wayoflife

this thread again???



honestly, i saw them and while your front end stuff looks decent, you also have rock krawler control arms. i have no doubts that your ride is smooth being you have dual rate coils but, the drawback to them is that by design, they do limit stuff. if you were still running factory arms with their bonded rubber bushings on both ends of the control arms, that would cause bind and limit flex as well. these are a couple of shots of what a full-traction 3" ultimate lift and 35's look like at a full stuff...







you just can't take a coil purposefully meant to resist compression at a certain point and control arms with bonded rubber bushings on both ends and expect them to flex anymore than they can. as you yourself said "AEV markets their lifts as overland driving not rock crawling" - just sayin

the parts you get are for the most parts just coils, shocks (which are nice) and a whole bunch of brackets. maybe if this kit were selling at about $300 less, i would agree with you but, for me, i have a hard time seeing this as a value but that's just me - certainly, you can get something like a rancho 4" sport kit that comes with a bunch of bracket too and for a fraction of the cost. i do have to take issue on one point you made though and that's in regards to your four other jeeps. unless they were all JK's, i find it a strecth at best to even try to make the comparison.

Littlejon

When it comes to buying a lift for your Jeep everyone has different needs, desires, so there is no one size fits all answer. The best answer is to find someone close to you with the lift you are looking at and go for a ride with them. For my tastes the AEV lift worked out very well (after I had tried 2 other lifts).

AndyM

Yes, but I wasn't trying to make a direct comparison. Just making the point that I knew what I wanted in a lift and have seen the quality and results from several manufacturers. There's really no right or wrong here. For instance, there's no way I would've lifted my LJ without replacing the flimsy stock control arms, but the JK's are plenty stout for moderate wheeling. I also didn't want it to ride like a buck-board on-road to get that last 10% of off-road performance that I don't need. I also tend to load the rig down with the family and assorted crap. I needed a combination of load capacity, quality on-road performance and good off-road capabilities. AEV delivers on all of this with proper geometry, progressive rate coils and bilsteins. And the premium kit isn't just brackets (which are really nice, btw) -- it includes a drag-link flip and rear track bar. Granted its not all adjustable, but it doesn't need it to be. It all works together quite well. Is it the best deal? No. Does it offer the best off-road performance? No. (But I have a dedicated trail rig for that.) Does it work really well for its intended purpose - meaning a combination of on road civility, good performance for moderate off-roading and load capacity for expedition travel? Absolutely! And it is civil enough that my wife can drive it without complaining. That's worth the extra $$$ right there.

wayoflife

and, that was my point. unless you have tested out other brands of lifts on JK's, i don't think it would be fair for you to suggest that they would ride like a buck-board on-road especially being that you have no experience with them.

if you had been following the thread, you could easily add a drag link flip kit to something like the OME kit the OP was looking at and still be ahead by quite a bit. of course, the OME kit or full-traction kit COMES with an adjustable heavy duty front and rear track bar.

4.5" of lift is A LOT of lift. if you have a 2-door, you WILL need to replace your rear drive shaft sooner than later as the operating angle of the shaft will be steep enough to cause the cv joints to fail prematurely. without adjustable upper control arms, you will not be able to set your pinion angle AS WOULD BE NEEDED in order to run a u-joint style double cardin shaft. while you may not need a new rear drive shaft on a 4-door right away like a 2-door, you will eventually as well.

fair enough and if it's worth the extra $$$ for you, who am i to argue that. for the amount of physical product you get, the $$$ just doesn't add up for me

aristobrat

Other lifts may prove that point, but for those following this thread, the OME lift that the OP was looking at doesn't make for a good pricing example.

The $880 OME "kit" the OP was looking doesn't come with bumpstops, rear sway bar links, control arms, or brake lines. Adding those missing pieces raises the cost of the OME lift to $1475 (making it ~$175 more than the AEV Standard lift, using Northridge prices).

Adding the $300 EVO drag-link flip that that you recommended earlier in this thread brings the cost of the OME lift to $1775 (making it ~$25 more than the AEV *Premium* Lift).

wayoflife

i had a feeling you wouldn't be able to stay away from this thread - to address your point, of course it makes for a good pricing example. EVEN IF the total price is $25 MORE than the aev kit, you still end up with MORE physical and high quality product. you get heavy duty adjustable front and rear track bars that allow you to accurately position your axles and a set of heavy duty adjustable control arms that don't rob you of ground clearance and offer more bind free flex. since you keep missing it, you get MORE bang for your buck instead of just a set of laser cut and bent, fixed in place relocation brackets. as i've mentioned on more than one occasion, if the aev kit were about $300 less, you wouldn't even be hearing from me but, being that this thread is all about - "is it worth the money?" i have to say no, it really isn't or, at least not to me especially for how little you really get.

aristobrat

My JK is 97% on-road, and the off-road it sees is nothing like the pictures and videos you've posted in the past.

For me, "bang for buck" is a lift that adds off-road capabilities while retaining (or enhancing) stock on-road performance.

The list of issues that heavy-duty adjustable components solve [perfectly centered axles, reduced ground clearance, flex with bind] aren't issues that I run into with the way that I use my JK.

And the issues I do encounter the most [my JK feeling like it's going to roll over when I take a banked interstate exit at the speed of normal traffic, being jarred out of my seat from the bumpy roads out here, and the front end diving like a submarine when I hit the brakes because some idiot cut me off] aren't solved by heavy-duty adjustable components.

AEV's brackets address the issues I have, so for me, while they definitely don't offer the most material for a buck, the finished solution they offer (which is how my JK rides) gives me the biggest bang for my buck.

wayoflife

you'll forgive me but aside from increased height, this lift kit offers very little in the form of additional "off-road capabilities" and if anything, some of that is negated due to the subtraction of clearance the drop brackets provide. as far as on-road performance goes, you have me there - this kit delivers everything that it advertises.

ummm, we've already covered this and the simple addition of a track bar relocation bracket and draglink flip kit would address this and for just about $25 more to a more complete kit.

please - you have NO experience running OME coils and shocks and it is unfair for you to assume that the ride it would offer would be any less comfortable than the one you have now.

while the aev control arm lowering brackets do provide a bit more braking control, it's nowhere as amazing as you make it sound - or, at least from what i have experienced. i would also argue that if you were to try running a different kit with better coils and shocks, you may find that it's braking characteristics aren't as bad as what you recalled from your previous experience. but, you're right, heavy duty adjustable components won't help you out in this department. in addition to allowing you to do things like set your caster, the only thing they will provide is greater clearance, increased strength, and greater bind free flex.

and good for you. if you're totally convinced of this, i'm sure it will help you to sleep better at night

BuckLisa

Dear Lord, we are gathered here today put an end to this thread. All have made valid points, arguments and retorts. All have come short of the glory of AEV, Old Man Emu, Teraflex and Full Traction, but let us acknowledge everyone's opinions as that and agree to disagree. Let's all meet up in the heavenly offroad trails and pass the tacos and beer...Amen!

storch

Will they do more for on road ride and handling than adjustable lower would do?