AEV 2.5 vs Quadratec

[DanW]

I'm late to the party, but thought I'd share my thoughts. When I bought my 2012 JKUR a few years ago, it had an AEV 2.5" DualSport Suspension with the Bilstein shocks and the geometry correction brackets. It also had 315/70R17 BFG A/T tires on it along with a Warn Xd9000i winch and steel front bumper. We drove about dozen different jeeps while looking and can honestly say this jeep drove and rode the best out of all of them - this was a mix of stock and modified jeeps. The geo brackets really do work for maintaining very good road manners. The jeep tacked straight as an arrow even when hitting bumps and uneven patches. I really liked the suspension and ride quality, but went to 37's and needed more lift, so I decided to try the 4" EVO plush ride springs and Rancho 9000's. I kept the AEV brake line extension brackets and AEV rear track bar bracket, but replaced all of the other AEV components. I removed the AEV geo brackets and went with adjustable control arms. In comparison of the two set ups, I like the softer ride quality of the EVO springs and Rancho shocks more, but really miss the geo brackets and the good tame road manners. Now the jeep wonders when hitting bumps in the road due to change in axle position and angle when the suspension compresses on one side. The geo brackets keep the arms almost horizontal so compression of one side of the suspension doesn't alter axle position much at all. My wife tells me I spent a shit ton of money to make my jeep drive like shit, so there's that. Long arms will probably fix it!

As for the rake, my jeep had about 3/4" of rake to it and may have been due to the winch, but not sure. Never saw it without the winch. The new EVO set up does NOT have any rake and is level. Off road, the suspension was quiet and behaved very well. No complaints on or off road with the AEV 2.5" lift. You made an excellent choice!

LOL! What your wife said sounds like something my wife would say!

Thanks for the feedback! I spoke to my cousin again today and he told me he's beyond thrilled with his AEV and he drives it quite a bit every day. He went back over the things he liked about it on the trail in Moab, too. He doesn't have the correction brackets yet, so he's looking forward to feeling the difference and may throw a set of those on it, too.

It'll make for a nice daily driver and my son will love it on our off-road trips. Can't wait to get it all together and come back to review it!

 

[mewaschuk]

fwiw i love my rancho sport kit with the basic 5000 shocks.

 

[wayoflife]

fwiw i love my rancho sport kit with the basic 5000 shocks.

It is a good kit. I think most people don't give it a harder look because it's made by Rancho and/or the fact that it's so affordable.

 

[DanW]

It is a good kit. I think most people don't give it a harder look because it's made by Rancho and/or the fact that it's so affordable.

I looked hard at that one, as I've got several Rancho products and have a high opinion of them. I also like the 9000 shocks. The main reason I didn't go with it was that I wanted the little extra lift of a 2.5. I've seen the Rough Country and AEV 2.5's next to the 2.0 and it appears a little more than the advertised 1/2 inch more.

I came very close, though, because several with the Rancho have told me that when you dial the shocks to the softest setting, it has a very nice ride.

 

[wayoflife]

I looked hard at that one, as I've got several Rancho products and have a high opinion of them. I also like the 9000 shocks. The main reason I didn't go with it was that I wanted the little extra lift of a 2.5. I've seen the Rough Country and AEV 2.5's next to the 2.0 and it appears a little more than the advertised 1/2 inch more.

I came very close, though, because several with the Rancho have told me that when you dial the shocks to the softest setting, it has a very nice ride.

Funny. I found that I got 2.5" out of the Rancho Sport kit that I installed and it allowed me to run 37's better than the 2.5" coil spacers that I was running before.

I personally would NOT recommend Rough Country and yes, that is from experience too.

 

[DanW]

Funny. I found that I got 2.5" out of the Rancho Sport kit that I installed and it allowed me to run 37's better than the 2.5" coil spacers that I was running before.

I personally would NOT recommend Rough Country and yes, that is from experience too.

Maybe they're taller than advertised! I would wish I tried them except my cousin tells me every day how much he loves the AEV. I'm hoping to get access to my nephew's lift next week to throw it together.

I love your installation videos, btw!

