cgnjeep

Hi all,

After considerable thought my wife and I, against all good reason and based purely on emotion, have decided to sell our 2013 Tacoma and keep our 2011 2 door JK as our only vehicle. We are trying to start a family, have a large dog, do a lot of overlanding/roadtripping, have no A/C in the Jeep and can list a lot of reasons why keeping the Tacoma would be "smarter"... but this time the heart wins out as we absolutely love our Jeep.

We will be moving our CVT tent from the Tacoma to the Jeep as soon as I make a decision on which rack to go with, so after the weight of a new rack and tent the Jeep will sag even more than it already does from us overloading it and towing over the years. So as reason dictates Roof Rack + CVT tent = 2.5" lift kit required.

I have narrowed down my choices to three kits;

1.AEV 2.5" Dualsport XT ($1340 CDN)

2.Teraflex 2.5" with Bilstein shocks ($965 CDN)

3.ROCK KRAWLER 2.5" Stock mod lift package, W/ Bilstein Shocks ($1240 CDN)

We use the Jeep on long road trips as well as backroads and abandoned forestry roads to explore and get us to hikes. The stock height has always been enough for us to make it anywhere we wanted so the lift is mostly to counter the weight and improve the ride quality. Although the extra height will be nice.

Here are some of my concerns:

- Which kit will have the most appropriate springs for the extra weight as well a some towing of a 4'x6' cargo trailer?

- Do I absolutely need an adjustable track bar? The Teraflex does not include one and is $300-$400 cheaper than the other two.

- Which kit is the most complete if I end up buying a track bar separately for the Teraflex lift?

- Improved road manner would be nice but my bigger concern is offroad ride, our Tacoma is a lot smoother on backroads and going over obstacles, so which lift would make our Jeep smoother on trails?

Any input from anyone who has any of these lifts or any other suggestions would be a great help!

jadmt

I have had an aev 2.5", Rk 2.5, and teraflex performance coil 1.5 lift with rancho shocks and can tell you the AEV is my favorite. The RK had the bilstiens that RK recommended. The rear springs sagged so that was a turn off. I actually had 3 RK lifts in a short time and 2x the rear coils sagged. I had the 1.5", 2.5" and 2.5 front and 3.5" coils in back.

I have to say with a 2 door and a large dog and wanting to start a family I would rethink things. I had a 4 door jkur and traded for a 2 door jkr. we have a small dog and it is crowded when doing the overland thing. I bought a trailer to help. I would go that route over a rtt as you need to break camp everytime you want to move with a rtt. think about getting a teraflex alta rear rack. It definitely frees up some space in the back.

cgnjeep

Thank you for the recommendations. I had a suspicion that the RK lift would be softer. We have had a RTT for about 6 months now and are already hooked. We did a 6 week trip across the US and rarely slept two nights in the same place so the RTT was great.
I do have a 4'x6' cargo trailer that I plan on lifting/swapping axles and putting larger tires on in the future if we need it for longer trips.

The teraflex alta rack looks awesome and will definitely be a concideration in the future.

Whats tire size are your running on your jeep? I love the way it looks. I currently have 285 Duratracs.

jadmt

285/75-17 Cooper st Maxx. I really like them.

kmrtnsn

You're going to end up wanting the OME heavy load springs, especially with a RTT.

Mark Doiron

I'm inclined to agree with this, though it will depend on how much extra gear you decide to/need to carry. Do you need water for a week? Extra gas because there are no stations en route? Anyway, just be aware that there are three different rates of OME springs. Basically, you're taking springs rated for other vehicles (a heavy diesel motor, for example) and re-purposing them for your Jeep. I'm running their second heaviest rate on the front and their heaviest on the rear (on a four door). But because of what I do I run really heavy, despite carrying only a three pound tent.

A few other random thoughts:

1. Don't expect a better ride. I'd be very surprised if after the lift you think the ride is any better.

2. You can run without the adjustable trackbar. You can add it later, when you can afford it. Or you can just ignore that your Jeep crabs its way down the highway because the rear axle isn't tracking behind the front.

3. Whatever lift you choose, you'll probably not be happy if it doesn't take care of the caster. Geometry correction brackets or lower front adjustable control arms are good answers (camber bolts are not, because off-road use causes them to loosen up). You are unlikely to be happy with the "like driving on ice" feeling of not addressing caster along with your lift.

4. I'm not a fan of the Bilstein 5100 shocks because they aren't properly engineered for install into the JKs. If you decide to install them, just be sure that you properly tighten down the front, passenger shock. I've seen two of them come out of the top shock mounting hole because the installer did not properly tighten them down. This is because Bilstein did not provide a practical way to hold the shock from rotating while torquing the top nut down. Your work-arounds are to cut out some of the plastic fender liner, or to remove the TIPM, battery and battery tray to access the Allen wrench hole.

5. Teraflex offers an overland lift, partly in response to complaints about their 2.5" lift sagging for heavier builds. You might check with anyone who has experience with it for running whatever load you anticipate.

nthinuf

For the rear, get a good raised bracket instead of a trackbar. That not only centers the axle (more or less), but helps with roll center. For the front, centering isnt a must-have at that height, but i'd guess that you will be adding an adj trackbar within a month or two of the lift going on.

I had heavy OME coils and bilstein 5100's for a while, and was never happy with the ride. Waaayy too stiff and jarring for me. But, I rarely have my jeep loaded down, and maybe yours will always be loaded? (The hd coils were stated as being 2" lift. I ended up around 3.25", maybe a bit more, with a steel bumper and 9500lb winch with steel cable.) Much happier with the ride after swapping to MetalCloak coils and ome long travel shocks. (MC coils are designed around loaded rigs, so might be worth looking at)

I'll second what Mark said about caster and onroad handling. The poor steering caused by low-caster gets worse as the height increases!! You say that you want offroad ride comfort more than onroad, but I'd guess that you won't be happy if it constantly wanders around and swerves any time you hit a bump or whatever.

tjkamp

I have a Teraflex 2.5. Teraflex + additional weight = NO!

I don't think I got the advertised lift height in the first place, and now after adding more weight bumpers and skids and things, I am going to have to buy new springs. It rides ok, but it is super low.

jadmt

I have installed no less than 6 sets of 5100 and never had an issue using Allen wrench to hold the top stud while tightening. Only the passenger side needs a small piece of plastic removed takes about 5 seconds with a dremil tool or pair of pliers.

karls10jk

Yep, pass on the RK as others have said. As for added weight, you can put the firestone air bags in the rear and that helps with the weight without riding like a lot wagon when you aren't hauling the extra weight.

Shocks are something that folks overlook frequently. I've got a friend that moved between the fox shocks and the Metalcloak rock sport. The rock sport's ride like a Cadillac. I've got another friend that did the Rancho 9000x adjustables and they ride nice enough over my Rancho 5000x shocks that I'd recommend the 9000x's over what I have...though the 5000x isn't a bad shock. They're soft until you get a couple jounces on them each morning.