Joe1992

Ok, so I am planning on lifting my 2012 2-door sport. My budget is about $5000.

My dealership quoted me at $3700 to install a Mopar Stage 3 series 3" suspension lift.
Here is a link to the kit -> MOPAR P5156140 - MOPAR® Performance 3" Lift Kit with Fox Shocks for 12-13 Jeep® Wrangler Unlimited JK 4 Door - Quadratec
I'm thinking that's quite a high number that they came up with for that kit. It's non-adjustable, short-arm and has no track-bars and seems kind of incomplete. It's a teraflex kit with Fox shocks that's made exclusively for dealerships to offer customers without a warranty-void, I think.

I'm thinking I'd rather go with a long-arm kit from Rock Krawler or AEV or even a real TeraFlex kit.

Does anybody have a kit that they would recommend for a 2-door? I'm looking to put 2.5"-3.5" of lift on the suspension and put it on 35" tires. Think it's possible to do that with a $5000 budget? If so, if I have some money left over, do you think I should re-gear? It came with 3.21s. Should I upgrade the driveshafts? It's not a rubicon, so what else would you recommend to make a sport more trail-worthy?

Anyone have experience lifting a sport rather than a rubi? If so I would really appreciate hearing about your set-up and how you like it.

Kojack

Contact Northridge and get a teraflex system. You will have enough for a full 8 arm system. And your jeep will be fully prepared in the suspension department. Just remember to keep the lift height low to keep problems to a minimum.

What kind of trails are you running? That will play a big part in how crazy you get with your lift.

Joe1992

Been looking into Teraflex, they look great and from what I've heard they have a great customer service department. I'll be moving to Orlando, FL soon so I'll be wheeling on the beach, in the mud and on whatever trails I can find but nothing too steep, mountainous or rocky. This jeep is also my daily driver and from what I've heard the AEV Duelsport SC 3,5" kit has awesome on-road handling.

DadsCJ

You would also be fine with the OME HD as it clears 35"s easy on a 2 or 4 door.

I bought mine and had it installed with new Bilsteins for $900, couldn't be happier.

This is the same kit I had on my 2 dr 2011 and 4 door Ruby 2007.

Just my 3 cents.............

KFH

I am in the same boat with you in deciding on a lift for my '13 Rubicon to run a set of 35 Falken on 15's with 3 and 3/4 BS. I encourage you to read up on AEV and call and talk to them. They have hired 4 Jeep engineers (from Chrysler) to develop their products. One of which was the original developer of the JK suspension system. They did their testing and tuning at the Chrysler proving grounds. Their have a large R&D center in MT for product development. I have not pulled the trigger on the lift but am highly considering the AEV 2.5 inch kit.

I am going to mount my 35's and take some measurements and call them for some clarification before I order. I have scaled my 2 dr. with the armor and know the weights of the front and rear axles. Important in suspension performance. Based on my last conversation with AEV their tuning and testing was done with a fully modded JK so the additional weight (1000 pounds over stock curb weight in my case, not including gear) was considered in the development of the lift kits. I am concerned that the wheels I have may not have enough BS to allow them to tuck into the stock flares with a 2.5 inch lift. Hence, a little work and a measurement will determine if I will need different wheels or aftermarket flares, or a larger lift. One goals is to stay as low as possible and still clear the 35's for trail work and run stock for highway driving to maintain efficiency.

Kojack

Joe,

you need no more than 2.5".....you can clear 35s with that, you will not have to mess with drive shafts, etc. I would recommend the teraflex 2.5" lift and add elka shocks. You will have an amazing suspension system and the backing of a great company in teraflex. AEV suspensions are no different than any other system. just marketing etc. you can get a comparable lift from teraflex with the same parts.

I have nothing against AEV just my experience with teraflex customer service is worth buying their products.

BTW im extremely jealous of you living in orlando. We own a house in zephrhills I get to twice a year. but im going to claim refugee status from canada in florida. reason....im scared of the snow now! HA HA

hooper

I really like my 2.5" TF lift, but I wish I would have got the 3". I added 1" spacers to it. I got a special from Offroad Warehouse that included Fox 2.0 IFP shocks. I did have to get a front adj trackbar (went with RK). I have 35" tires and BW flat fenders and it look well proportioned. With the money you save not going with Mopar you can get much more parts.

mpkelley20

For a Mopar "branded" lift (which sounds like it's possibly made by Teraflex??) and Fox shocks with full install by a dealer, its not a "bad" price. If they honor your warranty without question with the lift (since they installed it), that is a cost that is hard to put a number on. Lot's of people end up having some warranty issue at some point which ends up costing us out of pocket money that otherwise would not be needed.

With that said, if you are fine with the possibility of having to fight dealers to cover you, it would be cheaper and better to buy a different lift and do it yourself (or even pay someone that knows what they are doing). Depending on your goals for wheeling, the various kits mentioned so far will each have its role.

If you plan on doing light wheeling with mostly DD, the AEV kit is very nice but it uses drop brackets rather than control arms. However, people that have the lift love how it handles.

For more hardcore wheeling, Teraflex and Rock Krawler are great. I've run both. The TF 2.5" coil which is you basic coil lift is probably sufficient for 95% of JK owners looking to hit the difficult trails with 35's and minimal issues. You may have to deal with flighty steering so you could add some components down the road like front lower control arms. This lift is going to be one of the cheaper priced options but still top quality. Add Bilstein shocks or similar and it will be great.

Rock Krawler (my current lift in the 3.5" size) has some of the beefiest stuff I;ve seen so far. The flex their coils get is ridiculous. They offer several versions of their kits. Most people look to do the 2.5" lift which starts with their stock mod version (I think it's similar to the TF 2.5" coil) but all of their lifts are upgradeable. If you want to avoid having any alignment issues out the door, they offer the 2.5" in their X-Factor version (like my lift) which comes complete with both track bars and all 8 arms. It puts your gemoetry back in line so it rides like/better than stock. And it will be crazy awesome off-road especially if you do rock crawling.

Other lifts I put on the top of my list are Clayton (their stuff is also beefy as hell) and Metalcloak (super expensive).

There are so many choices out there but I would stock with a 2.5" lift and , if it was me....having dealt with issues in the past, I'd do a full kit like the X-Factor (or equivalent TF kit). There are differneces in the coils...progressive rate vs. linear rate...but that's a whole other discussion!

jeeeep

the Mopar rebranded kit looks overpriced for what you are getting, the Fox res. shocks are overkill especially with none adjustable arms, TF speedbumps? looks like they went cheap on the arms and overkill on the expensive shocks, speedbumps - probably why they include limiting straps. doesn't look like a kit to give you the most benefit. IMHO TF and AEV are a bit overpriced, both run nice lifts but TF uses a very cheap knockoff of johnny joints that do fall apart.

Take a look at Clayton or RK - they are both good kits and offer great flex. you can run a 2.5" lift trim your fenders flat and the 35's will fit fine.

Why do you want to run 15's?? what came stock on your Jeep, 15, 17, 18?? make sure your brakes will fit if downsizing.

raycn

Go with the Teraflex 2 1/2" kit with Bilsteins advertised by ORW on the Forum for $750 delivered. This is great for 35s and you'll have a great DD. Then you'll have money to get some nice wheels with 4.5" of backspacing and I'd go with the Duratracs. You'll have excellent on-road handling, super QUIET and still do well when you air down off-road. If you're like most Daily Drivers 95% plus of your time is on the road so you want to lift it just enough to get those tires on there and keep a good ride and not mess up your on-road handling. My two cents worth!