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2.5" AEV lift

5K views 35 replies 16 participants last post by  Old Syko 
#1 ·
Hi all, I have a '12 JKU and I'm buying the AEV 2.5" lift soon. Mostly highway, some off roading. No heavy bumpers YET. Heaviest thing added to the jeep are the front MC Overline fenders.

Along with the lift I was going to get the aev geometry correction brackets and OME steering stabilizer with relocation brackets.

It was suggested to me that I also get front adjustable track bar and possibly a sway bar.

I was also told no need for track bar, sway bar or geometry brackets.

I have no clear idea hat to get and what not to get. Any thoughts on this? Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Have you checked into a Rock Krawler 2.5 Flex? Pretty complete lift. I really like mine. Stubby front bumper, sliders and rear bumper with tire carrier and STILL netted a pinch under 3.5 even after 2 months of settling. Not trying to say the RK is better. Or make your decision harder.
 
#4 ·
AEV is a nice set up. I strongly recommend the geometry brackets. The rest is optional. I also like to put on a set of 2.5 rear sway bar links and move the stock rear links to the front and eliminate the goofy link brackets that AEV uses. That too is optional, just like the front track bar and stabilizer.
 
#6 ·
Agree with Pressurized and deep blue above. Get the geo brackets. Small investment for a much more comfortable lifted ride and feel.
 
#7 ·
unless your steering stabilizer is damaged I would just run stock one as it does fine. I just installed the aev 2.5 with geo brackets on my new rig. I got about 3" up front and I run a winch and fairly light front bumper. My front axle is centered within a 1/4" so no need for adjustable track bar. look at either picking up some take off rear sway bar links for the front or moving the rears to the front and getting adjustable rear jks etc. If you do not have a rubicon get some jks or similar front disco sway bar links. This lift does well on the highway but I can tell you from experience there are better offroad lifts ie RK for one and metal cloak for another. both of those do great on the highway as well. I had the RK on my previous jeep and my good buddy still has one and another good buddy has the metal cloak game changer and that is a flexing machine offroad and does well on. All three handle 80mph long trips with no problem.

If I did not say I was just a tiny bit disappointed in the aev 2.5 I would be lying. I like it but don't love it. If I was just on road I would probably say I love it tho...
 
#10 ·
AEV is a good kit, I've run it on 2 JKs and they've both been good, but not what I'd call great. I modified my current 2.5 along the lines that Pressurized described, also adding a TF front trackbar and Synergy fixed LCAs to replace the brackets. At 2.5 swapping the brackets for LCAs didn't make much difference as a DD from my experience, so you can go with what fits your driving/wheeling the best.

The one thing I will say about the whole AEV thing is that the 'all or nothing' branded approach does get tiring. They won't part out a kit or just give you what you need. The guys there know me well know the money I've spent. I recently inquired about upgrading to a 3.5 kit. If you move from a 3.5 to a 4.5 they'll sell you just the springs/shocks/bumpstops, if you move from 2.5 to 3.5, they won't let you drop the rear trackbar which is identical, or drop the high steer kit if you already have a Yeti HD which is better than their no-drill yeti 26. You buy it all at retail price and ditch or try to sell at a loss what you don't need.

This really has me leaning towards TF or MC for my suspension upgrade. TF in particular will build any kit I want and their customer service has been best in class in my experience. MC has some flexibility in dropping stuff, they are approaching the 'all or nothing' branding that AEV has (as well as the no discount pricing) but they have much more flexibility in kit options (shocks, CAs).

I think personally I'm burned out on AEV and just need a change. I need a brand that supports builders since I'm constantly modding my rig. As a bolt up as-is kit it's tough to beat AEV though, especially for road manners.
 
#12 ·
I would definitely get longer sway bar links vs the AEV brackets. I went to weld on some c-gussets and guess what sits right in the way.
 
#22 ·
You can piece together your own kit. I've read that the rancho geo brackets are better made/thicker steel than the AEV ones, plus cheaper. Find some springs you like, shocks, and bump stop extensions. Or just get the whole rancho kit. Their shocks are on spring sale.

Hold on the track bars. When the lift is in, you can measure your tires to the frame and see how off-center your axles are. If you need/want to adjust them back to center, you can then do the track bars.

JKS disconnects are the best. If you don't want disconnects, I discovered the EVO sway links are heavier duty than anything else I've seen on the market and they're available in many lengths- you can measure to see what you need for your sway bar to be level at ride height.
 
