Jeep Wrangler JK Lifts Discussion

[SlickRope]

I know lifts are very subjective to many different applications. What I am asking is opinions or people experiences with lifts that have drop brackets like AEV, compared to a lift that has aftermarket adjustable control arms like metal cloak or clayton. I have read about the arms geometry and how the brackets help keep it in line. While the arms only help with caster and pinion angle. Trying to learn all I can to make the best decision.

I have a 2013 JKU that will be on 35s with either a 2.5 or 3.5 lift (still deciding the height.) I have built other wranglers in the past but those where set up for hard wheeling and crawling. So, everything in me says to just go with the stronger adjustable arms, but this jeep will see a lot of miles on and off road I want to to have the best ride and handling as I can get. I keep going back and forth on if I should try something new like the brackets or stick with adjustable control arms or even biting the bullet and trying long arms (though they are super expensive). I'm not sure on a JKU if long arms help as much as they do on the older TJs.

Any advise is appreciated.

 

[zgfiredude]

I feel your pain as I went through the same struggle of trying to balance for on-road and off-road use (and in my case, towing a teardrop camper). I was focused on the 2.5 inch zone, as I did not want to get into the snowball effect of other things like replacing driveshafts, etc.

I can't answer your question fully, but only tell you my results. I was leaning HARD towards the AEV 2.5, but a telephone conversation with an AEV rep clued me in to that it might not be as good when it comes to the added weight of the trailer tongue weight. I was super careful with getting weights on ALL the mods that I anticipated and how that would play with and without the trailer attached. I looked at brackets and no brackets; arms and no arms; etc.

I ended up with the Old Man Emu and JKS adjustable arms/track bars through Dirk at DPG Off-Road in Kansas of all places, LOL. The customer service I got was awesome and quite frankly played into my decision quite a bit. This lift is more like 2.25" without any spacers, and I'm good with that thus far, though I may bump it a little if I find the need. I also went with AEV Pintler wheels (5.3" backspacing vs the 4.5" that most folks use). I went with 285/75/17 Toyo AT3 tires that measure out at 34" tall and are a bit skinnier. I have virtually no tire poke outside the stock fenders which was a goal/hope. I did not want to get into wheel spacers if possible. Extended brake lines are a good idea which I also did.

I am very happy with the results. I installed it all myself in a day, It went smoothly, and the pinion angles and caster are great without the need for brackets. I have ZERO drive-ability issues with tracking or death wobble, and the ride is superior to stock. I'm happy with the no bracket route to save on some ground clearance especially with the 34s vs 35s that I chose. I'm still good with the 4.10s in my Rubicon axles (although I may go 4.56s at some point due to living in Colorado).

So, sorry for the long reply, but there are a lot of choices involved and you have to think in advance about how YOU will use the rig. For me, I chose well.....I can easily and inexpensively tweak it a bit if I choose to. Happy Hunting!

 

[NatersXJ6]

AEV 2.5”, Drop Brackets, Airbags in rear coils. About 100k miles now and I bought the lift used from a member here. I couldn’t be happier. All of the crazy right hand dive under hard braking is gone, the rear end wobble as weight shifts in lane changes is gone.

 

[SlickRope]

I feel your pain as I went through the same struggle of trying to balance for on-road and off-road use (and in my case, towing a teardrop camper). I was focused on the 2.5 inch zone, as I did not want to get into the snowball effect of other things like replacing driveshafts, etc.

I can't answer your question fully, but only tell you my results. I was leaning HARD towards the AEV 2.5, but a telephone conversation with an AEV rep clued me in to that it might not be as good when it comes to the added weight of the trailer tongue weight. I was super careful with getting weights on ALL the mods that I anticipated and how that would play with and without the trailer attached. I looked at brackets and no brackets; arms and no arms; etc.

