FINALLY😅...a youtuber that videos the difficulties & frustrations with installations & fixing parts. I am fairly new to doing my own work (installing mods / repairing broken parts) in my Jeep. I have very little experience as I did not grow up working on cars. I watch several different youtubers that are good with working on Jeeps (Wayalife, BleepinJeep, etc.). Although I use their expertise, because they are so much more experienced, it takes me wayyy longer to perform whatever it is they are doing & I am repeating. Recently, I decided to change out my factory ball joints in my Jeep Gladiator as well as all the steering components to fix my death wobble. Trying to get the ball joints to "unseat" from the knuckle was a challenge to say the least. Trying to reinstall the brake pads over the rotors was fun too🙄😒. Making sure I didn't mess up any of my very expensive heavy duty ball joints was stressful, but at the end of the day (er...1.5 weeks), I installed all 4 ball joints, replaced all of my OEM steering with heavy duty steering (tie rod, drag link, & track bar) & I feel successful. My Jeep Gladiator rides much much better, no death wobble & no "popping" noises when turning now. I am getting more confident each time I replace or fix a problem. Anyway, thank you for being real & showing us newbies that most people have hiccups / issues along the way, but at the end of the day, week, month...we are successful.
Thank you! Ball joints are no joke. I did a set once, with some help from a friend who had a lot of experience. And yeah, I totally can feel your frustration! Kudos to you for taking that on and completing it! It is such a good feeling when we go through the fire and achieve our goals! And I'm glad you noticed that about showing the frustrations and difficulties. I try to be as real as I can in the videos, without making them too long and drawn out. I try to edit out the boring or unnecessary parts but keep a lot of it in. And especially to show how crucial a certain step is or what difficulties you might face. And also, to show what sort of tools or "tricks of the trade" you can use. I am by no means a professional mechanic and/or an "expert". I am a backyard garage mechanic who learned from a lot of the same people on youtube and from working with friends who were mechanically inclined. We're all still learning and you sound like you're on your way to doing a lot of great things on your own! Cheers my friend!
A pro tip I picked up from Extreme Terrain: Do the front end alignment frame brackets last. After everything is installed and on the ground (including the wheels/tires), starting with the drivers side disconnect the front upper/lower control arms connected to the frame side. (Leave the arms connected to the axle) This will cause the axle to roll forward and stop when the spring touches the swaybar link, install the bracket then use the tire as a lever and roll it back and bolt the upper lower arms into the bracket. On the drivers side lift with a Jack under the axle just in front of the driveshaft output, which will align the bolt holes. Once bolted together the repeat on the passenger side. I have installed 2 of these kits on the 4xe, and this step was so easy both times.
That’s good advice! The instructions originally said to do the same. But me and my infinite wisdom thought it’d be a good idea to do part of that early! 🤣 I should have known better (I had done one of these lifts before, albeit 7 years ago and on a JKU, but still) 😂
Thanks for the number at the end. I am trying to find a lift that keeps my extreme rubicon about the same height but with better comfort on and offroad. The list you put on adds almost 3" inches to the jeep... I have to get into smaller car garages so better springs without the added height is tough to find.
Sorry it was not what you were looking for. But, glad I could help narrow it down. I'm not sure what total height you are wanted to stay at but the HD or "High Capacity" spring make it closer to a 3" lift, of which I actually saw around 2.5". If you got the standard AEV springs over an Xtreme Recon packaged 392 (392 is already about an inch higher than standard Rubicon), it might only be 2 inches higher. Putting it around 77". FWIW, I thought my Xtreme recon rode and performed really well for stock. My main reason for upgrading was for not only a little bit more height to clear 37s with no mods, but also to preven sagging under heavy loads.
Interesting! I wonder if the same is true for the gladiator. I’m thinking about contacting AEV and asking them myself. I would think the HD springs would add a little something.
@@tomfasano9082If you carry heavy loads or tow on your trips, I would recommend the heavy duty springs. Check out TrailRecon’s white Gladiator build. He went with the high capacity AEV springs.
Do you happen to notice any contact between the springs (especially driver side) and the longer XR bumpstops towers? My 392 XR with the AEV seems as though my axle is too far forward after lifting...
I have not. If the axle is too far forward, might the caster adjustment be set improperly? Also, how the springs sit in the perch is very specific to each individual spring. I could see it being an issue if they aren't seated properly.
@@MotoringAdventures_KE7SAI appreciate the feedback. But I have checked all these items already. Have the caster adjuster set to the same as you (middle option) and springs are seated correctly. AEV hasn't been too helpful either. When I say too far forward, it's just barely. Maybe .5" - .75". Not sure, search continues! Thanks
@@WillysRubicon Sorry you haven't been seeing the proper results. The only other thing I can think of is maybe take it to an off-road shop or alignment shop and have them take a look at it. It's advised that you have it aligned after the lift instal anyways. The only other thing I did differently was add the adjustable front track bar. But it was not deemed necessary according to AEV. I just wanted mine to be dialed in and after installing various lifts, I knew that axle was going to be shifting some to the driver side, using the factory track bar setup. Can I ask if you're installing the HD kit or the standard springs?
@@MotoringAdventures_KE7SAI yeah it's my next step is a second opinion this is my third AEV lift and second JL with it, so seems odd I am suddenly having troubles. This time I also added an adjustable trackbar to center everything. My next step is maybe adjustable control arms to really dial in the geometry exactly. And I am using the standard springs.
@@WillysRubicon I would at least try to maybe play around with that caster adjuster washer that AEV provides. Maybe it’s not gaining the actual height that you had set it for. Idk. Just brainstorming here. Back when I had a 2016 JKUR, I added an AEV 4.5” kit and aftermarket front driveshaft because I knew at that height it would eventually need it. And I could never fully dial that in with the aftermarket driveshaft. I even got adjustable upper control arms and still got driveline vibrations. Perhaps adjustable lowers would have helped.
It’s great! I haven’t tried it with a small travel trailer yet, but my m1102 overland trailer only drops it about an inch. It’s hardly noticeable. And that’s fully loaded down with gear in both!
Thanks, please post a video when you get the heavier trailer on. I’m gonna go with the same lift but more for overlander. RTT with a dirt bike hitch carrier. I’m thinking of even putting a 1 inch spacer in the rear. Ha.
I posted the numbers for each wheel at the end of the video, but it was between 2.5-2.75” of lift, over the Xtreme recon height, which is supposed to be 1-1.5 inches higher than a standard Rubicon JL. Does that make sense? I think this would be an excellent lift for a JT because of its load carrying capacity.
How do you like the 3” heavy duty springs? I am trying to decide if I want the 2.5” standard capacity or the the 3” high capacity springs. I have a JL Ecodiesel im gonna put the AEV kit on but I don’t have any added extra weight on it.
I’ve put about 6000 miles on it and I can tell you it’s been absolutely great so far. Most of the time I’m just driving it in town and not a lot of added weight and it still rides really well. Might be a tad bit stiffer than some other lifts but it’s nothing like driving a 3500 heavy duty truck on leaf springs or anything like that. And when it is loaded with gear, it does so great and not having a lot of sag and drives really nice. I’m just overall really satisfied so far. I think the next thing I’ll be doing is adding the bilstein steering stabilizer and a relocation kit to get that up and out of the way.
Hi I'm getting soon aev high capacity 3 ich liftkit for my jeep wrangler JLU sport I also carry alot weight when I go camping or overland plus wondering if their 3 inch actually stay 3"ich I want like 4.5 but there no out really out there like aev when it's Carry on weight please help thank you
