4. Can you guys recommend some kits or combos that will best suit my needs. My initial thought was to go with the AEV 2.5" or 3.5" kit with the drop brackets but have not heard good things about the brackets vs. new control arms.
You want 35's, you don't need a 3.5 inch lift or arms. Yes, a 2.5 inch lift will probably give you 3 inches or a bit more but they are designed to sit at 2.5 loaded with gear, bumpers, winches, etc. The bit of extra lift usually won't cause a problem.
My advice? Get a quality 2.5 inch lift (Teraflex, AEV, Rock Krawler, maybe a Rancho 3 inch sport or metal cloak), some good shocks (Rancho 9000's are adjustable and a favorite on WF) and you'll be good to go with minimal issues.
A few other parts are recommended. You'll probably want an exhuast spacer kit but they are cheap ($30) and easy to install. You'll likely experience some flighty steering and brake dive after the lift but some Rancho or AEV control arm brackets for the front correct that and only cost $100-$150. New lower arms won't fix the geometry issues, only brackets will. Last, change out the stock CA and track bar bolts. $50 and you have to loosen them anyway when the lift is installed. Cheap insurance against death wobble problems.
I run:
Teraflex 2.5 inch coil suspension
Rancho 9000XL's (you'll want part numbers ending in 29 and 30)
Northridge Bolt kit
Rancho drop brackets
Exhuast spacers (any brand will do)
Love it. Rides great on and off road, better than stock.
I obviously haven't read all of the good knowledge on this site, but I have browsed a fair share of lift/suspension discussions . It was my understanding that front lowers and rear uppers helped with the geometry issues associated with lifting the jeep?
Follow up questions:
1. Do all kits require an exhaust spacer? Why do they need this?
2. Did you get any more than 2.5" on your lift and have you experienced any sag with the teraflex coils?
All the answers are already here and on most other Jeep forums... Having said that I'd stick with the big names such as Teraflex, Rock Krawler, Metal cloak and AEV. From my experience Teraflex kits sag after the first few months ending up at advertised lift height even without added weight. Rock Krawler and Metal Cloak do not seem to sag any measurable amount, Not sure about AEV. The key when doing a lift is research to find what kind of height you want and a few brands then research each of those closely and pick the one that best suits you
exhaust spacer is used to lower the exhaust pipe to avoid the drive shaft hitting it when at full droop, it depends on the lift and shocks you go with. I experienced significant sag when I ran teraflex springs, Mu buddy runs their 2.5" kit and ended up with right about 2.5" on his JKU with a light front bumper and winch, after adding a rear bumper and 37" spare he had to add .5" spacer out back to compensate. it may have settled slightly since then
With a 4 door, rear pinion angle correction is not as important (rear uppers).
Like said... You really don't need 3.5 unless installing a 37+ inch tire. Trimming the flares gives more clearance also.
Front lowers or correction brackets take care of the front caster/angle.
It all Comes down to tire size and how the jeep is used.
The rest has been covered here quite well.
For reference, near 4" of lift and flat flares. Plenty of room (after trimming the pinch seems) for a 37" tire.
If you know you're going to add weight. (And dead set on TF), the 3" coils will be a better choice. I heard too, TF is offering a 3" HD coil for people running a lot of weight.
I saw the 3" kit on their website. They have the kit with 4 arms (front lowers and rear uppers) or the kit with all 8 arms. What are the pros and cons (its confusing the hell out of me )? Will 4 arms correct the geometry?
Also, I am not dead set on teraflex, I am open to any suggestions you may have as to a very complete lift that will behave well for mainly on road use.
I don't think that would bother me at all seeing that my stock JKU could handle whatever mild off-roading I may do. I just noticed the AEV kit only comes with the front control arm brackets. Do you only need the front?
Also, what are the pros and cons of the Teraflex 2.5" (or 3") kit with rancho springs and rancho relocation brackets VS the AEV 2.5" and their relocation brackets.
You guys are really helping me understand everything, so I appreciate it!
