Kgk

I am thinking about a lift kit for my jk 2013, the shop I spoke to is recommending a certain lift for the jeep, my wife will drive so quality matters, I do like her. The lift is a 4 inch BDS with Fox shock upgrades, steering stabilizer, adjustable front and rear trac, stainless steel brake lines. With Mickey Thompson ATZ3 P3 tires 35x12.50 R17. Thoughts on this set up?

Rupie

Everything is always personal preference or many companies wouldn't stay in business to compete if there was only vanilla. But... "I" think BDS make quality stuff but way too stiff/rough ride for me. I have used the BDS 4" lift before and wasn't as happy as I am now with my 3.5 AEV lift. Metal cloak is also nice with the 6 pack shocks but is a bit pricey. If it's for the bride, go AEV. It's the best road worthy lift and very strong and sturdy off road. 3.5" AEV will net a bit more height if you don't add bumpers and winch. Here is mine on 37"s

Bumperfender

My daily driver is a three inch BDS lift with Fox shocks, and it drives like a dream. I have 35" toyo tires. It took a few miles to get used to how it handled.

LidLess07X

I have a 3 inch BDS and then added a 1 inch spacer which put me at 4". I was unhappy with the ride and handling. My wife drives mine too. My ride quality drasticly improved when I added AEV's lower control arm brackets and improved yet again when I added EVO's drag link flip kit.

You might not have to do these things since you are going with a 4" kit vs. A 3" kit and altering with a spacer, but I would be sure the kit you are buying addresses these two issues

ie; getting the drag link and track bar closer to parralelle , and getting the front lower control arms addressed.

The AEV kit you mentioned is notorious for an outstanding on road ride and handling but is criticized by the hard - core rock crawlers for "being a bunch of brackets"

twoxstreem

I have a 4.5" BDS here are some of my experiences:

- Custom front drive shaft required (like tom woods)
- Adj track bars front and rear required
- Fox shocks (mine seem to work well)
- Longer braided brake lines ( I used Crown for $135 for 4)
- Adj. lower front control arms

- if you want to use a drag link flip kit in the future you will need to keep the factory pitman arm. BDS utilizes a combo drop pitman (approx. 3") and raised track bar(2.5"). This works great and steering geometry is spot on.... however if you ever upgrade drag links and tie rods to a syngergy steer kit you will need the OEM pitman and synergy's raised track bar mount.

I have 35" Nittos and aev rims. Mine drives like rails on the highway and great offroad when disco.

I also installed AEV geo correction brackets which really level and smooth out the control arms and ride. That being said there is a large culvert like bump which spans the highway on my commute. I dread hitting it everyday, but my BDS lift handles all other bumps like a champ and the harder i drive it on bumpy roads the better it handles.


For what its worth i have heard great things about the EVO plus ride springs.

Also with 35's you will need a tire carrier or you will hear the rear gate pop and bang when going over the smallest bumps.

D3ADLY

An old friend turned enemy of mine runs BDS on his. It's a very very uncomfortable ride and throws you all over the Jeep. It's a 3" lift on 33'' MT baja MTZ.

I dunno if this is true or not but I've read quite a few times Fox shocks are a fairly rough ride.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 3 while crawling over mini trucks.

TheDirtman

I would put BDS in the same class of lift as Rough Country, Pro Comp, Rubicon Express, Zone, Ranchero, and Skyjacker. They all base their engineering on a price point and ship out incomplete kits or take cheap short cuts like a drop pitman arm and drop track bar brackets.

If you are looking at one of these kits do yourself a favor and just buy a decent set of coils and build around them with proper components. This will require you to actually learn the components of your suspension and what you will need to properly run the lift size of your choosing.

I would also recommend that you start at a 2"-2.5" lift to clear the 35" tires as it is plenty of lift with proper wheel back spacing. If it is wires daily driver a 2.5" budget boost coil spacer lift and some decent shocks should be more then enough for her.

Roryslife

I have BDS, but I am slowly migrating away from it. The best thing about BDS is their guarantee and the amount of shops that are out there to provide support. There are a whole lot of people who run BDS, but their forum support isn't as big as other manufacturers.

Its hard to make a recommendation without knowing your price point. Its always easiest for us on the forums to make recommendations that ignore value added features.

AEV gets great reviews from the daily driver light off road crew, but they I would say they tend to be overpriced.

I actually think Metal Cloak provides good value for money. The Game-Changer ARB edition for $2700 seems like a really phenomenal deal. Includes everything except for the steering stabilizer, but quite frankly, I don't think you need it, especially running 35's.

MtraXX

I run the BDS 4.5" and don't have or haven't had any issues. I also upgraded to the Fox shocks, adj front and rear trac, adj upper, lower, front and rear CA's. Zero issues and I'm happy with the ride. I don't thinkg I'd put BDS in the same category as Rough Country!

I run 27psi in my 37's and the ride is fairly smooth, as smooth as I'd imagine a 4.5" lifted jeep on 37's is going to run.