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AEV Lift
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Pat Harrison
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Pat Harrison
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Pat Harrison
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Pat Harrison
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Pat Harrison
Story and Photos by Pat Harrison
It's hard to believe that the ' new ' Jeep model JK is now in it's eighth year of production. With last year turning in the best sales numbers so far, it comes as no surprise that the aftermarket industry for this vehicle is alive and well. Choices for upgrades seem almost limitless and figuring out what route to go and what build plan to follow can be as difficult as knowing what model to get and at which trim level. Two or four doors? Will the sport do for you? Is the Rubicon worth the extra money? Do the luxury items of the Sahara turn your crank? A lot of research and development went into the release of the new Jeep you are driving so it only makes sense that the " upgrades " you go with should follow suit. There are a few notable companies out there who have invested heavily in bringing you well thought out products and when it comes to lifts you've got no shortage of options.
Unfortunately for many of us our first tendency is to go with the budget type boosts and in doing so we tend to loose a bit of handling prowess in order to gain a bit of clearance. If just running 35" tires was all we were looking for then that might be the end of it. But if you are like me, you've got the bug and actually wheel your jeep as often and as hard as you can reasonably get away with. I ran my '08 Rubicon stock for the first year to get a feel for what it could do and out of concern for the warranty. I wish I new then what I know now. Two more years of abuse while running a 2 1/2" budget lift and 35’s made me a fan of the JK’s abilities, but things were starting to feel loose and tired. When Brad Peden became the new AEV dealer in BC, I started doing some research into their product line. There is no shortage of technical and subjective information available on the Internet to consider. I was pretty sure I qualified as a hard (enough) core wheeler for a full on adjustable control arm replacement lift. Then my research led me to drive a four door JK with a 3 1/2" Dual Sport lift on 35’s complete with the high steer kit and the AEV specific geometry correction brackets. SOLD! It didn't hurt that the owner of this particular Jeep was a good sport and suggested I drive it like I rented it - so I did and was instantly impressed with the road handling manners. I knew that to truly test this lift off-road I would have to install it on my own Jeep because I wouldn't expect anyone else to let me drive their rig up and down the terrain I’m after.
I'm a fan of a low centre of gravity and knew the 2 1/2" Dual Sport lift would clear my 37’s with the flat fender flares I was running but would it prove itself off-road any where near as good as it performs on road? When I set out to write this article I had all sorts of tech info rattling around in my head with regards to the various lifts and the philosophies and arguments that roll out whenever the subject comes up. I was going to quote specs and claims to support my decision to go with the AEV product over so many other good kits out there. But it’s all been done...by some technically savvy people. Your own decision should be based on some questions you need to answer honestly.
As the proud new owner of a $25,000 to $45,000 vehicle just HOW hardcore are you going to get? How many miles will you put on your Jeep in the next year? What actual percentage of those will be off-road? Fire road or full on trail crawling? Most of us didn't buy our new Jeep just to destroy it so we may not be as hardcore as our t-shirt or hat indicates.
After digesting all the information and asking a thousand questions, for me the choice came down to feel. I love the way an AEV lifted jeep feels. To qualify that statement I'll tell you I've driven Hemi versions, the new 2013 3.6 litre versions and a few of the original 3.8 litre JK’s and they all felt great. I've spent six years behind the wheel of the new Wrangler and logged well over 100,000 combined kilometres in the two Trailskinz rigs with a variety of four different lift kits and I never knew a JK could feel this good. Having covered more dusty miles of rutted fire road than I care to admit and the fine ridges and larger undulations of the Oregon sand dunes recently, I have to say these lifts feel like an improvement over even a brand new stock Rubicon. We've installed a number of other lifts in our shop over the last two years and recently Christian Hansen has put his skills as a licensed automotive technician to work on over a half dozen AEV lifts and every one of those owners has raved about how their Jeeps drive now. Including me.
All AEV lifts up to and including the 3 1/2" take advantage of the capable stock control arms and driveshafts front and rear for both the two and four door JK. This makes them warranty friendly. When the geometry correction brackets are included (and I recommend these for ALL lifted JK’s running stock control arms) the only alignment required post-lift is to centre the steering wheel again via a simple drag link adjustment.
The lift kits from AEV are installer friendly and include progressive coils and match tuned Bilstein shocks, which are a big improvement over anything I had felt or run previously. This is where the feel part of it comes in as the combination of coils and shocks provided in these kits, which are two door or four door specific, and are different for the front than they are for the rear. This is what makes for a smoother ride in all kinds of conditions. If you are not comfortable drilling out the stock steering component casting for the high steer kit, or drilling holes to add the kit brackets, then its probably a good idea to seek out a professional installer and get it done right. Budget boosts are also available from AEV so if you don't plan to go too crazy with the whole modding thing then you can start there.
My four door Rubicon is now equipped with the modest 2 1/2" Dual Sport lift with the geometry correction brackets and it’s time to put this new gear to the test. A half dozen of us from the BCJC (BC Jeep Club) were game to try the Offroad Vehicle Park two hours south of the border in Washington known as Walker Valley. We've heard it can be a challenging set of trails and have been warned to expect possible body damage due to tight trails with trees, rock climbs and five foot tall clay banks. Not unusual for us, but apparently more obstacles in a condensed area. The highway drive down just confirmed my reasons for liking this kit and once we hit the trail I wasn't disappointed. It's been my experience that the stock control arms perform well enough on our trails and this day was no exception. In spite of my worries that I would be smashing those geometry brackets on the rough stuff, they came out of the day with out a mark on them. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for any one of my other seven skid plates or my rear quarter panel. A few times we got high centered, jammed between trees, stuck on rocks the size of Volkswagens and climbing with a front tire three feet in the air, but through it all I never felt or heard a complaint from the suspension system or lift kit. I came away from the full day of wheeling with two thoughts in mind: One, I can honestly say I put the boots to that lift kit and drove 500 kms round trip in comfort doing it. And two, I feel they mis-named that place...it really should be called Locker Valley.