BAD 2012 JK

I'm considering a 3.5" AEV lift kit for my 2012 4 Door JK. Has anyone used these lifts before?

wayoflife

you should hear from every AEV fanboy and their mother chime in any moment now to tell you how absolutely awesome this kit is even though they have ZERO experience with any other kit.

seriously, i'm sure you have your reasons for looking at this overpriced kit but if i may, please do yourself a favor and give the rancho sport kit a look instead. trust me, it's not only a similarly designed kit, it is a MUCH better value (a fraction of the cost) and constructed MUCH better.

wecf

Sigh, you should learn to use the search feature in this forum. Enjoy your (soon to be) new set of brackets.

FoxRacingJMC

While infact I have an AEV kit, I will say it has served me well. I however won't say it's the best for the exact reasons stated above. Yea, it's overpriced and yea, you can get practically the same thing for cheaper - but I learned the hard way. That being said, even the fact that I run an AEV 3.5" DualSport kit - look at the Rancho, hahaha. Not sure if they still have their rebate special going on as well which is double the benefit.

Again, I run one and wish I did a littleeeeee more research in what I was looking for in a kit. I didn't jump on the bandwagon, I just thought it was a good kit. Now that I'm more knowledgable, have seen the Rancho in action, along with asking 90468890476 questions to the ones that have it....I could have gotten my tires a little earlier than expected if I opted with that route, haha. Overall, the AEV does the trick for me and hasn't let me down nor am I dissatisfied with it (just now that I know the price I spent). Am I going to run out and get the Rancho just because? No. I already have the AEV. I will though again, as stated above my post, say to go with a Rancho or a similar lift.

Grognard

Here I go, risking the ire of the AEV owners again.

I don't really have anything bad to say about AEV, other than it is over priced. The AEV fanboys will tell you that you pay for the engineering. Well, all lifts need to be engineered; AEV is not alone in this. Not to mention the engineering costs were earned back eons ago. I just don't get how they justify the cost.

There are other options out there that will give you the same performance at a fraction of the cost. I don't have any personal experience with the Rancho lift, but if WOL says its good, its worth a look.

FWIW I don't have an agenda with any vendor. My rig has parts from a smorgasbord of companies.

silverbackjk

Check out rock krawler rides great and have life time abuse prof warranty.

McNultyOttawa

This pretty much sums up exactly what I have done too and how I feel. Yeah the AEV 3.5 has done me good, but, it's the only kit I've ever run and on the only jeep I've ever known. Had I known to do my research before hand, I would have probably steered to a cheaper but still quality alternative and save money for other mods.

Do some more research on other lifts before you jump on this one. It works, and it'll get you where you need to go, but for the sake of regretting anything later, look up some cheaper options.

In the end, do whatever you want, it's your jeep and your money!

totdoc

I have this on my 2012 with 37 MTRk's, and I really love it. I was debating a long time between the AEV and the RK mid arm. I wanted to do all the work on my Jeep myself, so I wasn't considering any lifts that required welding. The only thing I wasn't excited about in the AEV kit was the brake line drop brackets, so I replaced my brake lines with Crowns at the time I installed the lift. Price wise, these options were about the same once shocks were considered. I really love the way the kit works on my Jeep, and I don't regret my decision one bit.

I'm sure the Rock Krawler would have been great, too. Everything I read about both kits looked great. I'm sure there are lots of options that ultimately would have made me happy. I know it is possible to spend quite a bit more and quite a bit less on a lift. The RK certainly wasn't a "fraction of the price" of the AEV, and even within the Rock Krawler line, there are lifts that cost quite a bit more than the AEV.

I don't think I'd worry too much about all the AEV haters, though. I sifted through quite a bit of pro and anti AEV comments when I was making my decision, too. Every lift brand seems to have haters and fanboys. All I can vouch for is that the AEV delivers performance that I am ecstatic about. I don't really care what method they used to get to that level of performance.

I love how it handles around town, and how it handles on the trail. I don't have anywhere near the amount of rock climbing experience as many others on here, but from what I read from those who owned the kit, I never saw anyone say they failed to conquer a trail that a different lift could - in fact, I saw a whole lot of posts about how AEV lifts were able to take the same trails just as well as other lifts. I do see a lot of posts complaining that AEV just relocates stock components, rather than replacing them. In my mind, that was a real plus, since the stock joints are essentially maintenance free. And with 10k miles on my JK, still have no rattles. Ease of maintenance was also important to me in my decision. Since I have yet to see anyone post that their AEV components are breaking in wheeling, I don't think there are any problems with my choice.

If you are a hard core rock crawler with a dedicated trail rig, I'm sure the AEV is probably not for you. Of course, at that point, the RK mid arm and many other cheaper lifts aren't on your radar either. Don't sweat the decision too much, though - for the vast majority of us, there are lots of options that will work just fine.

wayoflife

you'll forgive me but, the RK kit isn't even similar in design and to make a comparison between it and the aev kit wouldn't make any sense. the rancho sport kit IS very similar in design, constructed better and is available at a fraction of the price.

LOL!! just because you don't like what you hear or are somehow offended by it doesn't mean that anyone is a hater. me, i'm just trying to provide good and accurate information based on facts and personal experience. if i can save a member of this forum some money and recommend a better product, i will. you of course can spend your money however you want and if your happy with what you have, more power to you

let me get this straight - you don't have any experience on the rocks but, "you've read" and "saw posts" about how awesome the aev kit is? man, i love it.

if you've seen it in posts, it must be true. me, i've just seen a whole lot in person, on the trail and saw things a bit differently. but hey, what you see on the trail can't possibly be as valid as what you hear others tell you on the internet.

sure, they are maintenance free and will remain quite but, factory bonded rubber bushings will limit your flex. also, nobody ever said that your beloved kit is bad or that it will break, only that it's WAY OVER PRICED for how little you really get and that there are better options that are offered for a fraction of the cost. but, you can believe whatever it is you want to believe.

yes, there are lots of options that will work not only just fine, but better and for less. see rancho special below and do the math for yourself:

Chronotripper

I originally had the mopar/re lift kit on mine, and replaced everything but the control arms with the AEV kit. I did so because of word of mouth from my local 4x4 shop. However I wish I had done more research after reading through this thread. I will admit that the AEV kit performs better than the mopar kit I had previously, but after hearing how the Rancho kit is essentially the same kit, I would have most likely went with that after what WOL said. Definitely trust WOL and his years of experience in deciding with what kit to go with.

All in all the AEV kit isn't bad, but do as much research as possible on your options since apparently you are able to overspend extremely easily (Just Empty Every Pocket, right?).