 

[wayoflife]

Maybe they're taller than advertised! I would wish I tried them except my cousin tells me every day how much he loves the AEV. I'm hoping to get access to my nephew's lift next week to throw it together.

I love your installation videos, btw!

With VERY FEW exceptions, most ever lift out there yields more lift than is advertised. Glad you enjoyed the video

 

[DanW]

With VERY FEW exceptions, most ever lift out there yields more lift than is advertised. Glad you enjoyed the video

I have the exception, Lol! The AEV spacer lift. I think it wound up giving about 1.5 inches, at least in the front. The rear probably got the full 2" or maybe 1.75.

I think you are right, too. The 2" lift on my JLUR probably yielded 3" or close to that. The AEV 2.5 on my cousin's JK looks like it got about 3", as well.

I enjoy all of your installation videos, even the ones with things I'm not planning on adding. They are very easy to follow, have good clear videography of what you are doing and your narration makes for very few questions and no confusion, at all. I can't say that for all installation videos from other sources, even some of the better ones.

 

[wayoflife]

I have the exception, Lol! The AEV spacer lift. I think it wound up giving about 1.5 inches, at least in the front. The rear probably got the full 2" or maybe 1.75.

I think you are right, too. The 2" lift on my JLUR probably yielded 3" or close to that. The AEV 2.5 on my cousin's JK looks like it got about 3", as well.

Well, to be fair, spare lifts are just that, spacers. If you fail to install the proper length bump stop extensions, you can easily over compress your coils when flexing and to the point where they no longer sit at their original height.

 

[DanW]

Well, to be fair, spare lifts are just that, spacers. If you fail to install the proper length bump stop extensions, you can easily over compress your coils when flexing and to the point where they no longer sit at their original height.

Yep. I've got the AEV extensions, so it probably isn't far off its original stance. I have always wanted just a little bit more. I stuck with it so long because it drives really well, on and off road, and actually matched up pretty well with the RS5000X shocks, as far as handling goes. But I'm ready for more breakover angle and to get rid of the forward rake. My JLUR is what really made me start to dislike the rake. It is nice and level.

But I wouldn't be surprising if the factory springs have settled a bit, too, after 13 years and 151k miles. This new lift will be like allowing it to pull its pants up. Lol!

 

[cozdude]

Funny. I found that I got 2.5" out of the Rancho Sport kit that I installed and it allowed me to run 37's better than the 2.5" coil spacers that I was running before.

I personally would NOT recommend Rough Country and yes, that is from experience too.

I got about 2.5” of lift off of my rancho kit as well. Now I just need to order and install the lod side steps and get some rubicon fenders on

 

[DanW]

Installed the AEV lift today! It went pretty smoothly with the exception of a few bolts here and there that reminded me they had not been loosened since the spacer lift was installed about 11 years ago, or so. It gave it a nice lift and it rides better than I anticipated. The handling is great, too. I installed Tera Flex 1/2" spacers on the front to compensate for the winch and to be sure it was level. I'm glad I did. It has a very slight rake, I think, but is almost level. That's just right because It'll probaby be level when loaded with gear or when towing my boat.

I did not install the geometry correction kit but will do that in the next few weeks. I'll also add an adjustable front track bar as the front axle is just slightly off center.

Next up is probably a new front bumper as this old JK gets some new life breathed into it. She'll be getting back on the trail this summer with my son at the wheel, so I'm looking forward to seeing that.

 

[wjtstudios]

Installed the AEV lift today! It went pretty smoothly with the exception of a few bolts here and there that reminded me they had not been loosened since the spacer lift was installed about 11 years ago, or so. It gave it a nice lift and it rides better than I anticipated. The handling is great, too. I installed Tera Flex 1/2" spacers on the front to compensate for the winch and to be sure it was level. I'm glad I did. It has a very slight rake, I think, but is almost level. That's just right because It'll probaby be level when loaded with gear or when towing my boat.

I did not install the geometry correction kit but will do that in the next few weeks. I'll also add an adjustable front track bar as the front axle is just slightly off center.