I do not think we need exhaust spacers for our '14 JKUs. I crawled under mine last night and my rear pipe behind the Y is actually welded so I would not even been able to install any kit without first cutting that. It does look like there is more room on our 14's between the driveshaft and exhaust. I agree it is confusing on whether we need them or not. I do find some references that the brackets are only needed for '12s.
I have stared at the catalogs long enough and there are just way too many people that are happy with their Rancho 9000XLs. And with their buy 3 get 1 free special, all the more sweeter. If I now see a lift kit that includes shocks, like AEV, I just don't consider it anymore. The only main advantage I see with the AEV lift is that they include progressive springs vs the teraflex fixed springs. Hard to tell how much better really the progressive springs would ride.
The TF 2.5" kit is going to give a stock 4dr about 3" in the front and 2.25" in the rear. I think the TF kits with Rancho's are the better deal. If AEV offered their kit without the shocks, then I might have considered them. I think the AEV springs will provide just a tad bit more of height, 1/4"?, over the TF springs on a stock jeep.
For drop brackets, the rancho's definitely look stronger. I believe the rancho brackets are designed for a 3" lift, while the AEV has 3 holes for adjustability. I don't like how the AEV 3 holes are so close together, seems like the upper mount area will not be as strong. I wish somebody could overlay both brackets. I'm curious where the single rancho upper mount position is relative to the 3 AEV positions.
I am torn on whether to go with the TF 1.5" lift kit and then use coil spacers as needed to fine tune my ride height or go with the TF 2.5" kit and weigh it back down. Ideally I'd like to end up with 2.5" up front and 2-2.25" in the back. I actually want to keep a little bit of rake and my problem is most lift kits are still actually levelling kits. I will probably go with the TF 2.5" kit. I really like the hidden winch installs, I can always use that as an excuse to weigh the front down.
chargermop, you're right. I went back again and looked at mine more closely and now I better understand. What I thought was welded pipe is a clamp. I had the pics from the video mixed up in my head. So I guess I loosen the clamp, pry that pin off, and pray that the pipe will slide further back into the other one. The two spacers go on the pipe connections points fwd of the Y.
I'm not going to lie it's definitely harder than it looks in the video but regardless of which brand you get they all install the same way it was probably one of the tougher things to do but it's not the fault of the product its just a difficult thing to install and the only difficult part is getting that pipe to slide back.
There is another thing concerning me that I want some feedback from the guys that have experience with teraflex.
I read a thread in which the jeep owner experienced a "lean" some were calling it the jeep gangster lean after installing a lift. From that owners experience, the left side of his car was sitting 1" higher than the right side?
Is this a common thing? If so that is very concerning to me.
There is another thing concerning me that I want some feedback from the guys that have experience with teraflex.
I read a thread in which the jeep owner experienced a "lean" some were calling it the jeep gangster lean after installing a lift. From that owners experience, the left side of his car was sitting 1" higher than the right side?
Is this a common thing? If so that is very concerning to me.
Yes, lifting does get involved. Having so much info to read on the internet and figuring out what is good and bad doesn't help either. And then there's that huge gray area of other things to do that you'll find a 50/50 split from people on whether or not it "really" needs to be done.
As for the exhaust spacers, the RR spacer kit is cheap on Amazon so I went ahead and ordered it. Whether or not one needs it seems to depend on if the installed lift allows the front axle to droop enough to make contact. I read in another thread that TF was slightly shortening the length of the shocks they offer in their kits so that at full droop contact would not happen. However, I'm going with 9000s so I figure I'll have the part ready just in case.
Another thing I recently came across is the evap skid possibly hitting the rear drive shaft in extreme circumstances. So now I may have to drop that and drill some new holes to shift it over. I'd rather be safe than sorry.
With my luck, we'll go on one ride a year, and we'll encounter that one spot that stretches everything out.
