I have the AEV 4.5" lift and 37" BFG A/T's. It isn't a DD but could be, in fact it is so much more fun that I often grab the keys. My Jeep rides a lot better than stock, and I can try stock by hopping into my wife's Jeep any time I want to. What is really remarkable is that my Jeep handles and corners better than stock, though it sits 7" taller than stock and weighs a hell of a lot more than stock with AEV front and rear bumpers, the 37" spare, AEV steel corner guards and diff gaurd, a rear cargo box, a winch (but with synthetic winch line and aluminum hawse fairlead to help keep weight down,) a roof rack, RROR skids (aluminum to help keep the weight down,) a small engel fridge and an 18gal auxilliary fuel tank. And then there is the fishing gear in the warmer months and the hunting gear in the cooler months.
My Jeep rides well enough that I drove it out to Moab twice this year, once with the family, wife and two kids, 14 and 11. I have a 2500 Suburban and a trailer, but the Jeep rides better than the Suburban. I chose to drive out - that should say alot.
Contrary to popular belief, your Jeep won't need an upgraded drive train, at least right off the bat. I keep waiting for my front axle tube to bend, the C's to bend, the axles to break... Still waiting, and my Jeep Hemi power. I do try to drive smoothly off road and limit locker use to when I really think I'll need it. (BTW, quickly turning the steering wheel right and left as you roll forward after hitting the disconnect switch helps get the lockers unlocked quickly, so you don't stress anything turning after your obstruction while the lockers are still trying to unlock - a trick told me by AEV.) I'll go with a Pro Rock D44 if I ever do manage to break or bend something. And try to find one first hand instance of C's bending and you can't, but lots of I heard from a guy who heard from a guy... This was pointed out by Dave Harriton, ACI founder and I did try to find even one instance of a first hand report - and failed at the time. I've read of one broken C on a JK since then. Tubes - yes they bend, wrung axle shafts - yes, busted u-joints - yes. Bent C's no and but one broken C.
I'm still running the oem shafts with the Rezeppa joints, which are stronger than double cardin shafts and aren't vibration prone like the double cardin joints. Unlike other pre '12 autos I have no interference issues because of the 545rfe swap and RROR skids, which have clearence built in.
As mentioned, I've had the Jeep in Moab a couple of times, and it has performed very well and bent or broken nothing. I stick to trails that are rated 6 by Red Rock 4wd Club because I have a 2100 mile ride home from Moab and I drove my Jeep out there - once with the family in it. The 6's have not been much of a challenge for the Jeep. Steel Bender, Hell's Revenge, other 6's. Take a look at the Easter Jeep Safari website for ratings and descriptions of trails to see how those 6's stack up. They aren't Pritchett's Canyon! But with a 2100 mile ride home no Pritchett's Canyon for me. I also like my Jeep!
Larger tires will actually provide a better ride than smaller tires of the same model. Think about it, each bump, pothole, seam is a smaller % of diameter or circumference. And the larger tire has more air at lower pressure and deforms more readily to absorb bumps when seams, potholes, etc are encountered. Larger tires do need religeous rotation shcedules and more frequent re-balancing though. I went A/T's because of the road miles. Thought I would hate them and want to move to an M/T, but I have been suprised by their performance off road, and on road they are quiet and smooth. You may want to consider them.
With the auto 37's are apparently doable with 4.10's. I didn't think they would be but read this from a fellow on AEV's forum:
"I'm really surprised by the power in the '12 models. I'm running 37" Krawlers, auto trans, on a 4.5" AEV lift and I am not really motivated to immediately change gears. I'll do it eventually, but the motor is still moving those tires really well. I've had TJ's previously and going to 33s or 35s was fairly painful and nearly forced me to change gear ratios. But the JK is still very street worthy with the 4.10 ratio on 37s in my opinion. I live in a fairly flat area though. I will probably regear when AEV's Procal comes out, but I don't see any need to go further than 4.88s. Anything more is just going to cut top end speeds, you wouldn't be doing it to regain power.
I did notice that my gas mileage has dropped fairly significantly. The onboard computer is reading around 16 MPG now on highways (14 in city). This is off though because the tire size has changed dramatically. Until I get my ProCal, and recalibrate for tire size, my odometer will be off as will this MPG reading. I'm just hoping that the gear ratio change will bring back some of the MPGs I lost.
All this is a long winded way of saying that I think you'll be perfectly happy with 4.10 gears, manual, and 35s. I'd like to see what AEV recommends in the near future as the ProCal comes out though. But on the street at least, you won't find yourself wanting more power."
Find the thread on AEV here:
http://forum.aev-conversions.com/showthread.php?t=3231
I originally wanted 35's but my then 10yr old son wanted the big meats, so I said, "What the hell..." Damn glad I went 37's now. If you want 37's you will never be happy with 35's, even if they might be marginally more practicle for a DD. Go 37's!
JPK
I went back and forth for 4 months before deciding on my setup. :safari-rig: