Evo coilover question

[SDHobbs]

I'm looking into installing this kit along with Evo's long arms in stages and could use some advice. I currently have Metalcloak arms, would it be ok to install the coilovers with limit straps now, and add the long arm kit later? Another option I was thinking was to install front & rear drop brackets and not run limit straps, they are supposed to act like long arms, aside from being rock magnets would they work?
Tthanks!

 

[TonyT]

Sounds like it would be fine, but it would be a lot of extra work setting them up for your current configuration, then again for the long arm.

A buddy of mine did his EVO long arm kit and bolt-on coilovers in stages, but he did the arms first.

 

[Disciple Off Road]

Ideally I'd suggest doing it al at once but you can do it in stages. The only main modification you will have to make will be on the rear axle when installing the long arm kit. You have completely remove the stock lower control arm bracket/shock mount and weld on the new bracket from EVO. Other than that, you can just run the limiting straps and remove when doing the long arm.

 

[benatc1]

Ideally I'd suggest doing it al at once but you can do it in stages. The only main modification you will have to make will be on the rear axle when installing the long arm kit. You have completely remove the stock lower control arm bracket/shock mount and weld on the new bracket from EVO. Other than that, you can just run the limiting straps and remove when doing the long arm.

So either way, long arm or not your cutting and welding? Does that bracket change if you switch to long arms?

 

[Disciple Off Road]

So either way, long arm or not your cutting and welding? Does that bracket change if you switch to long arms?

If installing without the long arm, EVO includes rear lower axle side brackets that bolt on, almost like the rockstars for the JK kits. Only the long arm requires the new weld on bracket. Hope that makes sense lol

 

[benatc1]

If installing without the long arm, EVO includes rear lower axle side brackets that bolt on, almost like the rockstars for the JK kits. Only the long arm requires the new weld on bracket. Hope that makes sense lol

Ah gotcha, that does make sense. I think if I were to do it I’d go all at once even if that meant waiting a little longer.

 

[Ddays]

If you're doing the EVO long arm kit, make sure you do the high clearance version. Otherwise you're just installing rock magnets!

This

HIGH CLEARANCE LONG ARM UPGRADE FOR JK/JKU

EVO MFG Jeep JK High Clearance Long Arm Upgrade kit includes the necessary brackets, long arms, and hardware pack. Features:• Welding required, welding will not void warrantee• Proven Spherical Joints on all arms. No wearable sloppy rubber joints. • Ability to retain factory high clearance...

evomfg.com

 

[Disciple Off Road]

If you're doing the EVO long arm kit, make sure you do the high clearance version. Otherwise you're just installing rock magnets!

This

HIGH CLEARANCE LONG ARM UPGRADE FOR JK/JKU

EVO MFG Jeep JK High Clearance Long Arm Upgrade kit includes the necessary brackets, long arms, and hardware pack. Features:• Welding required, welding will not void warrantee• Proven Spherical Joints on all arms. No wearable sloppy rubber joints. • Ability to retain factory high clearance...

evomfg.com

Yup that's it, part#EVO-1200. They only have the one kit now. Used to be two, one specific for DTD, but not anymore.

 

[SDHobbs]

Thanks for the help guys, what prompted the question is I went down a path with my build and i'm having second thoughts on my choice of suspension. I wanted coilovers for the ride quality, adjustability, and travel/flex, my first instinct was Evo as that's what i've gone with
in the past and it's served me well. But since they moved out of state I decided to change things up and went with a local company Accutune as I heard good things and having local support is important to me. I've been running their coilover kit for a year and have no complaints on the ride
quality as it's great, but travel/flex is where I feel their kit is lacking. They use custom built shocks that keep the ride height low, i'm at 3" of lift with 37's and have 5" of uptravel at ride height, but it's at the cost of downtravel as the shocks run on the short side ( 10.5" front, 11.5 rear). The kit flexes about the same as my old 3.5" Evo coil/shock kit, which is not bad but compared to Evo's 14" shocks it's nowhere near that.

Am I being a dumbass for wanting to switch to Evo's coilover kit? It would be just for the flex as my current setup actually rides really nice and works fine for my local trails, but we're looking to do the Rubicon, Moab, Sand Hollow, all for the first time this coming year and i'm wondering if having a flexier kit would make the switch worth it?

 

[JT@623]

Thanks for the help guys, what prompted the question is I went down a path with my build and i'm having second thoughts on my choice of suspension. I wanted coilovers for the ride quality, adjustability, and travel/flex, my first instinct was Evo as that's what i've gone with
in the past and it's served me well. But since they moved out of state I decided to change things up and went with a local company Accutune as I heard good things and having local support is important to me. I've been running their coilover kit for a year and have no complaints on the ride
quality as it's great, but travel/flex is where I feel their kit is lacking. They use custom built shocks that keep the ride height low, i'm at 3" of lift with 37's and have 5" of uptravel at ride height, but it's at the cost of downtravel as the shocks run on the short side ( 10.5" front, 11.5 rear). The kit flexes about the same as my old 3.5" Evo coil/shock kit, which is not bad but compared to Evo's 14" shocks it's nowhere near that.

Am I being a dumbass for wanting to switch to Evo's coilover kit? It would be just for the flex as my current setup actually rides really nice and works fine for my local trails, but we're looking to do the Rubicon, Moab, Sand Hollow, all for the first time this coming year and i'm wondering if having a flexier kit would make the switch worth it?

I’m sure you can sell what you’ve got and make the switch .

