OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
Amazon, eBay and quadratec are the other places I use.
AEV...pro's and con's
- Thread starter MeatHead
- Start date
Amazon, eBay and quadratec are the other places I use.
I have had the absolute best luck with Bryan Hart of 4wd.com Rockridge told me that 4wd.com was the walmart of the off road industry but it is not like Rockridge is helping my local economy out and 4wd.com has beaten Northridge and rockridge but a bunch on my last several orders. I always give Northridge and Rockridge a chance and on my last order a VR10000 Warn winch and Rockhard 4x4 winch plate the owner of Northridge said he no longer wished to play. He sent a smart ass response back saying I should buy two for that price, I am guessing he did not believe my quoted price. I ordered the stuff from bryan and 2 days later it was on my door step for the price he said. . I do not have a 4 wheel drive dealer close so I have to mail order stuff and go with best price because it is not like they are going to give me any other kind of service being they are not local.
OverlanderJK
Resident Smartass
Bryan's a good guy. He hooked me up.
Yup, I have been using Amazon for just about everything lately and have been really happy with the prices and service I have been getting. :yup:
JayKay
Caught the Bug
I have the Rough Country 3.5" kit on my JK. Could have went with the 4" kit, but it has the same cam bolts as the AEV kit and you have to notch the control arm brackets to adjust caster. Whereas the 3.5" lift comes with lengthened front lower control arms to correct the caster without installing bolts. The cam bolts are just a stupid band aid and a cheap fix to save R&D from having to design better suspension components to correct geometry properly.
Rideski
New member
I just put the AEV DualSport 2.5" kit w/geomentry brkts n my new JK (first Jeep) after doing a tonne of research. I was duanted by how many options there were out there and was going to go with the TF 2.5" spring kit until I talked with Northridge who said the AEV kit was much better (progressive rate springs and Blsteins). I also did a tonne of reading on AEV's forum, which is probably biased, but still lots of really good/honest reviews.
Having had the kit on for the last month or so I have to say the road ride is quite a bit superior to the stock ride, but I've only had ot off-road once since the kit was installed as hunting season is in full flight and our club respects that and won't go out during this time - piss off the hunter = possibility of lossing land access (not to mention it's not fair to those guys who sit on a perch all day long only to have the deer chased away by a bunch of Jeeps).
Thoroughout tis thread you guys have mostly been talking negatively on the 3.5-4.5 kit but not much has been said about the 2.5" kit other than Eddie saying it was only okay in one of the first posts. Any other comments on this kit?
Having had the kit on for the last month or so I have to say the road ride is quite a bit superior to the stock ride, but I've only had ot off-road once since the kit was installed as hunting season is in full flight and our club respects that and won't go out during this time - piss off the hunter = possibility of lossing land access (not to mention it's not fair to those guys who sit on a perch all day long only to have the deer chased away by a bunch of Jeeps).
Thoroughout tis thread you guys have mostly been talking negatively on the 3.5-4.5 kit but not much has been said about the 2.5" kit other than Eddie saying it was only okay in one of the first posts. Any other comments on this kit?
The AEV 2.5" kit is about the only kit that AEV sells that is fairly priced for what you get. I'm still no fan of dual rate coils as they will limit your stuff and can leave you riding on the firm portion of the coils if you are loaded up. Also, if you really did get control arm drop brackets, I'm no fan of them either as all they do is lower your control arm mounts closer to what you just paid to get higher up. Having said that, their coils will provide a more comfortable ride over the TF.
As far as "really good/honest reviews" on AEV's site goes, LOL - that's a good one :cheesy:
LOL!! All I'm saying is that I've yet to meet a person who's chosen to spend the extra coin to get an AEV lift talk smack about it. FWIW, I don't know too many people who'd be willing to talk smack about anything they've bought as really, it's the only thing they have ever run and of course, it would require them to admit that they may have made a mistake - god forbid :crazyeyes:
Rideski
New member
From an off-road perspective I can't say if I made a mistake or not as, like I mentioned, I've only had it off road once since installing the kit. I get your point about the lower control arm brkts though. At this point I'm not big on the rock climbing thing but I can see myself getting more hardcore into it in the next couple years, as I pay off the new JKU. Half of me says I jumped the gun on the kit and maybe should have spent the winter figuring it out, but the other half is happy with the purchase.
I have no problem going full long arm kit, with King coil overs, in a couple years, and most likely will.
I have no problem going full long arm kit, with King coil overs, in a couple years, and most likely will.
DynoMax Exhaust
Member
WAY, WAY off tangent.... but I buy Amazon gift cards at the grocery store, this in turn gives me triple/quad "points" on their fuel program... so I get cards and load them up to Amazon and get gas/diesel for a lot cheaper.....
