AEV vs RK Lift
JK Newbie
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 78
Likes: 1
From: Winter Haven, FL
Rednoll, I used the Spidertrax Black 1.5" Spacers to move the stock wheels out because if I did not the larger Goodyear Duratrac 315/70/R17 Tires will rub when making turns and the tires would hit the rear lower control arms. If you use stock wheels you can use 1.25” or 1.5” spacers, but make sure you purchase a quality spacers like Spidertrax or Alloy. Do not go cheap.
Also one thing you will need to purchase for the larger tires is a AEV ProCal or similar Programmer to change your speedometer for larger tires to increase transmission and engine performance and recalibrate your Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
Also one thing you will need to purchase for the larger tires is a AEV ProCal or similar Programmer to change your speedometer for larger tires to increase transmission and engine performance and recalibrate your Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
JK Jedi
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 4,468
Likes: 211
From: SE Michigan
Rednoll, I used the Spidertrax Black 1.5" Spacers to move the stock wheels out because if I did not the larger Goodyear Duratrac 315/70/R17 Tires will rub when making turns and the tires would hit the rear lower control arms. If you use stock wheels you can use 1.25” or 1.5” spacers, but make sure you purchase a quality spacers like Spidertrax or Alloy. Do not go cheap.
Also one thing you will need to purchase for the larger tires is a AEV ProCal or similar Programmer to change your speedometer for larger tires to increase transmission and engine performance and recalibrate your Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
Also one thing you will need to purchase for the larger tires is a AEV ProCal or similar Programmer to change your speedometer for larger tires to increase transmission and engine performance and recalibrate your Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
Another thing along those same lines of the ProCal is that I've learned I'll likely need to "Regear". So let me ask this. My Sahara is the 3.8L with auto trans and stock 3.73 gears. I was just shopping around on Craigslist and saw someone was selling their stock 2015 Rubicon 4.10 gears for $200, fronts and rears. Is that a good price and should I buy them based upon knowing I'll be getting 35's or should I look into some other gear ratio instead? My preference in gearing will be for daily driving performance to better match the larger tires in regards to highway driving with the stock auto trans.
Front and rear 4.10's, says they have about 2700 miles on them.
Last edited by Rednroll; Oct 1, 2015 at 08:25 PM.
JK Jedi
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 4,468
Likes: 211
From: SE Michigan
The good part, is since I'm not going for the extreme off-road capability and I'm not in a rush, my upgrade items tend to be stock Rubicon take offs for someone else so I can save a few bucks that way.I just found some rear 5.13 gears in my area.
https://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/pts/5187229957.html
Last edited by Rednroll; Oct 1, 2015 at 08:04 PM.
JK Junkie
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,697
Likes: 2
From: Grosse Pointe, MI
So it sounds like I need to add a Dana 44 front axle to the shopping list as well.....my wife is gonna kill me. The good part, is since I'm not going for the extreme off-road capability and I'm not in a rush, my upgrade items tend to be stock Rubicon take offs for someone else so I can save a few bucks that way. I just found some rear 5.13 gears in my area. https://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/pts/5187229957.html
The good part, is since I'm not going for the extreme off-road capability and I'm not in a rush, my upgrade items tend to be stock Rubicon take offs for someone else so I can save a few bucks that way. I just found some rear 5.13 gears in my area. https://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/pts/5187229957.html
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 112
Likes: 0
From: Ann Arbor
Guessing you live in the Detroit area? If so, DTS is the place to go for a regear. They install your parts if they're new. That said, I wished I had just got the parts from them. If there is an issue with any parts during install or after, they'll make you deal with the manufacturer. Yukon had sent me a bad locker and it was a total mess. My axle sat there for a couple weeks while I dealt with Yukon. Had I bought the parts from them, they would have grabbed another locker.
Last edited by igobytony; Oct 2, 2015 at 01:43 PM. Reason: typo
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: Norfolk Virginia
If you are going to use your Jeep hard off road and load it down with heavy bumpers and armor go with the RK product line. AEV products are good and ride nice on road, but RK at least out west in our deserts and rocky terrain holds up to the abuse of being banged around a lot better.