 

[jeeeep]

Thanks for the help guys, what prompted the question is I went down a path with my build and i'm having second thoughts on my choice of suspension. I wanted coilovers for the ride quality, adjustability, and travel/flex, my first instinct was Evo as that's what i've gone with
in the past and it's served me well. But since they moved out of state I decided to change things up and went with a local company Accutune as I heard good things and having local support is important to me. I've been running their coilover kit for a year and have no complaints on the ride
quality as it's great, but travel/flex is where I feel their kit is lacking. They use custom built shocks that keep the ride height low, i'm at 3" of lift with 37's and have 5" of uptravel at ride height, but it's at the cost of downtravel as the shocks run on the short side ( 10.5" front, 11.5 rear). The kit flexes about the same as my old 3.5" Evo coil/shock kit, which is not bad but compared to Evo's 14" shocks it's nowhere near that.

Am I being a dumbass for wanting to switch to Evo's coilover kit? It would be just for the flex as my current setup actually rides really nice and works fine for my local trails, but we're looking to do the Rubicon, Moab, Sand Hollow, all for the first time this coming year and i'm wondering if having a flexier kit would make the switch worth it?

What you have will do fine in all those places, you may not be able to take on the most challenging lines but should be able to get thru most all obstacles. but,having a fairly new Jeep I'm guessing you're not ready to damage it with more challenging lines?

My 2010 JKU has a Clayton 3.5" lift and has served me well. My 2018 JLU has EVO LA/CO

What I've found is the EVO LA does have the advantage on ledges, IMO long arms allows for a better angle flex approach that allows the Jeep to climb smoother (that's my experience). I base this on having run the same trails in Moab with the JKU and ledges were not as smooth of a climb.

I have the EVO LA/CO on my '18 JLU and still bypass the sections where there is an 80% of better chance of body damage, but that's just me

But as mentioned, you should be able to sell what you have if you choose to switch out the suspension

 

[SDHobbs]

I’m sure you can sell what you’ve got and make the switch .

Good selling point to get my wife onboard

 

[SDHobbs]

What you have will do fine in all those places, you may not be able to take on the most challenging line, but having a fairly new Jeep I'm guessing you're not ready to damage it with more challenging lines?

I have the EVO LA/CO on my '18 JLU and still bypass the sections where there is an 80% of better chance of body damage, but that's just me

You are correct, not wanting to trash our Jeep. Thanks for the help!

 

[benatc1]

I’m sure what you have would be fine for any of those places as well, are you saying you only have that down travel from ride height or from the top of your uptravel? I believe evo wheel travel is the most in its class but I would be sure you’re improving on your travel like you want, assuming you’re otherwise happy with your set up. Even if you sell what you have it’s going to cost some dough.

 

[SDHobbs]

I’m sure what you have would be fine for any of those places as well, are you saying you only have that down travel from ride height or from the top of your uptravel? I believe evo wheel travel is the most in its class but I would be sure you’re improving on your travel like you want, assuming you’re otherwise happy with your set up. Even if you sell what you have it’s going to cost some dough.

I think the 10.5" is total travel, so 5.25" uptravel and 5.25" down travel, at ride height the shocks sit right in the middle of the travel range which I think is one of their selling points. Front shock total extended length is 29" vs Evo which is around 35", so it's a gain of 6" going the Evo route, but I would need the long arms to see the full benefit so like you said it's going to cost some dough and maybe it's not really needed in the end if my setup will get me through those trails.

 

[Disciple Off Road]

We do have a JL on the lift with the Accutune coilover kit and I did notice the limited down travel.

I’ll double check but pretty sure the Accutune kit uses a completely new tower up front so may cause some “bolt-on” issues if you switch to the EVO kit now. Just an FYI

 

[benatc1]

I think the 10.5" is total travel, so 5.25" uptravel and 5.25" down travel, at ride height the shocks sit right in the middle of the travel range which I think is one of their selling points. Front shock total extended length is 29" vs Evo which is around 35", so it's a gain of 6" going the Evo route, but I would need the long arms to see the full benefit so like you said it's going to cost some dough and maybe it's not really needed in the end if my setup will get me through those trails.

That’s honestly pretty weak for coilover travel, I’m sure that kit wasn’t cheap either. I guess it all comes down to how much you want to spend to get what you want, always hard to know what you “need”, it never seems to line up with what we want lol

 

[SDHobbs]

We do have a JL on the lift with the Accutune coilover kit and I did notice the limited down travel.

I’ll double check but pretty sure the Accutune kit uses a completely new tower up front so may cause some “bolt-on” issues if you switch to the EVO kit now. Just an FYI

I have the 2.0 bolt on kit which just requires the shock tower to be trimmed similar to the instructions for the Evo kit, it's their 2.5 kit that removes the entire tower. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[SDHobbs]

That’s honestly pretty weak for coilover travel, I’m sure that kit wasn’t cheap either. I guess it all comes down to how much you want to spend to get what you want, always hard to know what you “need”, it never seems to line up with what we want lol

I agree, i'm not thrilled with that part and it's why i'm wanting the switch, shame because they custom tune and give you spring rates based on your weight so you do get a really nice ride but lack of travel is bugging me, my wife thinks i'm nuts

 

[benatc1]

I agree, i'm not thrilled with that part and it's why i'm wanting the switch, shame because they custom tune and give you spring rates based on your weight so you do get a really nice ride but lack of travel is bugging me, my wife thinks i'm nuts

Yea but most of our wives do