:twocents: (Literally)
Nah, you didn't jump any gun. I think you can just do the best that you can and go from there. Better to be wheeling with something than nothing and if someday you think you'll want to upgrade, you'll have a better idea of what you want at that time. :yup:
WTF? Really?? That's something I might have to look into :crazyeyes:
Rideski
New member
That was my logical..I'm fine with this being a throw away (figuratively speaking) in 2 years and going big then. As you say at least it gets me out wheeling now.:beer::beer:
DallasJKU
New member
Damn Eddie, you hate everything I own on my Jeep. :doh: I have AEV and TeraFlex tire carrier. I will say the 2.5" kit has been perfect for me. I got about 3" from it and I am pretty happy with the ride. Of course there is better out there, but I have rode in many other Jeeps with other kits and what I like about the AEV is that it uses the stock CA's which make for a quiet ride. Some of my friends have "better" kits and their stuff creaks, rattles and squeaks all over the place. All of this would drive me crazy. I think if you like to just go do some camping or light trails and no crazy rock crawling that the AEV is a great set-up and has excellent road manners.
It'll do more than light trails and fire roads. Heck, bone stock I did more than fire roads and light trails. For 95% of us that venture offroad, the drop brackets won't limit what we do.
Would I like coil overs and the like? You betcha! Heck, I really like rockkrawler's stuff, but I just didn't need their full blown kits. I've run other company's arms and like mentioned above by Dallas, seems aftermarket control arms get really noisy after awhile.
Loudest most annoying arms I've ever run were teraflex. Harshest were Ranchos, probably because of how hard the bushings were.
I probably miss out on some "flex" with stock arms, but nothing that's limited me so far.
My AEV works for me. I'm okay if it cost a bit more than something else. My complaint is the shocks are on the firm side. Onroad manners are nice though! Brake dive is quite a bit less than stock.
When we have a third vehicle the suspension will get changed out along with several other things, axles, engine, etc. But for now, the AEV gets me where I want to go and then some with better than good road manners and simple, easy to maintain components. (Unfortunately, I don't have the time these days to mess with tinkering and wrenching.)
Run what ya brung, have fun, and enjoy the cult of Jeep.
Sent from a a few tin cans and some string.
Would I like coil overs and the like? You betcha! Heck, I really like rockkrawler's stuff, but I just didn't need their full blown kits. I've run other company's arms and like mentioned above by Dallas, seems aftermarket control arms get really noisy after awhile.
Loudest most annoying arms I've ever run were teraflex. Harshest were Ranchos, probably because of how hard the bushings were.
I probably miss out on some "flex" with stock arms, but nothing that's limited me so far.
My AEV works for me. I'm okay if it cost a bit more than something else. My complaint is the shocks are on the firm side. Onroad manners are nice though! Brake dive is quite a bit less than stock.
When we have a third vehicle the suspension will get changed out along with several other things, axles, engine, etc. But for now, the AEV gets me where I want to go and then some with better than good road manners and simple, easy to maintain components. (Unfortunately, I don't have the time these days to mess with tinkering and wrenching.)
Run what ya brung, have fun, and enjoy the cult of Jeep.
Sent from a a few tin cans and some string.
SDG
Caught the Bug
I do a very similar thing. I get 5% cash back with my amex at the grocery store, so with most of the grocery stores having gift cards for nearly anyplace... that in turn makes the 5% cash back go anywhere.
:cheesy: Spoken like a true fanboy. I share my opinion of what I like and don't based on what I have seen and experienced and just because you don't like what I have to say, I clearly must "hate" it. :crazyeyes:
And really, isn't that all that should matter? I mean, who give a hoot what I might have to say - not like I know anything.
Funny, so do most 2.5" kits out there. In fact, I don't know of too many that don't use the factory control arms. :idontknow:
Such as?? I'd be eager for you to give me an apples to apples comparison of other 2.5" lift kits that creaks, rattles and squeaks all over the place. All of this would drive me crazy. Not saying that there aren't any, I just wanna know which 2.5" kits you are referring to so that I can compare them with my notes.
And it's great that you're happy with what you got. Being that this is a "pro and con" thread, I'd be interested to know what if any con's you think there are about your kit.
DallasJKU
New member
I can't say I know of any 2.5" kits that make noise I was more eluding to some that have aftermarket CA's. As far as cons for the AEV, there really aren't any with what it allowed me to do with my Jeep. I will say the springs were can be a little stiff in some situations and I've thought about swapping to plush ride coils.