So, I bought a JKU sport S last year. It came with a 3.25" rough country lift.
I live in FL, Long story short it was stolen and totaled during Hurricane Irma.
Sooooo now that I'm sold on a Jeeps, I went to the dealership and came out with a Gorgeous 2017 JKU Rubicon granite crystal! Manufactured Aug 2017.

Now that I'm looking for lifts I realize that there are so many choices, and even more opinions.
I have a set of wheels with 35's(Toyo Open Countrys) that... for now work...
35's work long term, I like the look, I like the height of my last jeep... what I think could improve was drive-ability.
Cost is not a big deal I'm willing to spend a couple grand no problem, as long as I get a better lift.

I'm in Florida so I'm not doing any rock crawling, but I do encounter mud and water a lot, and its my daily driver so on road performance I would like to keep.
I have read alot of post and understand trimming the rock rails is probably a must. I havent seen any info on sway bar disconnects is there anything I need to be aware of when choosing a lift that will effect that?
I also will most likely be adding bumpers and accessories in the near future, so weight will be added.

as it sits now it drives so much better then the last jeep, I'd like to keep that as much as possible.
Ive heard that the JKS JControl is great, but I have also seen that many on here are happy with the AEV 3.5"

So many choices...
any help from anyone that lifted a Rubicon is appreciated, Looking Forward to this build!

 

Rock crawling can get by with a cheap incomplete lift. On road performance is where it takes more components and money to make it drive good. The higher you go the more you need and you have the issue of caster up front which you can only adjust between steering feel and driveling vibrations unless you cut and spin the tubes or buy a caster corrected housing for you lift height. The rubicon has electronic disconnect sway bar so you only need extended links not disconnects. That the button on the dash. The lower you keep the lift the better it will drive. For 35's a 2.5" should be find for a daily driver. You could also run flat fenders and a 3/4" spacer lift and not touch anything else for an agressive looking ride that runs down the road good.

You can get a good complete 2.5" lift for a couple grand and when you move up to a 3.5-4" expect to invest closer to $10k for a complete set up that runs down the road good on 35"-37" tires. There are other expensive components that you may need to replace depending on your lift height and tire size. Things like high steer, driveshafts, wheels are a few things. The labor can add up as well if you are not doing it yourself.

I would start with visiting the MetalCloak and Synergy websites and look at their offerings as they have the rod end bushing that are going to give you the best riding on the road with more then enough flex for off roading. AEV is another good kit for a DD. Like you said there are tons of lift but I would start there and throw away the Quadratec catalog. Note that your actual lift height will vary from jeep to jeep depending on the weight of it. Most quality kits will offer 1"-1.5" more then advertised on a stock jeep vs one that is armored with a winch. You will also find some companies are offering "tuned" shocks to their kits so that may be something you want for a better on road ride.

You might take a read of the link in my signature for more info on your suspension and the components.

https://www.components.com/JK-Wrangl...cks-p/7125.htm
SYNERGY MANUFACTURING :: Jeep JK :: Synergy Jeep JK Stage 3 Suspension System, 3" Lift

Good luck with the build.

 

^^excellent post.
I think it really is too bad that so many folks cheat themselves thinking they don't need a quality kit because they are not "rock crawling", when in reality, just as you noted, it's the road going folks who need to pay most attention to geometry/steering/roll center/bushing design/quality springs/shocks.
Example, guy I know does excellent off road with a popular "cheap" and non-adjustable 4" lift running 37's. He even comments about his cheap azz brand x lift out on the trail. I'd not want to deal with it for any distance/duration on road tho.

 

A couple grand will get you a better lift than one costing less than a couple grand. As noted above, you're going to get what you pay for. Pay once, cry once.

 

2.5 AEV beautiful in and off road manners. If you're researching, start with them.

 

There are lots of great options out there for what you're after. As these guys mentioned the extra components in the more complete systems will help far more on the road than on the trail in most cases. The JKS kits are very nice and address all of the high points for quality ride and handling. You are wise to go with a 2.5" and 35s. Anything more than that will require a lot of other parts to make it handle as well as or better than it does stock.

For the 2.5" system I'd recommend something with a quality coil and shock and then make sure you're getting an adjustable front track bar, front lower control arms or drop brackets, a rear relocation bracket for the track bar, and sway bar links front and rear. Those are the high points and having everything at the right angles will make the Jeep handle great with the lift and larger tires.

I recently build my wife a driver with a Rock Krawler X-Factor lift and Falcon 3.3s. That Jeep drives and handles incredibly well. Those shocks are DEFINITELY worth a look. I was super impressed with them and her Jeep is 100% a daily driven road warrior.

Good luck and congrats on the new rig! Granite Crystal is one of my favorite colors!

Marcus

 

Glad you like the X-Factor Marcus.

Adam C

 

I went with the Synergy 3" progressive and have been very satisfied so far. Currently it is my daily driver and the drivability had been great. To be fair I really enjoyed my TERAFLEX 2.5 on my 08. Good luck!

 

Sorry for taking so long to reply... my phone was being dumb and I forgot my password for the computer....
Thank you guys for the thoughts and advise, I'm still doing my research.
I have kinda put this on the back burner, I've been crazy busy at work lately
On a brighter note. I am enjoying this jeep... got a little mud on it today, really looks good!

 

I too just purchased a new sport 3 wks ago and I also live in Florida. I've been researching lifts for the past few months and could not find one with everything I wanted for under 4K. Being a new jeep I could not bring myself to replace new parts with more new parts. I could also not leave it in its stock form. So I found a steel spacer lift 3" front 21/2 rear. Along with that I picked up a Aev relocation brackets, and procal ,RK bomb proof track bar and RC rear tb relocation bracket. Oh yea tires and rims. This set up although may not work for rock crawling it drives great on the street and trails. I feel I have a good start and now will start researching springs.