Next up is probably a new front bumper as this old JK gets some new life breathed into it. She'll be getting back on the trail this summer with my son at the wheel, so I'm looking forward to seeing that.

A lift makes everything so much easier! Can’t wait to you guys get it out on the trail

 

[DanW]

A lift makes everything so much easier! Can’t wait to you guys get it out on the trail

Yes, and thanks! I have to thank my nephew for that. He let us use his factory lift. He owns 4 Piston Racing. He even went in there very early this morning and took a race car off of it and rolled a big tool chest out for us with everything we needed. Made for a MUCH easier installation and a fun day. My cousin and a friend, both of whose Jeeps we lifted a couple months ago, helped out. My cousin's was the same lift, so it made things easier since this was the 2nd. His is a 2018 JK, one of the last of the Mohicans off the assembly line.

I must mention that AEV's instructions are just not that great. They tell you to take off or loosen a bunch of stuff that you really don't need to do, such as detaching the front drive shaft. There's just no need for that. We also didn't need to loosen control arm bolts, as the instructions say. I also don't know how in the heck Bilstein thinks you can get their front shock bushings compressed enough to get on there. Both times we installed them, we had to use the old shocks' upper bushing because it was already compressed so that we could get the lock nut onto the threads. No biggie.

And I almost forgot. This older (2008) JK has slightly larger lower shock bolts than the newer ones. So we had to drill out the lower shock mounting cylinders (not sure what you call them). That wasn't a huge deal, but the Rancho 5000X shocks that were replaced had the matching larger diameter holes, so not sure why Bilstein went smaller or why AEV wouldn't have supplied a bolt with the slightly smaller diameter.

 

[Brute]

When I sent a JKU Rubicon to AEV in 2013 for a Brute conversion, I had the 3.5 suspension installed on 35” tires. It was my first Jeep, and shipped it to the Mainland in 2015 for my first real offroad adventure (Hawaii really doesn’t compare to the West Coast, NV & UT trail wise) wheeling in Mojave, the sand dunes of Olancha, and into the mountain trails above Bishop and Big Pine, eventually going to my first EJS in Moab. On road, it performed better than stock...and since I had little off road experience to compare it to, I thought it worked fine. I’ve since completely changed the suspension, amongst many other things, and one of the first things I’ve noticed was the amount of flex the suspension has over the AEV.

If this is your daily driver, and will only occasionally take it off pavement, you will like the AEV suspension...a lot.

 

[DanW]

When I sent a JKU Rubicon to AEV in 2013 for a Brute conversion, I had the 3.5 suspension installed on 35” tires. It was my first Jeep, and shipped it to the Mainland in 2015 for my first real offroad adventure (Hawaii really doesn’t compare to the West Coast, NV & UT trail wise) wheeling in Mojave, the sand dunes of Olancha, and into the mountain trails above Bishop and Big Pine, eventually going to my first EJS in Moab. On road, it performed better than stock...and since I had little off road experience to compare it to, I thought it worked fine. I’ve since completely changed the suspension, amongst many other things, and one of the first things I’ve noticed was the amount of flex the suspension has over the AEV.

If this is your daily driver, and will only occasionally take it off pavement, you will like the AEV suspension...a lot

My Jeeps are not trailer Jeeps. They do it all, from daily driving to frequent off-roading to playing in the snow or sand dunes. We drive them to the trails, whether 2 hours or 23 hours away, in a very wide variety of trails and locations, so everything is a compromise. I expect them to be comfortable on the road and competent off it. I'm anticipating this one will hit the mark right where I want it. It won't have the chops of my JL, but I think it will be solid and be the perfect setup for my son to learn the ropes. We'll be taking it soon to a couple local off road parks to probe its limits and strengths, then we'll take a couple weekend trips over the summer to Windrock, Turkey Bay, and maybe Drummond Island. Then in October, it's off to the northern section of the Appalachian Byway, including VT, NH, and ME.

My wife drove it today and LOVED it. Now maybe she'll quit sneaking out in my JL! Lol!

 

[bmkrinne]

Glad you like the AEV lift! Once you get the geo brackets on it, it’ll drive even better! The wife will love it!