I ended up with the Old Man Emu and JKS adjustable arms/track bars through Dirk at DPG Off-Road in Kansas of all places, LOL. The customer service I got was awesome and quite frankly played into my decision quite a bit. This lift is more like 2.25" without any spacers, and I'm good with that thus far, though I may bump it a little if I find the need. I also went with AEV Pintler wheels (5.3" backspacing vs the 4.5" that most folks use). I went with 285/75/17 Toyo AT3 tires that measure out at 34" tall and are a bit skinnier. I have virtually no tire poke outside the stock fenders which was a goal/hope. I did not want to get into wheel spacers if possible. Extended brake lines are a good idea which I also did.

I am very happy with the results. I installed it all myself in a day, It went smoothly, and the pinion angles and caster are great without the need for brackets. I have ZERO drive-ability issues with tracking or death wobble, and the ride is superior to stock. I'm happy with the no bracket route to save on some ground clearance especially with the 34s vs 35s that I chose. I'm still good with the 4.10s in my Rubicon axles (although I may go 4.56s at some point due to living in Colorado).

So, sorry for the long reply, but there are a lot of choices involved and you have to think in advance about how YOU will use the rig. For me, I chose well.....I can easily and inexpensively tweak it a bit if I choose to. Happy Hunting!

Thanks for all the info. I have built a JKU before and it was a 4' on 35's and I dragged the belly a lot. Like I said though it's build more for hard wheeling and I was young and didn't care about drivability, or reliability. Glad you found a happy medium and your lift is working.

 

[SlickRope]

AEV 2.5”, Drop Brackets, Airbags in rear coils. About 100k miles now and I bought the lift used from a member here. I couldn’t be happier. All of the crazy right hand dive under hard braking is gone, the rear end wobble as weight shifts in lane changes is gone.

Do you know how much lift the 2.5 actually gave you? An are you running 35s with it?

 

[shays4me]

I’ve got the rancho drop brackets on mine and the difference of no brackets to brackets could be felt in the first fifty feet I drove it. My lift is comprised of ome springs and shocks, teraflex bump stops, links and brackets, hellwig sway bar and some procomp brake line brackets. Everything works well and I’m not afraid to drive it anywhere.

 

[NatersXJ6]

Do you know how much lift the 2.5 actually gave you? An are you running 35s with it?

33x10.50, and I measured before and after, it was many years ago but I recall it hit dead on 2.5” front and rear until I added a very heavy rear bumper that dragged it down about 1/2”… thus the airbags.

 

[Texoma]

I have a 2.5'' Teraflex spring lift. My Jeep an 09 JK wandered all over the road, driving in the wind was spooky. So I added Rancho geometry correction brackets and front and rear adjustable track bars. Now my Jeep drives like it's on rails, no wandering the road and could care less about the wind. The Teraflex lift sagged on my 2 door after adding bumpers and a winch. I put a 1/2'' spacers in the front and airbags in the rear.

 

[shays4me]

Maybe it's just my opinion but I've always felt that if you need to add spacers or constantly inflated air bags to bring a vehicle back to an advertised ride height then you have the wrong springs installed. If that works for you then great but a sagging spring that is too soft can create some interesting handling characteristics. I definitely don't want a saggy suspension in a split second maneuver at freeway speeds to avoid running into or over something. It's easy to think you'll just drive conservatively but these things happen to everyone. I chose the OME springs because they had several different spring rates for my vehicle, front and rear included. Their medium heavy spring didn't end up working out in the rear for my build and now I have the next weight up springs. You might think I wasted some money buying another set of springs but my Jeep is dialed in now and stays well planted on the road during our travels. Safety is of upmost importance for me when we are loaded up and set off.