#23 ·
I liked my AEV 2.5... reasonable price, good quality... instructions were easy to follow. It road great and worked well. Would I get another one for my new Wrangler? Probably not... the Canadian dollar has taken a kicking and the Mopar 2" kit is a better deal for me... they suck up a bit of the exchange issue... it gets delivered to my dealer for free... and because the are selling the kit they'll do the install for 3 hours flat labour. So, it all depends. The springs on the AEV are what sold me, but to be honest, the multi-rate stacks up badly... with just the Jeep weight on, the first 3-4 coils are already stacked (touching) so you loose that initial soft rate. But it still rides very nice... no complaints there. The shocks seem well calibrated as well.

I dunno... a lot of these folks are sourcing their springs and shocks from the same factory... just different paint and stickers on them. For me going Mopar is a better $ decision. I wouldn't worry if you stick with any of the bigger names.
 
#29 ·
the first 3 coils should be settled on themselves under the weight of the jeep. that is how they are designed. I have had two sets of RK triple rates and one set of AEV triple rates and that is how they work. when you are off road flexing they come up when your rig is unweighted fro less rebound effect and extend to keep coils from falling out.
 
#31 ·
Thats without shocks! Add Rancho 9000 and now over $1300
With the AEV and getting ride of funny brackets using OEM Rears your under $1100 shipped. Lift $1000 and Rear links $39.

Again EVERY lift has its advantages. I know what I was using my for and what type of terrain I will tackle. AEV was perfect for me.
First and foremost is a DD and I drive on the highway.
 
#30 ·
I have had TF, RK (1.5 and 2.5/3.) and now how have 3000 miles since February on my aev 2.5 on my new rig. For me the on road is pretty spectacular. I put it on and with less than 500 miles on it headed to moab where I drove ~80mph for 775 miles to get there spend 5 days on the trail and turned around and drove back at the same 80mph. The road portion was exceptional. just took a 300 mile day ride yesterday and the entire time my wife was like man this rides nice.

She did not go to Moab with me so she had not been on the highway with me in it. she spent many thousand miles in my RK lifted jeep. Ie 2 trips to calif, 1 trip to Colo., several trips to Moab, probably over 30,000 miles in local trips. She is pretty sensitive to ride comfort (she made me trade her 2016 Subaru Outback on a new car because the outback was too rough on her commute).

I would not let the sway bar link brackets sway you (no pun) as most will want discos anyway and if not stock rear take offs are dirt cheap. As far as the geo brackets go not sure most will abuse them enough to worry. I never hit mine once in 5 days of Moab running the Golden Spike, Behind the Rocks, Strike Ravine, Kane Creek, jax Traxs, Hells revenge, potato salad hill etc. I did the dusy ershim and the rubicon trail with two guys that had aev geo brackets and they never had a problem with them. I remember I used to be a naysayer about them but I have changed my tune. I have installed several sets and trust me they are stouter than they look in photos.

That all said if you want to do harder stuff than I mentioned then there are going to be better lifts but for daily driving and trails like I mentioned above it does pretty darn well. Be honest with yourself if you are going to rock KOH then get a different lift, if in your mind the Rubicon Trail or Dusy Ershim seem like that might be as hard as you will do than it will work well.
 
#35 ·
Looks like a lot of response to this but I'll just throw in one more "user experience". I installed the AEV 2.5 lift on my 2014 JKU before my road trip to Moab. Didn't do the correction brackets or change the track bar at the time, although the lift did throw my front axle over about a half inch. Didn't seem to affect the ride or handling so I didn't worry about it. Did a couple thousand mile road trips on the rig and it handled great. Later I put on the geo brackets and an adj. track bar, but again, no appreciable difference in handling or ride.
I DO highly recommend upgrading to the quick disconnect sway bar links however. You are only using a fraction of your Jeeps capabilities if you are tied to that stabilizer.
 
#36 ·
It's interesting how many people complain about the rake and especially after installing a lift yet I've seen no claims by AEV that their lift will change this. If you want the body to set more level, throw in a set of 3/4" pucks on top of the front springs.

For most of us the majority of use is going to be on the highway and therefore must be the priority issue when choosing a lift. Personally I might drive over 2000 miles, one way, in order to wheel for a few hundred. It would be foolish to prioritize offroad abilities while putting everyone both with and around me in jeopardy. This is the reason I went with the AEV kit plus a couple minor changes such as the swaybar links. If I wanted a soft smooth ride I'd buy a 72 Caddy but I don't want that. I want to feel the road or whatever surface I'm on at the time since it makes me a better and safer driver. The AEV kit does a good job fulfilling my needs and expectations.
 
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