Woohoo, looks like my next mod

 

hi there i am new to the jk jeep. got it for a year and after visiting canada and states i was blown away with what you guys do with jeeps. impressed. i am now sitting on the internet trying to decide which suspension to choose from. there are so many companies trying to sell their products. the more i dig in the more confused i get. aev, teraflex,full traction, rubicon,etc.
since i live in africa it is difficult for me to visit these companies to see for myself what they are selling. so i have to rely on internet and reviews. again could not find anything convincing enough. aev was convincing but they don't supply long arms, just brackets which again did not convince me. tell me after fitting the aev kit , do you had to do it over again would you choose any other kit? i need choose a kit that wont give me problems. our cops are not that strict so we quite often push to the limits on the highways constant speed of 160km/h and would like something that would not wobble all over and off road also like driving my jeep hard.

would really appreciate your opinion.

 

Mozjeep,

Welcome to the forum! Go with the AEV for high speed and offroad adventures. It keeps the stock arms and the new brackets negate the need for expensive arms. You can always add them later. The progressive springs hold up to heavy cargo also.

 

Mozjeep, I hate to think of "were I to do it over again..." but it's a great opportunity to share.

I would have bought and installed the AEV Premium kit first. Driven it for a few thousand miles for analysis. Looking back I think I could have saved the adjustable control arms expense. The stock arms are very durable and the rubber bushings very impressive. While I am a huge fan of the Rancho 9000's, I should have tried out the Bilstein shocks.

The AEV spring rates are exactly what I was looking for. I was not thrilled with the soft ride of the factory springs. The firmed up ride has greatly improved the on-road driving, cornering specifically. Off-road performance is very good! Now it's not as flexy as the softer kits from TeraFlex or Rubicon Express, but I drive on-road more days every month than I'd like. I believe I can keep up with others on the trails. I'm more limited by my "fear factor".

So bottom line... I'd recommend the AEV. It's a complete kit that increases your break over, approach, and departure angle. It allows the installation of bigger tires. It rides very good! The handling is as-good or better than stock!

 

Never used the AEV kit, but as far as shocks go I am extreemly impressed with my Bilstein Shocks.

I have used several different types and these by far are my favorite.

 

I hate to go grave digging here, but was hoping that anecdotal experience with these has increased since the last post. i am considering these for a 2.5 RC lift with spacers and shock extensions and was wondering if this would be a good application at this more modest lift height. Specifically I am hoping to compensate for a factory trac bar and factory lca's.

Thanks

 

Start with post #113 on page 12 - another old thread that was re-started recently.

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...light=brackets



Stock lca's, yes. But the trackbar is side-to-side axle centering. These brackets won't affect it.

 

With a RC lift you do not have enough lift / bump stop spacing to run these.

 

These brackets are not a replacement for adjustable control arms. They're meant to return the control arm ANGLES to a more parallel angle with the ground. You could buy 18 adjustable arms and weld them into the shape of a unicorn and it still wont change the control arm angle relative from mounting point on axle to mounting point on frame.

I ran a similar setup on a cherokee and the ride was good and it flexes every bit as well as the long-arm guys. I'm going to assume this would be similar.

 

The brackets do have caster correction built in which is why people buy them instead of adjustable arms. They are a decent idea for a street jeep, but they wouldn't last 20min on my rig.