Also, lift height from manufacturer "X" or "Y" is always asked about and I'll admit that I'm always curious as well so I'm definitely not talking down to anyone, BUT, I rarely see anyone ask the most important thing which is how heavy is your vehicle? I see all kinds of posts about how great the ride quality, how much lift, how much the owner loves it, etc... but nothing about how much weight they're carrying, how the compromise is between loaded and unloaded etc....
I'm not an industry insider who's been around a lot of different suspensions for Jeeps but I will tell you what I know after thirty years of owning and modifying Jeeps. Take it for the free advice that it is. Cheap lift kits are just that, cheap. If you're looking to lift a vehicle to get bigger tires on it to cruise the gut, which many people are (90% of Jeeps in town) then by all means buy that cheap lift kit. If you want a suspension system that will perform well on road and off road, then do your research and be prepared to spend some money. I think the "kit" that OME sells was around 8-9 Ben Franklins when I set up my Jeep. I spent twice that much getting the extra components that weren't included like bump stops, sway bar links, brake line brackets, better track bar, etc...

 

[Texoma]

In my case the rear airbags are for keeping the Jeep level while towing.

 

[shays4me]

In my case the rear airbags are for keeping the Jeep level while towing.

And that is what they're designed to do and excel at! I had a set in my JKU for the same reason before the lift went in.

 

[SlickRope]

Maybe it's just my opinion but I've always felt that if you need to add spacers or constantly inflated air bags to bring a vehicle back to an advertised ride height then you have the wrong springs installed. If that works for you then great but a sagging spring that is too soft can create some interesting handling characteristics. I definitely don't want a saggy suspension in a split second maneuver at freeway speeds to avoid running into or over something. It's easy to think you'll just drive conservatively but these things happen to everyone. I chose the OME springs because they had several different spring rates for my vehicle, front and rear included. Their medium heavy spring didn't end up working out in the rear for my build and now I have the next weight up springs. You might think I wasted some money buying another set of springs but my Jeep is dialed in now and stays well planted on the road during our travels. Safety is of upmost importance for me when we are loaded up and set off.

Also, lift height from manufacturer "X" or "Y" is always asked about and I'll admit that I'm always curious as well so I'm definitely not talking down to anyone, BUT, I rarely see anyone ask the most important thing which is how heavy is your vehicle? I see all kinds of posts about how great the ride quality, how much lift, how much the owner loves it, etc... but nothing about how much weight they're carrying, how the compromise is between loaded and unloaded etc....
I'm not an industry insider who's been around a lot of different suspensions for Jeeps but I will tell you what I know after thirty years of owning and modifying Jeeps. Take it for the free advice that it is. Cheap lift kits are just that, cheap. If you're looking to lift a vehicle to get bigger tires on it to cruise the gut, which many people are (90% of Jeeps in town) then by all means buy that cheap lift kit. If you want a suspension system that will perform well on road and off road, then do your research and be prepared to spend some money. I think the "kit" that OME sells was around 8-9 Ben Franklins when I set up my Jeep. I spent twice that much getting the extra components that weren't included like bump stops, sway bar links, brake line brackets, better track bar, etc...

The weight is a good question. An as of now my JKU is all sock, of course I plan on armor, bumpers etc. I am trying to keep the weight down as much as possible and will be using aluminum where possible. I will be getting a lift with weight in mind (clayton overland lift, or AEV). I just can't decide between the two lifts. Both are 3.5" and come from good companies. The main difference is the drop brackets with stock control arms vs New longer control arms. I'm sure I'm over thinking this and will be happy with both, but I just trying to get advice form anyone that has been down this road.

 

[SlickRope]

In my case the rear airbags are for keeping the Jeep level while towing.View attachment 700855

What kind of trailer is that? Looks exactly like what I have been looking for.

 

[NatersXJ6]

The main difference is the drop brackets with stock control arms vs New longer control arms.

Drop brackets are generally designed to keep the axle in the same place front / rear and side / side while keeping control arm angles at or as close as possible to stock. Longer arms change angle in order to keep the axle position. The changes are really small, and I’m NOT a suspension engineer, but conceptually, I would choose the drop brackets every time for a highway driven vehicle. For a rock crawling trailer Queen, I’d pick whichever had the strongest control arms, although stock take offs are cheap and easy to find if you need replacements.

 

[Texoma]

What kind of trailer is that? Looks exactly like what I have been looking for.

The trailer is just something I cobbled together using a boat trailer for the base.