4.5" to 3" lift change....lessons learned

I went from an RE 4.5" SF lift down to AEV 3" springs this year and found some unexpected items I had to address. Thought others might benefit if I posted them up.

With the height change I also went from 35 x 12.5 DC Mud Country's on 15" rims down to 33.5 x 10.5 KM2's on stock Moab rims, installed Currie AntiRock, and a Savvy gas tank skid to pick up clearance that I lost. Over the past couple years I've also replaced the RE control arms with JKS and Rokmen to get away from the constant bushing issues I had with RE, but that doesn't really matter the key part is they're adjustable control arms.

The bottom line is I love the 3" lift and it wheels better than the RE 4.5" did. The front doesn't unload on climbs as much, probably because the control arm angles are flatter to start with. The AntiRock is a huge improvement over wheeling disconnected and helps with the unloading as well as keeping the front tires on the ground as well. The narrower tires haven't been a problem at all, I expected they wouldn't "wrap" as well but really have not noticed any difference at all. Having proper backspacing also should help my axle u-joints and ball joints live longer as well, not to mention keeps mud out in the fenders and off the passengers when the doors are off! And road manners are better by a mile -- the narrower tires don't get hung up wandering in the road grooves, braking distance is reduced, and power is better with less rolling mass.


Anyway, here's a summary of what needed to change, but wasn't expected:

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  1. Rear Trackbar Bracket: the RE bracket was a little too tall and hit my fuel line at full stuff (with bumpstops set appropriately for shock length). So I removed the RE bracket and went a while without any TB bracket but found I had some rear-steer taking corners, so I installed an OME TB bracket that's about a half inch shorter and cheap ($17 on Quadratec).
  
  here's what the bracket looks like in action:
  
  
  
  Note I'm still running the RE rear TB that came with the 4.5" lift; I did adjust it shorter and it's actually the same length as my stock TB now, oddly enough...but flexes better than stock so I've kept it.
  
  2. Rear Swaybar Links: the RE links snapped last time out, I believe because they were too long and flexing with a shorter lift put too much stress on them. JKS makes a set of adjustable links that go for about $40, I picked up a set and will be installing them about an inch shorter than the RE's were.
  
  3. Front Trackbar: I had installed a RockKrawler frame-mount TB bracket and front TB, but with the lower lift the bracket contacted the tie rod at stuff. Jerry and Blaine from JU had already found a solution, which I copied. Just chop the bracket off the bottom of the mount and weld it to the side of the mount. The trackbar did have to be shortened as well...I had a shop do this as I wasn't sure exactly how much to take out or how to sleeve it properly; they cut about 2" from the middle diagonal section to shorten both length and height, and then sleeved it.
  
  If you start with a stock jeep you probably don't have to worry about this, but I still prefer the TB mounted in double shear and I'm not sure what options are out there for a 2-3" lift.
  
  Before:
  
  
  
  After:
  
  
  (note I switched back to a stock pitman arm as well)
  
  This is the TB sleeve, kinda hard to see:
  
  
  
  This is Jerry's on JU. Blaine notched the bracket for him, which gives him room to do a tie rod flip, I would have given up some steering geometry if I did this because of the pitman arm length/height so decided not to.
  
  
  
  4. Rear diff cover: I was running a Warn diff skid, with the new gas tank and lower lift it made contact, so I ditched it and went with a Solid cover. The Warn worked fine for the time I had it, but it stuck out a good half inch more than it needed to.
  

I think that's it, if I think of anything else I'll post up. Here's how it sits now....and wheels:





CR