I run a JKU with a 2.5" (3" actual height) RK system with 35" Mickey Thompson ATZ P3 tires, heavy ARB front and rear bumpers, Warn Zeon winch and a bunch of underside armor. The RK springs with their heavy rates have not sagged even after 39K miles of hard use.
Your choice of the ATZ P3 is excellent. They are built on the well proven nearly bomb proof carcass of the MTZ M/T tire. There are other hybrid AT/MT type tires out there like it but none have the lineage of the ATZ P3. Mine have proven crazy strong with grip like those found on the proverbial Mach 5 running it's grip tires. All that said it may be to much tire for your needs and wheeling terrain. I would point you to also look at BFG KO2 tires. They are not as aggressive off road as the ATZ P3 but ride super smooth and handle the foul weather of the Atlantic costal US superbly.
I run a JKU with a 2.5" (3" actual height) RK system with 35" Mickey Thompson ATZ P3 tires, heavy ARB front and rear bumpers, Warn Zeon winch and a bunch of underside armor. The RK springs with their heavy rates have not sagged even after 39K miles of hard use.
Your choice of the ATZ P3 is excellent. They are built on the well proven nearly bomb proof carcass of the MTZ M/T tire. There are other hybrid AT/MT type tires out there like it but none have the lineage of the ATZ P3. Mine have proven crazy strong with grip like those found on the proverbial Mach 5 running it's grip tires. All that said it may be to much tire for your needs and wheeling terrain. I would point you to also look at BFG KO2 tires. They are not as aggressive off road as the ATZ P3 but ride super smooth and handle the foul weather of the Atlantic costal US superbly.
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: Norfolk Virginia
Hey Darth,
First off; THANK YOU for your service.
As mentioned here, you really can't go wrong with either. I've beat on and ran an RK kit for 3ish years now and I've been really happy with it. The things I've had trouble with have been handled with some excellent customer service recently. I've never been a fan of the control arm drop brackets that AEV uses, but that may be fine for a mostly on-road, few rocks application like you describe.
You can do a Rock Krawler 2.5 Flex system + Rancho RS9000Xl adjustable shocks for under $1400 and it's a nice riding system.
The AEV is a bit less but utilizes bracketry in lieu of adjustable control arms/track bar, etc.
You didn't talk about wider tires but if you go wider/larger, you'll need spacers (I'm not a fan) or wheels with 4.5" backspace.
First off; THANK YOU for your service.
As mentioned here, you really can't go wrong with either. I've beat on and ran an RK kit for 3ish years now and I've been really happy with it. The things I've had trouble with have been handled with some excellent customer service recently. I've never been a fan of the control arm drop brackets that AEV uses, but that may be fine for a mostly on-road, few rocks application like you describe.
You can do a Rock Krawler 2.5 Flex system + Rancho RS9000Xl adjustable shocks for under $1400 and it's a nice riding system.
The AEV is a bit less but utilizes bracketry in lieu of adjustable control arms/track bar, etc.
You didn't talk about wider tires but if you go wider/larger, you'll need spacers (I'm not a fan) or wheels with 4.5" backspace.
JK Freak
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 606
Likes: 6
From: Evergreen, CO
So it sounds like I need to add a Dana 44 front axle to the shopping list as well.....my wife is gonna kill me. The good part, is since I'm not going for the extreme off-road capability and I'm not in a rush, my upgrade items tend to be stock Rubicon take offs for someone else so I can save a few bucks that way.
I just found some rear 5.13 gears in my area.
https://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/pts/5187229957.html
The good part, is since I'm not going for the extreme off-road capability and I'm not in a rush, my upgrade items tend to be stock Rubicon take offs for someone else so I can save a few bucks that way.I just found some rear 5.13 gears in my area.
https://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/pts/5187229957.html
IMO, for the money "saved" in the difference just isn't worth installing used gears. I've done so in the past for people that REALLY want to go that route but I've always prefaced the job with a "no guarantee" clause. Luckily they've turned out fine but new isn't much money to begin with. It's a shitty job to have to do over.
Last edited by fredrok; Oct 2, 2015 at 07:37 PM.