hey i have a

2008 jku
nsg370 6 speed
3'' BDS
bilstein 5100 shocks
JKS adjustable trackbar
35s

i have the aev control arm correction brackets but think its really hurting my flex plus there hang down low i wants to get a control arms upper and lower and then swap in a 4:1 rubicon transfer care for better control. wanted to know is the 1200 or so is worth it and get everything set or should i just leave it alone for now and wait till everything tires out and then just put a long arm. if i can get big flex out of the short arm i would rather just do that

 

You are asking about several items so I will try to answer the first one about the AEV brackets and flex. The drop brackets should not affect the flex as all they are doing is lowering the factory control arms a bit and then changing your front axle castor. The flex you will get up front can sometimes be limited by your shocks so that may be one of the limiting factors at the moment. The adding of a long arm set up will definitely help give you more travel but again you will be limited to the length of your shock set up. Also, make sure you are running an after market drive shaft if you start dropping more flex as you can easily kill a CV boot on a stock DS from too much droop. Changing your transfer case and your other wish items will depend on how you plan on wheelng your rig. If you plan on crawling and needing large flex than you have your answer and will need to build it as needed.

 

people say the whole flex is limited by joints and shock length but to increase flex you cant just though coil overs under a 3 inch lift right there is a optimum length for each range for shock and coil combos that is why when you buy them they have a range like 3-5 inch of lift for these shocks or 4-6 for this length of shock

 

I have a 4" lift. BDS shocks and zone Offroad performance springs. You have way more doodads and whatnots in your setup than I do and I love my flex. Lots of things limit you when your flexed. Easiest way to see what is limiting you is jack up the front end and take the tires off. Then start taking parts loose until you are satisfied. Then get different parts to match the droop you want. Ex, sway bar disconnects, longer shocks, longer brake lines, longer drive shaft, adjustable track bar.... We can be here for days. Here is a pic of mine flexed out with stock control arms and DS.

 

Flex = length of control arms, type of CA joints, lift height, bump stop length, tire size, fender flare type, sway bar disconnects. And to a certain extent track bar length and position.

The right combination of those things will net you the most flex.

 

Yeah... What ray said!

 

As said before, the aev brackets are not causing you to lose "flex" or total articulation, but there has been some miss-information in this thread (at least referring to long arms).

For the sake of discussion, I'm assuming you have the 5100's in the 3-4" length, which depending on who you bought from are about 11" travel in the front and 10.5" in the rear. With proper setup of your overall suspension you can get about 35-40" of total articulation from this; a very capable number for most trails.

The bushings in the factory arms can in fact deflect far enough to handle that amount of travel, but eventually they will begin to fail. Any arm with a quality high misalignment joint at at least one end will be more capable of handling the longer travel over a longer period of time.

Long arms will not directly increase total articulation, or at least by any noticable number. What long arms do is flatten out the link geometry, which will smooth out both on and off road ride, decrease the axle's tendancy to pull under the rig approaching objects, and with the lengthened arms, decrease the axles tendancy to pull front and rear during compression and droop, leading to axle steer.

When you get into the 12"+ of travel, alxe steer (and the general pull of the axle front to rear through travel) is what causes other components to bind and limit travel. Pushing the axle forward in front and back in rear (with adjustable arms) will prevent trackbar bind on the axle and frame bracket at full droop, as there is generally more down travel than up. This will also prevent the shocks from contacting the tower. Going too far forward in the front, however, will push the driver side spring into the trackbar bracket at full compression. Having significantly longer and generally flatter arms reduces the movement front and rear during cycle, decreasing the areas of potential bind, allowing the suspension to accomidate more unrestricted travel.

Beyond that, maximizing travel is about finding the limiting factory. Optimize your bumpstop heights, shock mounts, and fenders for the tires you are running, and make sure your sway links, brake lines, and ESP cables are long enough to accomodate the travel.

FWIW, my setup runs the 11" front, 10.5" rear 5100's. Flat fenders, 35's, 3" front 2.5" rear bumpstops, 3" lift, raised lower front and rear shock brackets, and 1.25" stretched front axle. I can net about 40" total travel, right where the jeep starts to get tippy, with short arms. It's all about optimizing your setup. I will eventually be making my own long arms, but for now it works well.

 

Cant thanks you guys enough for the information. it has helped with the direction to maximize ability due to good mechanical set up not just a big wallet. i will run though my set up on a buddy's trails to find out where i am limiting movement and make the necessary changes.