So here's the brief overview. Bought my Jeep in 09, within a few months I installed the TF 2.5" lift with shocks. The Jeep drove well but I had that flightiness that's commonly brought up here but all in all I was happy with the ride. As time went on I found the flightiness to be getting worse and driving the Jeep for extended periods of time was exhausting. I installed TF lower control arms which helped but not fully. Fast forward 2 years later, I installed bumpers, 35's, rails and winch and with the addition of each new part over that time, the handling deteriorated and the suspension was bone jarring. Now that I had all my mods done I decided to focus on correcting the suspension and handling issues. I changed out the TF shocks with Bilstein 5100's and that didn't help any. I also dialed in the castor but the handling still didn't improve all that much. It took so much effort (small jerking movements of the wheel) to keep the Jeep in a straight line at highway speeds. Next I decided to really sit back, read and try to figure out my best plan of action. I finally settled on these suspension parts;
RockKrawler 2.5" triple rates
AEV geometry correction brackets
Rancho rs9000xl shocks
Yesterday I finished off the install of the new parts and went for a drive. I was skeptical that anything would really change but I was hopeful. We all read the threads here when we're trying to decide on parts or brand name component and SSOOO many will recommend a certain product and how phenomenal their Jeep is now because of this one part. So what do we do, we turn around and buy that same part because so many made these great claims and after the install we can hardly notice a change and realize we just wasted more money for nothing. Well, this is absolutely not the case this time around. It's just insane the difference in handling and how the suspension now works. It's as though the suspension makes each tire gently hug every crack and bump in the roadway as it passes over them. Before, at highway speeds I can feel every single imperfection transfered right to the steering wheel, the larger bumps were nauseating. Now, I feel nothing! It's like riding on a cloud as stupid as that sounds. I cruised at freeway speeds ranging from 100-140kmh and the Jeep refused to drive anywhere but straight. Before, I had to clench the wheel and every second compensate with small jerking movements from left to right. At times I was white knuckled from holding the wheel so hard. Now, I'm gently holding the wheel between my thumb and index for control. Having to jerk the wheel is non existent, all the Jeep wants to do is drive straight. When I switch lane, everything just wants to go back straight again. I can't really put into words how easy and enjoyable my Jeep is to drive now. My wife loves to ride and drive my Jeep but always complained about how rough it was and she didn't feel safe driving it because of the handling. She took it for a drive and even she was impressed! She's also 7months pregnant and didn't want to really drive around in the Jeep anymore because of her back and ribs hurting her even more from all the bumping around. Up until recently we had to take our VW but now she's telling me the Jeep actually feels much better than our VW and she doesn't feel discomfort or nauseous driving in it anymore.

 

Did you lose/gain any height with the spring change?

 

Yes. Would love to know about the height as well. I'm correcting a Rough Country mistake that I bought. I'm just slapped on Rancho 9000 shocks and coils are next. I'm between RK's, OME's and RE on choices.

 

How did you "dial in the castor" [sic]? Honestly: That's what fixed your steering problems. Caster is not adjustable on a stock Jeep. It is not adjustable with most lifts. That's why we recommend some fix for it: Either the correction brackets, or adjustable front lower control arms (camber bolts are another option, but not very suitable for off-road vehicles where they can vibrate loose). If you have the adjustable front LCAs, then added correction brackets that finally fixed things, well, that just means your caster wasn't truly dialed in.

 

Excellent write up. I'm getting ready to slap on the AEV 4.5 DS SC and can't wait to get eid of this tank like ridw I have now.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using JK-Forum

 

Too bad you changed the whole set-up, I believe possible that the AEV drop brackets alone would have fixed the problem.

 

A lot of that bone jarring ride came from pre load on the stock control arm bushings after you added all that additional weight to your rig. I noticed it on my Jeep as well. I loosened, shook, and retightened everything again after my suspension had settled through the years. It made a significant difference in ride quality if you can believe it.

I will say the TF coils sag like crazy and thats a big contributor to the poor ride quality as well. I'd swap mine out for RK's but I like the ride height too much to risk it.

 

And the shocks. The 9000's are fantastic.
I found both the TF 9550's and 5100's to be harsh.

Control arm drop brackets do make a huge difference in overall feel of the road. Why IMO "AEV" is praised so much for ride.

This proves my point. Choose any decent coil/shock and add drop brackets... Bam.

 

Yeah, having the coil seats level again thanks to the brackets avoids the coils to bow out of shape and allows them the perform better in a vertical motion. Unfortunately, I only have 2 inches of lift and you needs at least 2.5 to run the drop brackets.

 

Yes, just over an inch. I will get an exact number later today.

My mistake, what I meant was pinion angle

Not likely. With the addition of the extra weight the TF coils sagged quite a bit. So much so that I wasn't able to use the AEV drop kit because the lift height was below the AEV recommendation

Before commiting to buy new parts I did try and contact TF regarding the coil sag but their fix was to send out some coil spacers. It didn't help any