dmick33

The problem with the tf is that my dealer is anal and said no coil spacers or I will void warranty they said I need to do a complete lift with new springs to keep my warranty.

Piginajeep

check out the rockkrawler lifts

wayoflife

are you happy with your ride now? if so, you might want to consider getting something like the rancho sport kit. of all the coil lifts out there, it'll keep your ride and handling just like stock. aside from that, you might want to consider an old man emu lift as it'll give you the height you need to do what you want and offer a very nice ride as well. a bit firmer than stock but in a good way. of course, something like a teraflex budget boost will do the job just fine as well and for cheap.

wayoflife

you'll forgive me but you're dealer is full of it and can only void your warranty if they can prove that whatever you are taking your jeep to be serviced for was caused by the lift.

Dex1

I have a 2 door Rubicon that I installed the BDS 3" lift ( springs, shocks, box kit, and steering stabilizer ) with Goodrich 35" km2's, no control arms, or track bars and it really rides good! I may upgrade to arms, bars and drive shafts later but for now I am VERY happy with how it rides and performs...
Now all I am saving for is gears! it is a little slugish with the 35's and on the highway it wants to shift in and out of OD too much!

Dex1

Oh, and my dealer said a small lift ( 2-4") will not void any warranties!

MaloCS

From what I've read and my discussions with Jim at AEV I would recommend at least giving them a serious look. If you go to their company forums you can read pages and pages worth of detailed info on the engineering behind the Nth Degree lift kits. From "ride height" to "weight capacities" to "on road performance" to "off road performance" to "drive shafts" to "control arms" to "roll center" to "center of gravity" you'll find it there.

Essentially, AEV determined that the JK was off balance from the get go. It wasn't too bad in it's OEM configuration but once it was lifted the out of balance characteristics were amplified resulting in a vehicle that wasn't as easy to control while on road. What they did to alleviate this was to decrease the distance between the center of gravity and the roll center which made the JK more balanced and ultimately better handling, both on an off road. Added to this were progressive coil springs that were designed to handle the extra weight a Jeep will carry as well as custom tuned Bilstein shocks that worked with the system instead of against it. All of these components working together resulted in a JK that handled like a dream both on and off road.

In a nutshell AEV raised the roll center axis to match the raised center of gravity a lifted vehicle has -- when you lift a vehicle you raise the center of gravity. Most, if not all lift kits on the market do not address this specific problem. They may utilize DROP brackets to bring the affected components back down to where they were before the lift or they may use adjustable components to try and compensate for the increased lengths created by raising a vehicle. Either way this doesn't address or solve the issue of "roll center" and "center of gravity" which results in a vehicle that handles poorly if not dangerously. What Jim described was since the COG was raised due to the lift then the ROLL CENTER must also be raised to compensate for the lift. You do this by flipping the steering and by raising the track bar on the axle side not by dropping the track bar from the frame or adding an adjustable replacement. Keep in mind that this isn't some sort of holistic approach that AEV just decided to try, it's a scientifically accepted approach that's been in use by the race car industry for years. Please see the following link for an excellent explanation of CENTER OF GRAVITY and ROLL CENTERS. h t t p://www.teamassociated.com/racerhub/techhelp/marc/Handling.4.html

Regardless of the technology and engineering a vehicle will handle better if it's well balanced. This is not only true for on road situations but off road situations as well. Additionally, if a vehicle is balanced the shocks work better and the springs work better. It's all about the roll axis in relationship to the center of gravity which makes a vehicle handle better. Unfortunately, there is only one lift manufacturer that has addressed this issue and that's AEV. I wish, for the sake of the industry that more manufacturer's did as well because there's no reason driving a lifted Jeep should be like wrestling a bear.

As far as off road capability goes you shouldn't be concerned. I've personally seen a 3.5" kit perform as well as it's competitors on some serious trails. Do not have any doubts, the AEV kit will not leave you wanting in off road trail worthiness. In fact, I grilled Jim at AEV quite a bit about this very subject and he always responded to my questions with detailed and well thought out answers that supported his claim that the AEV kit was just as good as it's competition.

I am getting the 4.5" kit installed tomorrow (Wed. 6/24/09) and I'll report back in a month or so. If the kit performs as advertised I'll be more then happy to give AEV the thumbs up but if the kit fails on it's marketing promises I'll definitely let everyone know. My goal isn't to shill for AEV but to highlight the reasoning behind the engineering. Additionally, I will be utilizing a set of Teraflex adjustable front lower control arms instead of the cam bolts.

openloop

Hey Dex,
I would like to give a tiny bit of friendly advice.
get the adjustabel trackbar up front.
JKS makes a good one for about $140.
many of us have had the trackbar bracket shear off.
The amount of spinning mass from those 35's will only increase the odds.
once the bracket fails and you get death wobble at highway speeds, life becomes alot more clear.
please take this as friendly advise.

bOLsAK=3

The AEV is a fine kit, but it is a rather expensive kit and unless you are totally sold on it there are other fine options out there especially for the price.

Besides, the two biggest selling points that the AEV offers are the Bilstein's (great set of shocks) and the steering geometry kit (nicely done). Otherwise they don't even include control arms which is a rather important item to have with over 3.5"-4" of lift, or even driveshafts with their 4.5", which again is an inportant item for that lift range.

This gentleman was asking about a nice, centered lift that will accomidate his 33"s and I gave a simple and cost effective option that could be suitable for his needs without going overboard. The AEV is a nice kit but in my opinion it is still not the complete kit that it is made out to be.

dmick33

I appreciate all the help guys. I think my final question before deciding is if I go with the 3.5" lift will I need driveshafts?