJEEP

Anyone in Edmonton want to install my 4.5 premium? Then I can chime in. Lol

wayoflife

honestly, if you don't have a set already, i would recommend a good set of rocker guards first. i don't recall seeing them on your list and if you plan on wheeling your jeep at all, they are the one thing i always recommned, second only to a set of tow points front and rear. as far as bumper goes, for me, it would go last on the list but that only because it will do the least for you in terms of wheeling. but, everyones wants/needs are different

BuckLisa

Here is a pic of my drop brackets with Rock Krawler arms. Not really that bad but not perfect for "gettin on it" with the rocks!

aristobrat

So to build the Northridge OME lift as a complete lift, one would need the following parts?

$880 = Northridge OME base lift package (springs, shocks, adj track bars)
$300 = TeraFlex lower control arms
$ 75 = Northridge recommended bump stops
$ 70 = Northridge recommended adj rear sway links
$ ?? = something for the brake lines
------
$1325

The thing I didn't like about the TF lift I ran was that the way it the body leaned into corners required me to take turns much slower than I did stock -- especially if the turn had added camber, like a curved interstate exist.

Do any of the components in the OME lift above help with that?

wayoflife

LOL!! you just can't let this one go can you.

and that would be about $350 less than your kit which just comes with a bunch of relocation brackets and some of which that actually LOWERS mounts that already get hit all the time on the trail. of course, for the $350 lower price tag, you get heavy duty adjustable track bars and a set of heavy duty adjustable lower front control arms that don't rob you of ground clearance. this is to say nothing of the fact that the benefit of having adjustable track bars is that they will allow you to accurately position your axle under your jeep regardless of actual lift height. a relocation bracket alone will only be able to center your axle so long as you are sitting at the ride height it was intended for. go any higher for whatever reason in the future and it will be off to the driver side. go any lower due to heavy bumpers and armor and it will be off the the passnger side. but hey, who cares if your axle is off center.

in spite of what you seemed to have convinced yourself of, spring rate and the valving of shocks alone can make a significant difference in the way your jeep handles when cornering. but, i suppose that you think that your single experience with the basic TF kit you ran must apply to all other kits made as well especially if they don't come with expensive relocation brackets. since you have missed it, i will say yet again that the aev kit offers a great ride and it handles very well. i have NEVER disputed this and, i have no doubts that you love yours to pieces especially when compared to your previous lift. for me personally, the gains are simply not significant enough to justifiy the extra cost especially when the only thing you're really getting is a set of relocation brackets. for just another $300, you can practically get something like a full traction ultimate kit which comes with all new heavy duty adjustable control arms and track bars and is pretty much one of the most complete kits you can get. but hey, that's just my opinion and based on my limited experience and knowledge