How much does the DB actually weigh? I was considering one since my bed rack will support a Tonneau Cover.
I think the HD weighs around 115 pounds for the front and rear panels and center piece that clamps to the truck. I carry about 100 lbs of recovery gear and power tank under the tonneau.
Thats not too bad. My rack is about 125-150 fully loaded (maxtracs and dual 4gal rotopax fuel cans) maybe 175-180 if i load my shovel and high lift jack. My recovery gear stays under the back seat.
Even with 37's it would probably be fine. These Jeeps are tough. I just have a mindset of keeping mine for 20 years and 400,000 miles, lol. BUT...I would go with a re-gear with 37's. I feel like my JT is just right with 4.10's and 35's. If I could re-gear to 4.56 for $1,000 I would think about it, but probably still wouldn't. With 37's, It'd go at least 4.56 and probably 4.88. This is with the auto, of course. I have a manual JL with 4.56 gears on 35's and it needed that more than the auto does. Problem is that it is at least $3k to have someone who knows what they are doing to tackle it, including parts and labor. Maybe more than that now. I paid close to 3k about 4 years or so ago for the re-gear with Dana/Spicer rings/pinions.
I believe the control arm brackets gave you more caster,while also leveling them out to give you a better ride.I could not even begin to tell you. It was July 2022 and while it started off sounding like French to me, he ended up dumbing it down for me and that is when it clicked. Hah!
Almost the same work - not really. I Just did the 2.5 RT last weekend. Great kit, great company but their bump stop extensions and their front and rear sway bar extensions are questionable on the amount of benefit you get and the time to install. You have to remove the inner liner to get the bump stop extension bolt dropped down and bolted in. Also the track bar bracket for the font is robust and beefy as heck BUT one of it's attachment points is with a muffler u bolt around the axle, I feel I need to buy a spare incase it blows out. The Geo correction brackets came with it. The drive saft drop plates ( X3) were horrible to install. I had to duck tape them together then remove the tape after they were installed. The ride is still settling so I can't speak to that. Using AEV wheel specs 25 offset and 5.77 backspacing for the Method 703s at 8.5 wide, this thing is turing a lot better then with the Rubicon take offs, 23 JT, Max Tow, Sport. I got 4 inches out of it. AEV says give it a month to settle and I think they said to measure from the lower bump stop plate?? ( I measured fender flare heights). I would recommend this as an overlanding kit. I would not recommend this as a first time newbie install. Get the Mopar kit for that. This was my third lift kit job in 6 jeeps. 2 JT and 1 TJ-Unlimited.
Maybe, but I did the Mopar on a 2020 sport Max Tow. No new trackbar or extension braked needed with 35x12.5. I did add JKS Geo brackets not for me but for my most important co-pilot. Saw a 10% improvement in ride.
Some people don't mind the axle poking more to one side. It would drive me nuts to see one tire sticking out more than the other.
No, unless you're talking long arms. The lift effectively moved the upper mount upwards, the lower mount didn't change. Mounting a slightly longer arm in the same mounts won't make it any more parallel to the ground. The Mopar extended length arms generally get people with 2" of lift into the 6⁰ range with caster... and there all of 1/4" longer than stock. Pretty sure that does nothing to flatten out the lower arms and obviously does absolutely nothing to the uppers. Caster doesn't tell the whole story of ride. A flat arm effectively travels straight up and down when you hit a bump or a pothole. That puts all of the force into the springs and shocks which then can do their job of absorbing those forces. The further you get from parallel, the more of that force is transferred horizontally through the arm... and straight into the frame where there's nothing to absorb it and the driver feels all of it. Also the more angle there is the more of an arc the wheel travels in, forcing the tire to move forward when you hit a bump. Obviously that is also terrible for ride. 2" is low enough the arms aren't at a terrible angle, but every Jeep will ride better with the flattest arms possible.
Or just buy a drag link flip kit with raised track bar mount from metalcloak (which I run) or synergy, or steersmarts (which the wife runs) or others for less than half. All the benefits to handling you get from that kit for ~$700. Especially if you've already got a model that comes with the steel knuckles like my mojave or the wife's JLUR with the XR package. Sure the tie rod sits lower than the rock jock, but I don't play bull dozer with my front axle so it's never been a problem. Even if I picked a bad line I'd rather hit my tie rod than cave in my dif cover or impact the FAD area which is a known weak point on these axles.
