I have the EVO 3 inch Plush Ride Coils and Rock Krawler front lower adjustable control arms and running the Rancho RS 7000 MT's. The one thing to keep in mind that 90% of your on road comfort comes from the shocks. With that being said I would strongly recommend finding some local Jeepers in area and see about taking a ride in their Jeep to see exactly what you want. Take it from a guy who just had to have a lift for his Jeep and spent $1000 on a lift that was installed for just over 9 months with 7 of them deployed to Okinawa, Japan that was later replaced. As mentioned in a previous post drive shaft damage will occur above 3.5 inches. The leading issue is the plastic slip boot makes contact with the exhaust cross member. There are some companies that have drops for the exhaust cross member which sort of defeats the purpose since now your exhaust cross member is lower and will take damage on rocks.

Sometimes it is better to wait and save for a higher quality of lift. Again this is just my opinion.

R/
Will

 

What companies do you recommend for +/- $1k?

 

I would strongly recommend taking a ride in various Jeeps with different lifts to see what you like and then plan. Nothing worse than spending a $1000 on something that does not work for you and having to explain to SWMBO why you are buying twice.

R/
Will

 

I have a Rubicon Express kit in my JK, no real issues with the kit except the rear upper track bar drop bracket. I didn't like it and it didn't line up my rear axle at all following the lift. I replaced it with front and rear JKS adjustable track bars in the stock mounts. I also had the RE control arm drop brackets installed and they help a lot with driveability. I would still like adjustable arms someday but they are a great stopgap. I have a rear bumper, tire carrier and 35s on the back of my JK and experienced significant compression on the coils the kit came with. I ended up swapping for the same height 4 door lift springs to keep my Jeep level while loaded and they've worked well for the last year and 15,000km.

 

There is no such thing as a proper lift in the 3.5" range for +-$1000 just kits that are not complete or take cheap shortcuts like drop brakes, drop pitman arms and cam bolts. There is a green statement and a red link at the bottom of every post I make. I would encourage you to click on the red link. It is also "stickied" on the top of the modified section if you are on a mobile.

 

Having had to "do it over again" for your application I would start with a RK Flex kit or similar and add shock of your choice.

https://www.northridge4x4.com/part/s...-shock-options

You can add the rear control arms budget permitting down the road. With stock flares and 35's, the 2.5 kit will look great. Honestly if you want the extra 1" down the road you can swap coils and be done. Based on the little we know about your intended application, you could also just run drop brackets up front and 1 set of arms in the rear. I wouldn't go above 2.5" on your limited budget at this time. I think RK offers the best value of quality/price for the JK.

 

Sorry, I got caught up in the discussion all while forgetting this was a 3.5 topic, I'm interested in 2.5 only. Yes I need to re-read your sticky as I had everything for a lift/build sorted out then switched to a 2-door and need to start over.

 

I guess my first question is....Why a 3.5" lift? Why do you NEED that much height? To clear big tires? No. More height equals more instability.

For $1000 you can easily get into a decent coil lift (minus control arms) with shocks, trackbar, etc. Think I spent about $1100 on my Rock krawler 2.5" stock mod with brake lines (that I really didn't need) and Bilstein 5100 shocks. So far I've never had any issues and no justification to switch from OEM control arms. At some point I'll replace them, but it's not high on my list because they haven't been a deciding factor on whether or not I make it over an obstacle.

Just throwing it out there.

 

Things have gotten a little side tracked lol

my question was 3.5 RE vs 3 Teraflex but now that everyone has suggested 3.5 being too much lift... Will the teraflex 3" kit I mentioned to start the thread, need any more components/will I run into any problems with the drive train?

Thanks

 

Do you have 35" tires?
If so you don't need anything more than a 2.5" lift and that will usually net you more in the 3" range when everything is said and done.
Is there a reason why you want more lift?
I have the 2.5" teraflex lift that came with rancho adjustable shocks.
I had to also purchase front and rear adj lower control arms to recenter the axles.
Front adj track bar, the kit came with a rear track bar bracket that works fine.
I wouldn't go larger than a 2.5" lift

2015 Hydro Blue JKU