Def let us kno how these work out. Im on the fence right now bw these and lca's.

 

OK, I've had a chance to put a few miles on the JK with these new brackets.

This is definitely not a full review on them, but just some initial notes.

They're really simple steel plates...they drop the rear of the LCA about 2 inches, but the drop the rear of the upper about 5"...it's hard to say for certain but it looks like the hole for the upper is also moved rearward slightly...maybe 1/8". So the way the CA's sit is the upper is nearly parallel with the ground and the lower is just slightly higher in the rear. It's quite different than a typical lifted JK.

I don't know what the caster angle is now with the brackets, but the steering has a more self-centering feel than it did previously. The way I had it set up before was with the lowers at stock length and the uppers at 1/4" less than stock...that setup gave me 4.3 degrees on the alignment rack; it drove great, and had a good pinion angle. With the brackets, it feels like more but without putting it on rack, I don't know. In a nutshell, it drives well.

The biggest thing I noticed is the change in braking. I can't believe the difference in the braking, it just doesn't dive...truly amazing.

AEV says it's supposed to improve front impact ride quality (expansion joints). I can't say it did or didn't...I might have been looking for it and perceived it, but mine handled that stuff pretty good anyway, so I'm not sure.

Just out of curiosity, I played around with watching the pinion angle change as the suspension was drooped. I had the frame up on jack stands high enough to have the front tires off the ground and then jacked the axle up and down. It's kind of cool, what they did. It's a dramatically different arc than the stock setup and it allows the pinion to really rotate upward on droop.

The only apparent downside is the fact that the rear mounts are 2" lower...probably not a big deal for most people...but...

Bottom line at this point? I'm impressed. Best $100 I've ever spent on the JK.

 

My CA brackets are in along with the entire AEV lift. With only about 30 miles on pavement so far, I like it. Firmer ride but the bumps are less harsh. As stated above, no nose dive when braking hard or making a quick turn. I really like the Bilsteins shocks. They have a distinct ride in my opinion; my third jeep with them. I really think they add to any lift where the manaufacturer has worked directly with Bilstein to match their spings. Great overall ride. Can't wait to hit a trail this weekend and really test it out.

 

I think that was part of the idea, aren't the brackets supposed to eliminate the cam bolts?

As far as the two inch drop on the LCA's rear bracket goes, that is huge to me. My stock brackets for the rear of the lower control arms are beat to crap. They're in much worse shape than the fronts that folk are raking in bucks in by selling those little weld on skids. I wouldn't mind doing something to ease my drive shaft angle, but not until some way of protecting the bracketry comes out. I don't see why something similar to the Rancho bolt on front LCA bracket skids (which are very effective by the way) wouldn't work.

 

AEV is including a washer that sits where the washer for the cam bolt was. Since there are two notches that the washer sits between it shouldn't have any movement without the need to weld the washer.

 

for the love of god, that is essentially how cam bolts work and what they do already.

for those of you decided to remove your cam bolts and install these brackets instead, please do yourself a favor and have washers welded on or have other repairs made to the slots so that they are just holes again. please understand that the problem with cam bolts and now these silly washers is that if you wheel your jeep, your bolts will come loose and that will cause things to slide around.

 

by the way, for those of you who will actually use your jeep to go wheeling, may i remind you that a good line is often times one where your tires are climbing up and over obstacles instead of dragging them underneath your belly. of course, by virtue of this, your frame rails and rockers often times become the lowest point of your jeep and take the most abuse as they should. and, this is why so many of us lift our jeeps - so that we can RAISE the lowest points and provide more clearance. so...... would someone please tell me again why LOWERING your control arm mounts as opposed to installing heavy duty adjustable control arms with highly flexable joints is such a good thing?

oh, here's a shot that i just took of my passenger side control arm mount at the frame. as you can see, even with 4" of lift, i've still managed to hit enough times and hard enough to bend and tear it. the driver side isn't much better and just about everyone i know has mounts that are beat up too.



of course, i can only imagine how much more i would be hitting my control arm mounts if lowered them. but hey, if you don't intend to wheel your jeep, i suppose none of this really matters.

 

First of all, I never used the cam bolts so I don't have my mounts notched, but for those that do, I can't see any need to have the holes welded if they want to switch to this bracket.
The bracket ties the upper and lower mounts together. I can't imagine anything moving that lower rear control arm bolt unless it ripped the top one off as well.

These brackets are what they are; a very low cost, very effective solution to camber and pinion angle correction.
They have some additional benefits as well, but they have a trade off in ground clearance.

 

ummm, cam bolts are installed at the axle - NOT the frame and would have no effect on these brackets.

in order to make cam bolts work, you need to cut out the tabs on your lower control arm mounts on your AXLE so that the square holes become rectangular slots. this allows you to rotate your axle a bit to help provide caster correction. the problem is, the only thing holding everything in place is the mounting bolts. and, while this is fine for on road use, the stresses placed on these bolts when wheeling are enough to cause the bolts to loosen up. once loose, your axle is free to shift around in the slots and that will screw up your alignment. the only way to effectively fix this very real problem is to have the slots repaired and made into square or round holes again - welding IS required.

 

[QUOTE=wayoflife;1654917]ummm, cam bolts are installed at the axle - NOT the frame and would have no effect on these brackets.
[QUOTE]

Fair enough. My mistake... like I said, I never used them. Feel free to delete the post.