Looking at getting a lift kit, any suggestion?

[Smoke4308]

Hey everyone, I've got a 2 door rubi and just installed a smittybilt xrc mod with stinger and xrc8 winch. Looking to the future and wondering what is a reliable lift for a DD and weekend warrior ride. I'm liking the AEV 3.5 lifts but does anyone else have an opinion on them or any other lifts? Thanks for the help!

[hps4evr]

2 door JK rubi? you've got many options... but you do get what you pay for, AEV is a top notch brand that does cost more but has a very well put together and designed product. Old Man Emu, Currie and Clayton Offroad all build good quality parts. Don't cheap out, you will regret it down the road.
Also, JK's have a lot of room in their wheel well, 2" lift clears a 35" tire. Or, flat style fender flares will clear 35" tires as well with the proper back spacing on the rims. 1" body lifts are available to get a bit more clearance.
Nowadays less is more. A good quality shock absorber goes a long way too.
2 door JK's have driveshaft issues after being lifted past the 3-4" mark, more then the 4-door JK's.
In the end, you do have a rubicon, it will go most places in stock form.

[Smoke4308]

Well said. Thanks for the advise. I'm not planning on going very high with the lift. I may do a rubicon express for now and change it out when the warranty runs out and looking for new wheels and tires. Thanks again for the quick response!

[Smoke4308]

How much is the average leveling kit and install? I'd love to learn how to and do it myself but I don't have the tools...

[binare]

RE springs are super long, pretty hard to unseat so that's a bonus. Your warranty is pretty well useless on these cookie cutter lifts so don't it be a deciding factor. I'd get some good quality 2 or 2.5 coils and go straight for some decent shocks, bilstein 5100 series comes to mind. RE shocks in my opinion are the same run of the mill garbage shocks that most department store lifts run. They can absolutely ruin your ride, but I'd skip em and do what most people do in the end, which is buying good shocks.

A year old JK would be a wet dream to lift, done in an afternoon easy, my garage is always open.

[Smoke4308]

Cool! Thx, ill keep that in mind.

[vantagetes]

Do yourself a favour. Either get a budget boost (spacers or coils) and some decent shocks or wait until you know what you want and buy good stuff. By the time you buy a cheap kit and then change out all the parts that suck and give you all sorts of headaches you're pretty much at the price of a good kit, minus the good kit. And you had all sorts of problems on the way! Track bars are one of those things you want to do right the first time. Same as shocks.

[w squared]

If you've got a new rig that still has a warranty and you're still deciding what you eventually want to do with it, there's nothing wrong with doing flat fenders, maybe a 1 inch body lift, and either 33's or 35's. That lets you keep your suspension and driveline completely stock. You will be absolutely amazed what 33's or 35's will do for you at pretty much stock height - especially with beadlocks. You can upgrade the suspension later.

Based on what you have already listed, I'd suggest that a quality rear bumper (Gen-right makes a good one), some recovery gear, and a CB should have you pretty well set up for most runs. There are very few places you can't go with good skills, 33's, lockers, and a winch.

[Smoke4308]

Thx all! I never thought about flat fender! I think ill go that route and get bigger tires eventually! Thanks again for all the replies!