Yeah, I considered 37s, and the lift and stock fenders can certainly handle them. Ultimately I went with 315/70s because I preferred the look, they’re available as a Load C tire, and they fit my stock rims.
They cost the same but you get control arm geometry correction brackets, trackbar correction bracket, spacers for driver/passenger side height adjustment, rear sway bar links, programmer or tire size changes, and a jack stand with the AEV kit. I don't see a reason to get the Dynatrac kit unless they lower the price.
Thanks for posting a detailed review! Think this was enough to push me to look at other lift kits.I looked around for awhile before finally deciding on this lift kit for my 2019 JL Rubicon.
The reasonable reviews, decent price and interesting options included were compelling,
but I think it was the Bilstein shocks that did it.
I always wanted to try Bilstein shocks on my dirt bike as a kid but I never got to...
*Installation*
With a bit of help from my 11 yr old son and much unsolicited help from my 3 yr old daughter, I took a weekend in the insane Las Vegas heat, and installed everything.
It went OK.
Most of the(wasted)time was spent tool juggling with the stock metric and the provided SAE hardware, and of course my little helper. (She loves the creeper).
The provided front sway bar end links were not going to fit. I had to use the longer stock rear end links, and even those were straining.
There is no included track bar or relocation system for the front, and this kit lifted my Jeep 3.5 inches exactly, measured from the ground to the frame.
*Result*
The 3.5" lift gave me a front axle offset of 1 full inch. I clearly needed an adjustable front track bar. The rear relocation bracket did not center my rear axle either, and it still has a 3\8" driver side bias.
The control arm relocation brackets seem to correct caster, but you lose most of the increased ground clearance right behind the front wheels. The rear bump stops are made out of plastic, and the instructions caution against over torquing.
That's fine except that the rear sway bar spacer blocks are made out of the same plastic, and it deforms at the recommended 50 ft. lbs. of torque. I used some blue loctite and was very careful, but I can't imagine they will hold up. I hope I'm wrong.
I called AEV tech support to see if I had missed something, especially with the axle shift.
I talked to someone named Patric. He said that they are installing these kits without upgrading stock track bars and I should send him some photos, which I promptly did. No response at all. It's been about 3 weeks...
So I ordered a Steersmarts track bar, waited a week for it to get here, installed it, centered my axle, and replaced the end links with the provided ones.
*Testing*
I aligned my front end, centered my steering and drove on the road for a few days.
It's driving well, it has less wander than stock, probably due to the caster and heavy duty track bar (not included).
I re-torqued everything (190 ft.lbs. is no joke, especially from your back, and I'm 6'4" 210 lbs, and very fit..)
and then headed out to the rocks.
It's OK.
The articulation seems reasonable even with the large front bump stops.
The rear is very harsh. An uneven fire-road results in bucking even at 10 mph. I expected (and wanted) stiffer suspension, but the rebound damping seems off.
This may be why AEV says this kit is for loaded vehicles (I have after-market steel front and rear bumpers, a winch, a 35" spare, tools and recovery gear, and usually 4 people so...) and they recommend 28 psi in the tires.
Maybe it will settle in...
I also installed 35" Cooper Discoverer STT Pros, so I was happy to have the ProCal SNAP! to reprogram the tire size.
The installation was a bit fussy, They recommend a dental pick to pop up the tabs on the OBDII connector, and you will need to use one, and possible destroy it, but it wired up fine. I plugged in the proCal SNAP! and nothing, no blinking light, nothing. I proceeded to undue, re-due, and continuity test for about an hour, no luck.
Called tech support. Don't remember who I talked to. He asked me to look at the ProCal SNAP! through the transparent back housing. He asked me if it was all white, I said yep. He put me on hold for a while. He came back and said no one is in the sales dept and they could send me a new one or he could tell me how to fix the one I have. He was doing a lot of sighing and seemed strangely embarrassed. I said OK lets fix it. He tells me to pop the plastic front cover off the transparent back and take the small circuit board and flip it front to back. I sat silently for a few seconds and said "really, wow".
He said "yeah". He mumbled something about a bad batch and I said "so we're good" He said "that should do it", I said OK thanks and went out to try it. I worked as expected. Funley enough, you can't alter the tire pressure warning that you'll get if you go to the recommended 28 psi, but I changed the tire size, and the speedo is accurate.
Recommended?
Even though I don't think that the performance is bad, I have to say no.
They have to know that this is a 3.5" lift.
This, along with the zero response tech support, plastic spacers, having to buy extra parts, and the ProCal SNAP! fiasco, I'm not really a satisfied customer.
I guess the plastic jack base is OK.
I know Rock Krawler has a strong presence here, but the crazy number of options threw me. I think I should have researched more...
Should I correct the rear axle? About 3\8" off. It seems to drive OK. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks for reading,
Erik
AEV 2.5 inch lift kit is installed on my 2018 JLU Rubicon with 315 BFG KO2. Reason for lift was with 315s I was getting some rubbing at full articulation.
On the front I went from ~39 3/4 inches to the bottom of the fender to ~42 3/4 inches. On the back I went from ~38 3/4 inches to ~42 3/4 inches. So plus 3 in the front and 4 in the back. Hopefully that will settle a little, but kind of what I expected since no vendor appears to be able to accurately estimate actual lift sizes anymore.
After a 15 minute test drive seems to handle/feel fairly close to before, but definitely leans on the more stiff side and feeling more of the bumps.
I will say that adding a new adjustable teraflex trackbar does make the steering feel a lot tighter (slop of no response on either side of center is definitely reduced from stock).
Can you elaborate on your last comment, I am debating on this lift or the 2 inch Dynatrac EnduroSport. I was all in on AEV due to their reputation and 2.5 seemed about the right height for me. But after hearing mixed reviews, lighter jeeps seeing 3.5 inches of lift, etc, I am not so sure. I have a stock 4 door Sahara and added a rubicon steel front bumper, winch soon, and looking for a different rear steel bumper. Will want to run 35's and a roof rack if one comes out for the Sky one touch top. Plan on loading it down over time. Not a wheeler, but extensive hiking, camping and backpacking and afraid the 2 inch may fall over time.