LOL, I'm like you, trying to get ready to install the lift. Reading everything possible. I hate bad surprises. Parts coming in this week, although my Ranchos did get here last night. I was hoping the box was more that I could have started today, but oh well. I still need to order new wheels/tires.
I basically ordered the same as your list although I decided to go with the AEV brackets instead and I got the RR exhaust spacers. Also, I'm undecided on the tire carrier.
In analyzing everything I'm about to do, I'm making up a Harbor Freight tool list of extra things I may get. For example, a smaller torque wrench and a cheap $10 air hammer (for the exhaust pin). Trying to decide if I should get a creeper. They're cheap enough, but my concern is then where do I store it and how much time will I really spend under the Jeep. I hope the exhaust spacers do not end up being super hard like others have encountered.
I read one report where somebody broke one of their exhaust flange bolts so I was thinking of getting some PB Blaster and soaking those bolts ahead of time.
The one part I don't see included with our teraflex kit is a front brake line drop bracket. I read reviews of the front brake line's being tight. For the low cost they are, don't know yet if I will order some of those.
I plan this weekend to go out and premeasure all 4 corners of the jeep to see what kind of current lean I have. Make sure to check all your new springs height before installing to make sure they're good.
My kids want me to paint some of the parts red so I'm getting some plasti-dip for those. I actually don't know if I want to see the red rancho shock boot visible at the top front. Wondering if I can paint that black.
I was going to take my time and test the suspension at full droop. I've read we may have issues with the evap skid hitting the rear drive shaft. Would then need to remove that and drill some new holes to shift it over some. I'm hoping I don't have any rub with the factory bumper. I'm going with 315s that are just very slightly smaller than 35s.
I'm not in a rush, trying to dot my i's and cross my t's.
LOL, I'm like you, trying to get ready to install the lift. Reading everything possible. I hate bad surprises. Parts coming in this week, although my Ranchos did get here last night. I was hoping the box was more that I could have started today, but oh well. I still need to order new wheels/tires.
I basically ordered the same as your list although I decided to go with the AEV brackets instead and I got the RR exhaust spacers. Also, I'm undecided on the tire carrier.
In analyzing everything I'm about to do, I'm making up a Harbor Freight tool list of extra things I may get. For example, a smaller torque wrench and a cheap $10 air hammer (for the exhaust pin). Trying to decide if I should get a creeper. They're cheap enough, but my concern is then where do I store it and how much time will I really spend under the Jeep. I hope the exhaust spacers do not end up being super hard like others have encountered.
I read one report where somebody broke one of their exhaust flange bolts so I was thinking of getting some PB Blaster and soaking those bolts ahead of time.
The one part I don't see included with our teraflex kit is a front brake line drop bracket. I read reviews of the front brake line's being tight. For the low cost they are, don't know yet if I will order some of those.
Front brake lines don't require a drop bracket you simply remove the existing metal bracket it's kind of a pain you have to unroll it from around the line I was able to do it with two pairs of channel locks be careful not to damage the brake hose obviously once the bracket is removed the hose assembly is routed next to the shock with no bracket.
I've been reading the teraflex installations and at the end they have a note that if your rear shocks can extend more than 25" (the Rancho 999330 specs indicate 25.75") that we need rear spring guides to keep the springs in place during full rear extension.
I do find posts of people saying their rear springs are falling out with the TF 2.5" kit (and even other brand 2.5" kits).
I see Teraflex sells these spring guides but they add another 1/2" of rear lift. Are there smaller options or other options available to not have to worry about that? Or since the shocks allow 3/4" more, do I need 3/4" ones? I was hoping to not lift anymore. While I'm one that actually prefers some rake, I was hoping my front would end up being lower, instead of needing to raise the back.
I've also read of rear spring retainer brackets. The kit does come with a lower bracket.
Is there any type of a spring guide that doesn't add more lift?
I also read we need to drill a hole for the rear track bar bracket. What's the best thing to coat the hole with to prevent future rust?
You bet, I just want to be as prepared and educated as possible just so I don't make mistakes. Kind of the measure twice cut once mentality.
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