Sorry, tnt008 missed my point. Nothing wrong with giving an opinion. My point is that people jump in and recommend what they have, without having any info on what Jeep the OP has and what his needs are.

If my rig were off road only and I jumped in and said hey, don't run sway bars, no need for them - you'd say that's careless.

I know guys who have Rock Krawler and love it. I also know some who got the 2.5" on their 2 door and said, oh crap, I got almost 4" and now my Jeep drives crappy.

All I'm saying is that those of us with some knowledge to share have a duty to new people looking for advice and opinions. Part of that is taking a second to learn about what they have and what their uses are before we toss out opinions.

 

I have owned a full RK X-Factor kit recently, along with Synergy springs which I swapped the RK springs for after a few months. I'd probably steer you towards Metalcloak though. The TF arms are decent but MC definitely has the best ride. I'd avoid TF springs. I am hearing about their springs are sagging, and replacements (twice) did not cure the problem for a good friend. He swapped to Synergy springs and says it is clearly a better ride. My favorite springs are Synergy springs. However, if I had to stick with arms and springs from one company, it would be Metalcloak. Next would be Synergy. TF and RK would probably come after AEV.

 

All I am really looking for is opinions from those that use there jeep as a daily driver and do equal amounts of wheeling. I want honest opinions un-biased opinions on springs and control arms in general-How they handle on and off road, do the springs have a tendency to sag, ect. Im sure there a brands out there that would blow these out of the water in terms of quality. I understand no company intentionally puts crap on the market, but they may not be as engineered as well as other. I understand there are better companies out there but I am not willing to spend a fortune on one of there setups. I have done so much research on suspension setups that my head hurts. As far as opinions, all I can really find is one company claiming to have better products than the next company. Why?

 

I see no fault in your process. I'm just suggesting you offer some more specific info about your Jeep. I have a light 2 door and that matters when looking at lifts, especially coils and shocks.

Rock Krawler and MetalCloak make good products. I wouldn't worry about quality with them and they have great customer service. Both will do very well on and off road.

If you have a heavy 4 door, you probably don't need to worry as much about the coils and shocks as I do. You're likely only adding front lower arms, so the argument between products is less relevant. If it was all eight arms, then an argument could be made that the Metalcloak bushings will provide better on road comfort.

Again, I'm just saying that what works great for one Jeep and person, could work poorly for another.

I almost sold my Jeep after putting a Teraflex lift on as the ride was so bad (and lots of people love that lift, but it didn't work with my Jeep). My personal experience in terms of customer service has been: TF is poor, Rock Krawler and MetalCloak is great. As is EVO.

It is important to understand how much lift you want and how much you'll get. MetalCloak has specific coils for 2 door and 4 door. I appreciate the logic in tuning coils specific to either. Getting more lift than you want can create issues that you may not want to deal with or have money to deal with.

My intent was to spare you some of the pain and money many of us have experienced in finding the right products for our Jeeps.

 

Companies claim they have the best product to sell that product.
What is best for one person may not be best for another. Do you really want the same products as someone that wheels 180 days a year? You did say 50/50.

Any of the arms you mentioned will allow you to acheive full articulation with a 10" travel shock without binding the mounts. Just a note the metal cloak joint techniclly are in bind in any position except for ride height if properly installed. The use a wide center bushing that allows the rubber to compress without the body making contact with the mounts.

Some arms are bent for extra clearance for big tires, do you need this or not? Some arms are made of solid rod and some are tubes. Is weight a concern? Some arms use 1.75" dom and some use 2.0" dom with differnt wall thicknesses. A larger thinner wall tube can be stronger then a smaller thicker tube but might ding with rock hits easier. Some links use a 1" threaded shank and some use 1.25". Some links are forged cromoly and some are built from dom tubing and all thread. Some links use a misalignment joint on one end and some use them on both ends. Some arms use a factory style clevite joint and some use a poly bushing. Some arms will offer an adjuster so you don't have to remove one side to make adjustments, is this convience worth extra for you? As far as handling all short arms should handle the same if properly installed.

Construction of the joint will determine how much vibration can be transferred from the axle to the body. More rubber tends to absorb more vibrations. A heim joint will transfer the most vibrations to the body and can be noisy. Some joints need to be lubed and some don't. Is maintenance important to you? Some joints will allow you to adjust the preload on the joint some don't. Is a self centering joint important to you? Most joints are rebuildable, are you looking at the cost of a rebuild kit? Some companies offer rebuild kits in their warrantee, are you comfortable with removing and rebuilding joints? Joints are heavy, are compainies going to require you to ship back the old joints on your dime?

If you are really doing research you should have been asking these questions and the answers will point you to where you need to be. Like investment said posting up a vauge questions on what is the best of the three compainies you mentioned will gain you nothing but people saying one company or another without any real valuable knowledge gained by you.

 

I would be interested in hearing from those that think their coils have sagged.

Joe @ TeraFlex

 

Who did you directly work with from TeraFlex? I'm curious about your experience. Which TF springs were you running on your Jeep? Which shocks?

 

I've personally installed 4 short arm lifts on my own jeep and and Handful of other lifts at my house at meet and greets I've held in the past. I've got to personally drive the jeeps and also swap tire sizes on jeeps. PM me if you want to know what I've seen and driven, installed and followed maintain some of these lifts.

 

I've installed, owned, and/or driven jeeps with components or lifts from:

Teraflex
Rock Krawler
Rough Country
Old Man Emu
Currie
BDS/Zone
Trailmaster/Fox
Metalcloak
AEV/Bilstein
Skyjacker
EVO/King

You don't need to worry about sagging springs from Teraflex.

You've told us that your budget is about $1,000 for a lift.

How much is it for tires/wheels, regearing, a tuner, bumpers, armor, and other modifications during the next 12 months?

How will you drive your jeep on and off road?

How many on road miles will you do per year, what kind (commuting vs. long distances, speeds, etc.)?

What kind and frequency of off road driving will you do per year (expedition, rock crawling, forest service roads, mud, snow, high speed whoops, sand, etc.)?

What size tires do you plan to run?

How heavy will your jeep be on and off road?

Will you tow trailers or haul heavy loads?

Is your preference a stiffer, sportier handling like a Subaru STI or a softer, big boat type handling like an old Buick?

Will you do the installs yourself or pay for a shop to do them?

 

Can I steal that quote from you? Love it!!