I suggest doing a ton of planning and research. Honestly, rancho makes a far better geo bracket if you want to go that route. I dont own Metal Cloak, but I'm kind of a fan. I like their innovation and desire to challenge the norm. I went coilovers right out of the gate. They are the best ride I've ever had in a jeep. Amazingly smooth. I'm running about 3.5" of lift on 35's. Waiting to wear out tires to go to 37. Don't be afraid to build your own lift. The most expensive thing you can do is buy twice.

 

I also went the route of the aev 2.5 with geo brackets. Even with stock tires and wheels I loved it. But then I went and picked up some 315/70r17 Goodyear mtr. Love it. I also added the ace weld on sliders for tub and pinch protection, they are burly! And as recommended by many people I added sleeves and gussets as cheap insurance against the inevitable with larger heavy wheels and tires. The brackets don't bother me. A little scrape isn't horrible now and again. The road manners are great and trail riding is smooth and effortless. So there's my 2 cents. Cheers and good luck with the build.
Regear next summer for me from 3.73 to 4.1.

 

I ran the AEV 4.5 sc on my 2011 for years. It is an excellent lift and for such a big lift the road manners where great. I just bought a 2015 rubi and am looking at AEV and the new metal cloak overland series lifts for it.

I am waiting for some reviews on the metalcloak

 

I did the Currie 3.5" lift on a Unlimited jeep after first having a teraflex 2" lift. It was perfect for the larger jeep and rode great on the road. Once you dial in all the control arms it runs very smooth. I changed out shocks to some fox with res and it was such a nice ride.

My new plans will be likely to go with a 2.5" lift but with a system that includes upper and lower control arms. (no brand decided yet but likely clayton or currie) I just recently got a new 2 door jeep and know from the geometry I should stay at 2.5" without pushing the drive shaft angles beyond tolerances. I don't want to deal with having to change out driveshafts as the types of terrain around here I'd be more than fine with 2.5" and 35" tires. Best bet is to understand first what your spending so much money on. Understand what control arms allow you to change and what kind of adjustments are needed to tie rods and driveshafts etc... When you lift a jeep think of how the angles change so you understand the role of each of the parts. A lift is basically raising the body away from the axles but in turn changes the angle of the driveshaft connections as the transfer case is attached to the body. Also because the control arms are not adjustable when you lift the body from the axle it is basically changing the angle where it connects to the axles. adjustable control arms allow you to turn back the axle. Some systems only have uppers or lowers and you can adjust just on side which is fine but it limits the travel of the system to some extent.

I have a manual rubi so it has 4.10 gearing. The only real reason for the lift is to get more clearances for the tires and flexibility (travel) so I'd first figure out how large you plan to go with the tires and what terrain you plan to challenge yourself with. A.K.A. Puckerville or worn out country roads. I know a stock jeep could go 35" but it would be tight when wheeling if you go in a terrain that requires allot of off camber situations. another example: A Rubi comes with 32" tires so an extra 1.5" would fill it out more but it would still fit. If you wheel puckerville it would likely cause rubbing once in awhile if I had to stuff the tire on one side or the other in a off camber situation. You could resolve that by just replacing the fenders to flat fenders but your travel will be limited with stock control arms to some extent because of the bushing design in the stock arms. (Not designed for heavy flex). Flexibility will be key so one side can drop and the other side can move up. You see this often on heavy modified buggies and trudges where one side drops 12" and the other side climbs ups rock that is 12" and the vehicle maintains level.

Do some searches and look at buggies from KOH and look how well they flex yet and have freedom to go up on one side and drop far on the opposite side. It will help understand where quality helps when climbing through boulders and other obstacles.

It's been 4-5 years since I've done any research on what the JK has changed (I was banned at one point here) but I can say I'm a fan of getting a system with 8 control arms and flex joints on the ends for wheeling.

Edit: Can I just say I think the stock arms are a piece of crap!

 

Thanks so much for all the responses and tech info. I'm definitely taking my time and doing research on each component I'm considering.

So far my list is as follows:

Aev 2.5 lift
35" tires
Flat fenders, psc


That's my list with the items I'm sure on.
I'm a bit confused on wheel choice. Do I need new wheels with a corrected offset, or can I pick up wheel spacers and use stock with tpms? If anyone has thoughts on front and rear bumper choices, I'm looking at an front arb stubby with stinger or similar, I just want to retain fog lights. As for the rear, I really don't want to relocate the tire, just get an adjustable kit for the full size spare, so just a standard type without carrier. Any suggestions?

Also I had thought somewhere down the line I would find a long arm or xflex type add on for the lift kit. If anyone has experience with long arm kits, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts and experience.

Thanks again for all the info and tech. It's nice being able to ask questions and get good responses.

 

I'm in a similar boat as you, I'm deciding between AEV 2.5 and Teraflex 2.5

 

Why not look at the new MetalCloak overland lifts? It's the AEV kit, done right.

 

Agree, mc even has new long travel shocks,

 

Rock crawler xfactor looks like a complete system.

 

Thanks for the info going to be doing some research.