I had the brackets and the ride was amazing on the road and off. My only issue is that I was running them with my RK arms and they are just a little bit longer at their shortest length compared to stock arms. My alignment was just a tad off. I took them off instead of going back to stock arms since I bought them. Honestly the ground clearance is not enough to be concerned with unless you are going really crazy in the rocks. I would keep the brackets on and use stock arms to save $. Mine still rides fine, but bumps are just a bit more harsh but not bad.

 

all you really need are front lower control arms. to set castor. rear uppers for 2doors to set pinion. the aev brackets are just a cheaper way to get away from running front lca's.

 

Nice jeep, I recognize some if that Colorado landscape!

So it sounds like you started off with a rock krawler lift with the adjustable arms?

 

Drop brackets level the lower arms as well, reducing axle steer so there is more to it then just adjusting caster. Better geometry for a better ride. Adjustable control arms do not do that.

 

Hey, did you go with the bilstein 5100 mono, or the 5160 remote res shock? I think the AEV kit will be the route I will go. I just have no need for all of the travel that the long arm would provide. When being realistic with myself, my main concern is making sure it's fun to drive. I haven't heard anyone say that AEV won't provide that to me.

 

Exactly !! It's refreshing to see a forum member with a rig as nicely built as yours is for your intended purpose, and still offer sound advice to the members that may consider relocation brackets.

 

I've used a Teraflex long arm suspension, a Poly Performance long arm suspension, and I have an AEV 3.5" suspension on my current JK. The long arm suspensions were used with 37" tires and the AEV suspension is being used with 35" tires for now. It looks like 37s would fit with the 3.5" AEV suspension, with stock fender flares. There is plenty of room to spare with the 35" tires. All three of these lifts work well off road for the type of offroading I do, which is exploring the back country every weekend. The AEV suspension is the best on road suspension of these three.

 

Ditto

I'm running Rancho's version of the drop bracket. I don't do any hard core wheeling (yet) but do plan on adjustable arms. Actually the plan is to run both which I've seen other do.
Best of both worlds if not going long arm.

 

Having run AEV, Rock Krawler, Teraflex, and EVO I can tell you IMHO that no short arms lift can compare to the ride quality of a long arm lift. Even with coilovers, the ride quality was greatly improved when I switched to long arms. Sure, it's more money but don't spend the same money 2 or 3 times. Do it right the first time and never look back.
And not to incite a firestorm but since I'm throwing my opinion around ...AEV makes good coils and not much else if you're interested in pushing your rig offroad.