2.5" or 3.5" for 37s

arcticaaron

arcticaaron

New member
Ordering suspension this week and need a bit of advice! Planning to order Evo Enforcer stage 2 in a 2.5" or 3.5" with king shocks.

From what I can see most folks are going with a 2.5" lift for 37s. I want to keep a LCG but also don't want to regret a 2.5" lift if it's going to be rubbing/squatted way down with a fully loaded jeep (family of 4 plus camping gear). For those of you running a 2.5" lift for a few months - would you recommend buying the 2.5" or the 3.5"? This is a daily driver and wheeling here in AK consists of muddy trails, water crossings, and a nice area with about 25+ miles of fast sand and dirt in a river flood zone.

Thanks for any input you have!
 

U

ubbb69

Member
arcticaaron said:
Ordering suspension this week and need a bit of advice! Planning to order Evo Enforcer stage 2 in a 2.5" or 3.5" with king shocks.

From what I can see most folks are going with a 2.5" lift for 37s. I want to keep a LCG but also don't want to regret a 2.5" lift if it's going to be rubbing/squatted way down with a fully loaded jeep (family of 4 plus camping gear). For those of you running a 2.5" lift for a few months - would you recommend buying the 2.5" or the 3.5"? This is a daily driver and wheeling here in AK consists of muddy trails, water crossings, and a nice area with about 25+ miles of fast sand and dirt in a river flood zone.

Thanks for any input you have!
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I am happy with 2.5 even if I end up taking out the inner fender of the rubicon. I run light though with no spare. I sometimes carry up to 1700lbs and it is fine with 2.5”
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
arcticaaron said:
Thanks for the advice, sounds like 3.5” is the ticket! We can definitely get loaded down with all four of us on a multiday trip.
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As you may or may not know, we're currently running the 2.5" coil spacers and with our winch and bumper installed, our front end sagged about an inch. This of course is totally normal and if you don't want to lose any lift up front, the 3.5" coils are the way to go. Heck, 2.5" lift coils might do the trick do depending on the spring rate but I have yet to test that out. In the rear, once loaded up with all our gear and with our 37" tire mounted on the back, we've seen as much as 2" of sag on our factory coils. Again, another reason to go 3.5".
 

NFRs2000NYC

NFRs2000NYC

Member
Do the evo springs sag as much as the OEM ones? I was also planning on the 2.5" when the time comes. On my JK, the AEV springs are firmer than stock and even with lots of bumpers, tire carriers, and load, they don't really sag any real amount, obviously at the expense of being having a stiffer rate, so I guess it would heavily depend on whether or not the EVOs are softer like OEM.
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
NFRs2000NYC said:
Do the evo springs sag as much as the OEM ones? I was also planning on the 2.5" when the time comes. On my JK, the AEV springs are firmer than stock and even with lots of bumpers, tire carriers, and load, they don't really sag any real amount, obviously at the expense of being having a stiffer rate, so I guess it would heavily depend on whether or not the EVOs are softer like OEM.
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I haven't had a chance to test out the EVO coils yet so I couldn't tell you one way or another. On my old 2009 JKU, I had run their Plush Ride coils and they did sag a bit in the rear when loaded up with all my gear and so I ran 1" coil spacers to help compensate for it. Of course, ride comfort is more important to me than how my Jeep looks loaded up.

With all that said, I have had a chance to do extensive testing of a different coil and shock setup recently and I can tell you that it handled a heavy load well and offered a great ride. They are definitely something I would recommend.
 

NFRs2000NYC

NFRs2000NYC

Member
Sweet. Also, back when the JL's first came out, I remember rancho mentioning in their thread that the JL driveshaft has issues at 2.5", and serious issues at 3.5", and then the topic kind of fizzled out. Would be awesome when you have more data for you to opine on the subject, as you probably have done more real world testing on the JL than almost anyone Im aware of, so your opinion would be extremely valuable.:thumb:
 

arcticaaron

arcticaaron

New member
wayoflife said:
As you may or may not know, we're currently running the 2.5" coil spacers and with our winch and bumper installed, our front end sagged about an inch. This of course is totally normal and if you don't want to lose any lift up front, the 3.5" coils are the way to go. Heck, 2.5" lift coils might do the trick do depending on the spring rate but I have yet to test that out. In the rear, once loaded up with all our gear and with our 37" tire mounted on the back, we've seen as much as 2" of sag on our factory coils. Again, another reason to go 3.5".
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Yes I’ve checked out your videos (which are awesome) so it’s good to hear your experience and recommendation on 3.5”.


wayoflife said:
With all that said, I have had a chance to do extensive testing of a different coil and shock setup recently and I can tell you that it handled a heavy load well and offered a great ride. They are definitely something I would recommend.
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Can you share any details on the setup you’ve been testing?

I guess the other option is to wait for coil overs for more adjustability.
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
NFRs2000NYC said:
Sweet. Also, back when the JL's first came out, I remember rancho mentioning in their thread that the JL driveshaft has issues at 2.5", and serious issues at 3.5", and then the topic kind of fizzled out. Would be awesome when you have more data for you to opine on the subject, as you probably have done more real world testing on the JL than almost anyone Im aware of, so your opinion would be extremely valuable.:thumb:
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Well, I hoping to gain more experience on that sooner than later. I will be sure to post up what I learn once I do.

arcticaaron said:
Can you share any details on the setup you’ve been testing?
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What I can tell you is that the setup was a 2"-2.5" coil setup and paired with a custom tuned set of name brand shocks and running on 35" tires. The ride was exceptional both on road and off. Loaded up, there was little sag as well. Have more testing to do and mainly to see if it'll clear 37's well. I really hope it does as I was really that impressed with the ride.
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
jrzJL said:
I have the 2.5 in. Pucks from EVO with their lower control arms. I’m running grabber x3 37’s with KMC rims. Smooth smooth smooth 80mph no problems.
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I have pretty much the same lift only with all 8 arms and I don't think I could say my ride is smooth smooth smooth. Even after running my tires at 28 psi, it's been only decent at best for me. Running the new Rancho RS5000X shocks made it better for sure but far from stellar. Granted, I'm probably comparing my ride to all the other lifts I've run on my JK's in the past and of course, what I've been used to running for years. For me, I'd really like to upgrade to a good set of coils and shocks.
 

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
13_gecko_rubi said:
It's really the driver... just sayin

Sent via....
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:cheesy: So much truth!

NFRs2000NYC said:
So what you’re saying is that it’s not the coils but how you use them?
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What I'm saying is that bone stock, the JL Wrangler rides and feels outstanding - way nicer than the JK ever did stock. With coil spacers and bigger tires, my ride is just okay. I should also note that with the added weight of a heavy steel bumper and winch, I now only have about 1.5" of lift and with a heavy 37" spare mounted on a heavy bead lock wheel, I only have about 2" of lift. That too has changed the quality of my ride. Change out my shocks to the Rancho's has helped but I can assure you that the Mopar 2" lift rides way nicer. I have tested out other coil and shock setups and have found them to ride much nicer too.
 

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