Krawlersaur

OK so, I need a new lift. My BB has served me well, but now, its time to move on... and fast. I want to have a new lift installed before a trip coming up. So here we go. (yea its another one of those threads..)

No serious rock crawling, mostly trails. Maybe a few ledges, under 3 feet. I don't have cool shit to play on around here. Looking at a budget of around 2k, prefer under. Which led me to these 2.

RANCHO 4" Short Arm Suspension in Red with RS5000 Shocks for 07-11 Jeep® Wrangler & Wrangler Unlimited JK - Quadratec
Rancho 4". Springs, shocks, 8 adj CA's, drop pitman arm, and f/r track bar brackets

Rubicon Express 3.5" Super-Flex™ Suspension System for 07-14 Jeep® Wrangler JK 2 Door - Quadratec
RE 3.5" Springs, shocks, 8 adj CA's, adj front track bar, rear tb bracket

Both have other stuff like sway bar ends, brake lines/extender brackets, bumpstops. Anyone have first hand experience with either of these? Or similar lifts from these 2 companies? Any problems with the coils from rancho? Ive heard RE coils hold up after weight. I do like that RE has a front TB, and not a bracket/pitman arm. Again, this JK will be a trail cruiser, light crawling when encountered, campsite finder. Not a Moab king.

Any input would be greatly appreciated (except RK or go home, and similar answers. Unless you have a real good reason I should drop 2500+ on a jeep that travels 20 miles a week maybe.)

Freewill

No first hand experience with those lift brands, but if you are concerned with spring quality I have been running a set of aftermarket springs for two years now. We wheel in the desert constantly for about 3 months every year so the springs have seen their share of pounding under a 5000 pound JK. This Jeep has also been towed about 10,000 miles behind our motorhome. The Jeep is still the same height on all 4 corners as the day I installed the springs.

The kit included with these springs gives great highway handling. Like most kits, it works fine on the trails we run, but on-road handling is the real challenge with a lift.

The brand happens to be AEV. Not having tried other brands, I can't say AEV is better or worse than brand B or C, but I will say that you should expect no less from your kit than what I got from the Dualsport 2.5.

Finally, read Dirtman's writeup on lifts. It has some great advice on how much height is really needed and how your lift works for or against you: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modi...-lifts-288269/

Joopster

I personally am not a fan of any lift that uses brackets that bolt on to another bracket! I have seen many of these types of llifts fail due to the increased leverage! I personally think if you going to change the bracket it needs to be welded on! I have broke 2 track bars and 1 bracket myself. The track bars and brackets are under tremendous stress already and the factory one is weak! Rancho produces a descent lift but their springs tend to sag over time and much quicker with the added weight of Bumpers, winch, ect. ect... Procomp springs are a bit stiff to my liking, but still a good lift. (Other than the Brackets both lifts use) A Short Arm kit will be just fine though I prefer the ride and the flex of the Long Arm Kit. It is purely preference, budget and a matter of opinnion and over all use. I would recommend a Rustys Offroad kit. They are very well engineered and american made. They are a pleasure to talk too and have unbeatable customer service and warranty. You can totally customize their lifts to fit your budget and they are all upgradeable at a later date. I beleive all of Rustys lifts come with a front and rear trackbar NOT BRACKETS THAT BOLT ONTOP OF BRACKETS! They also sell a new trackbar bracket that requires you to remove the old and weld on the new. My only complaint with Rustys is their shocks. Not their premium but the standard shocks included with their lifts. Hope this helps.

Krawlersaur

I was looking at the SC kit by AEV. But I couldnt bring myself to use the brackets on the control arms. I have seen AEV kits, and have went passenger in one, and they ride real nice. But, it just looks like I could get more for the same price.

Krawlersaur

Yea, I have heard both ways about Rancho springs. Some say they sag, some don't. As for the RE rear track bar bracket, I will eventually go with an adj rear TB, since it comes with a front one, and I want to be able to center my axle for sure. Not just hope a bracket fixes it. And if I decide to get the Rancho, I would get a f/r adj TB, when my budget came back up. I will look at Rustys, and see if it shows promise for my personal needs.

Monte417

This^
What size tires are you running? Stock or cut fenders? That will determine the height of your lift and in turn will determine your budget. You may not need 3.5 to 4 inches of lift which is more expensive to run

Krawlersaur

35s with cut flares. I don't necessarily NEED 4" of lift. 3-3.5" is good enough. I just want a kit that is closest to 'complete' as possible, without paying for something made to tackle the most extreme trails, since it wont. Having a JKU, I get hung up too much with a 2.5" BB that has sagged about 1".

I did read that post. Several times. I know what parts of my suspension do what. Im not overly concerned with maxing up/down travel. I wont be worrying too much about unloading on near flat trails. I don't have anything steep enough for that. Also, don't let the avatar fool you. That was in Texas, all I have now is trails, no rocks.

Rancho

If there are any concerns about our coils they are covered by our warranty.

Rancho Suspension: Warranty & Ride Guarantee

If you like to save money, take advantage of our rebate going on.

Rancho Suspension: SPRING PROMOTION

Krawlersaur

Just checked out some of the JK lift on Rusty's site. Some of those do seem appealing. I will look into those funky CAs though. Like a long arm set-up, but short arm.

Freewill

AEV is not the only player with this type of kit, but their Dualsport is good example. Add up the price of 4 Bilsteins, 4 good quality progressive springs, a rear track bar, track bar bracket, bump stops, brake line brackets, plus small bits and pieces. Than add in the value of design and engineering that makes a lift kit a suspension system, not just a pile of parts on the floor. If that stuff is what you're after, then kits in the AEV price range make sense.

I think lifted front ends always steer better with either control arm drop brackets or adjustable control arms depending on your budget and needs. The Dualsport kit does not include either one so it can be run with stock arms on stock mounts or brackets or adjustables.

The SC adds another track bar, a procal, a high steer kit, the brackets, and a steering stabilizer. All this at ~$700 more for an extra inch when AEV kits stand real tall anyway. Then add in possible drive shaft problems. The Dualsport with or without brackets seems like a bargain. Just sayin'. . .