ShadowJKU

That makes sense... I appreciate all the input! I'm beginning to feel like this is one of those trial and error things haha As soon as I get a good feeling about one kit, I read another post about a different one! But seriously, thanks for those who responded so far, you've given me a lot to think about and consider for sure!


Do you all know about driveshaft replacements on the AEV 2.5 vs 3.5" kits vs the other brands like RK and teraflex

Poker5150

You will not need to replace drive shafts with a 2.5 lift. Above 3" or so and it begins to become a problem.

If you price all the kits talked about in this thread, you will find the AEV 2.5 to actually be VERY competetively priced. The AEV 3.5 and larger kits,....not so much. I run the AEV 2.5 and am very happy. I have done difficult trails with ease.....and never once did I hit my control arm brackets....on anything. Tire placement and throttle control do wonders for getting the most out of your lift!!

All this talk about the the LCA drop brackets is really a whole bunch of nuthin. The bottom line is they do correct the geometry of the front LCA's which greatly increases the on road manners. This lift is very capable of doing moderate to difficult trails. If you want to do difficult to extreme trails then go with RK. Just my dos cientos!!

Nbjeep

That is the biggest complaint that I see. If I felt like I needed more caster I'd get adjustable LCAs. Having had both now, I like the AEV better off road

porters

Every lift has advantages and disadvantages.

AEV Pro:

- Progressive Springs, progressive springs give more resistance the more you compress them. They start out soft on small bumps and then grow harder for the biggest bumps to keep you from bottoming out. They are better at handling heavy loads without sagging than linear springs. I am no AEV expert, and I don't own anything AEV, so correct me if I am wrong, but I think that AEV are the only ones that offer progressive springs on both front and rear? I think Rock Crawler offers progressives on the front only? Did I get that right?

- AEV puts a lot of effort into minimizing body roll and emphasizing handling on road. If you were trying to pick a lift for the slalom course only, AEV would be the one.


AEV Cons:

- AEV typically costs more and provides less features. Drop brackets are a step up from the horrid & embarrassingly bad cam bolts they started with, but both are cheap ways to avoid control arm replacement. I am particularly disappointed that AEV did not bother to box the drop brackets to make them strong, but boxing them would cut into AEVs profits for each sale.

- Drop brackets are not ideal off-road, depending on the type of wheeling you do. If you are crawling over obstacles or dropping off ledges, you can get hung up on them as they do compromise clearance. Since the brackets are not boxed,they may not survive a lot of contact. If you do rocks, that could be a major problem. If you only do trails without rocks and ledges, it's probably not a problem at all.


Other thoughts:

Almost all other lifts use linear springs and while they offer better parts and features like beefy control arms, they are going to be fairly similar in design, ride, and performance.

The best of both worlds is the coil over option. Coil overs use two linear springs with two different spring rates, stacked on top of each other. One spring is soft and the other hard. Two different spring rates make them work more like progressive coils. They are soft when the need to be and are hard when they need to be. Coil overs are great on and off road and are considered by many to be the best of all the options. EVO makes several coil over options from budget to hard core.

Cod

AEV 3.5 Here and i like it so far.

You can't go wrong with Rock Krawler either, they have great customer service seen it on several forums too many times.

It all depends on what you want to do with your ride, if you're heavy into rock crawling you may want to consider something else than any of the above...

What i like best about the AEV is the road manners, taking ramps at 75 mph etc. is no problem, no body roll etc. etc. when on the road.

To date i've had zero issues with AEV.

Don't get too caught up on the brackets, look at pics of long arms, the brackets for those hang down just about the same.

Incognito

Just want to put it out there. AEV might cost more, but at least it's made in the USA

deathboyardee

Good point! They even source all of their metals from the US as well.

Smashboogie 4x4

So are all Rock Krawler kits

deathboyardee

The more the better

Jeeping4Fun

After lots of research and inquiring about going with either rk or aev for my 13' JKUR 3.5" lift and after speaking to a dealer that everyone seams to have nothing but great experiences with on the forum (who carriers both brands) I have decided to go with AEV. I explained to them that I do 95% dd and the other 5% offroad here in AZ. I told them that honestly I don't have plans of going out and finding the biggest rocks to get over. The rubicon with a stock setup probably goes more places than most people will ever do with it. I explained that on road driving was very important and didn't want to sacrifice it as much as possible. He had no problem recommending the aev 3.5" kit and not the base but the sc kit which is complete with high steer kit and pro cal module. I went with the 3.5" due to I will be running 35's now and going to 37" in a month or so. Thinking I might need flat fenders but not sure at this point. As far as overpriced I keep hearing I feel like I got a complete package at $1600. Rk kits start at $1,400 and go to over $2k. None of which I saw come with shocks. The aev comes with bilstein 5100's, pro cal, and includes the high steer kit. I also felt more comfortable going with the manufacturer of lifts that is offered by most of the local jeep dealers in the area for possible warranty claims.

This is just my .02