AEV 3.5 or RK 3.5 midar. flex

  • Not sure which to get both seem to have advantages and disadvantages. Wife will be driving it with the kids 90% of the time. Not sure if I wanna deal with the adjustable arms from the RK cause I'm not to familiar with them as far as fine tuning. Anybody run either setup and is there a shop that can align these?

  • They're both great kits, and the instructions from RK tell you the length to set the arms, so you won't need to play with settings. If you know that you won't go any bigger than 3.5" or wheel it aggressively on hard trails, I'd go with the AEV lift for a straight-forward install, less maintenance (mainly checking that the joints are tight) and less cost (assuming you mean the DualSport SC lift, the RS version comes with shocks that you don't need on the east coast). Otherwise, the RK lift is more easily upgraded to taller springs and their warranty is "abuse proof"... you break it, they'll replace it. @KnoxRents rents here has the AEV 3.5" and I believe has been fairly happy with it. I have the AEV 2.5" and also been happy, the ride is much better than the stock Rubicon suspension.

    Jerry / Whatevah

    2020 Gladiator Mojave - 33" Falken mud tires, LoD side steps, Zroadz bed rack, Quadratec QRC winch bumper, Superwinch EPi 9.0, Kleinn on-board air, Kleinn air horns, lots of lights, Yaesu ham radio with GPS tracker.

    Gone- 2012 JK Rubicon with stuff. Long gone- Long-arm 2001 Cherokee with stuff.

  • Not sure which to get both seem to have advantages and disadvantages. Wife will be driving it with the kids 90% of the time. Not sure if I wanna deal with the adjustable arms from the RK cause I'm not to familiar with them as far as fine tuning. Anybody run either setup and is there a shop that can align these?


    My AEV JK350 came with the 3.5" SC lift and it is way better Handling than stock, make sure to get the steering upgrade as well



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • They're both great kits, and the instructions from RK tell you the length to set the arms, so you won't need to play with settings. If you know that you won't go any bigger than 3.5" or wheel it aggressively on hard trails, I'd go with the AEV lift for a straight-forward install, less maintenance (mainly checking that the joints are tight) and less cost (assuming you mean the DualSport SC lift, the RS version comes with shocks that you don't need on the east coast). Otherwise, the RK lift is more easily upgraded to taller springs and their warranty is "abuse proof"... you break it, they'll replace it. @KnoxRents rents here has the AEV 3.5" and I believe has been fairly happy with it. I have the AEV 2.5" and also been happy, the ride is much better than the stock Rubicon suspension.

    Thanks everything I've read had me leaning towards AEV but I think you sealed the deal for me

  • Late to chime in...Just saw this thread. As Turtle and Jerry said, the AEV kit handles significantly better on road than stock but it's basically a mall crawler kit which is exactly what I wanted.


    The RK setup would be a better trail option but I have no experience with the handling.


    Don't bother with a shop alignment. I used a tape measure to do the AEV kit 80,000 miles ago and have zero issues with tire wear to this day.


    Good luck.

  • AEV all the way, only complaint i hear is about the loss of ground clearance off road which i would sacrifice for on road relibility and handling any day. Those are the only kits i will install on the side because there are never any issues

  • never to late.. started eyeballing the jks lift. I need to just stop searching lol. far as alignment wise I never dealt with adjustable control arms so wasn't sure how to align everything

    I've been debating the AEV and JKS as of late as well for my wife's JKU. I'd pretty much settled on the JKS as it appears to be a duplicate of the AEV that they've modded slightly for the 'complaints' (in quotes as they're not really issues, just nitpicking details) regarding the control arm brackets and swaybar brackets/adapters in the AEV kit.

    AEV all the way, only complaint i hear is about the loss of ground clearance off road which i would sacrifice for on road relibility and handling any day. Those are the only kits i will install on the side because there are never any issues

    Interested in your thoughts on that vs the JKS....had settled on an AEV3.5 but then was toying with the JKS. Once you add a procal you're damn near exactly the same price.


    --Ian

  • I've been debating the AEV and JKS as of late as well for my wife's JKU. I'd pretty much settled on the JKS as it appears to be a duplicate of the AEV that they've modded slightly for the 'complaints' (in quotes as they're not really issues, just nitpicking details) regarding the control arm brackets and swaybar brackets/adapters in the AEV kit.

    Interested in your thoughts on that vs the JKS....had settled on an AEV3.5 but then was toying with the JKS. Once you add a procal you're damn near exactly the same price.
    --Ian


    The JKS is also nice. I have installed both and driven both. I personally felt the spring and shock tuning was better on the AEV, plus the rear track bar bracket is higher on the rear making for better roll center

  • The JKS is also nice. I have installed both and driven both. I personally felt the spring and shock tuning was better on the AEV, plus the rear track bar bracket is higher on the rear making for better roll center


    Interesting, we'll see how it works out....I made the call and ordered the JKS today as AEV and their no-discount policy made it $300 more than the JKS even after adding a procal plus Quad couldn't get the AEV to me for a week or more (that whole instant gratification thing). Most other reviews rate the ride and handling of the JKS the same/similar than the AEV, some better, some worse...at the end of the day it's a Jeep and it'll be better than many of the lower end lifts out there. :P


    --Ian

  • Interesting, we'll see how it works out....I made the call and ordered the JKS today as AEV and their no-discount policy made it $300 more than the JKS even after adding a procal plus Quad couldn't get the AEV to me for a week or more (that whole instant gratification thing). Most other reviews rate the ride and handling of the JKS the same/similar than the AEV, some better, some worse...at the end of the day it's a Jeep and it'll be better than many of the lower end lifts out there. :P


    --Ian

    You shoulda called me....Youll be ok though

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