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Post by dsgray16 on Nov 9, 2004 20:44:15 GMT -3
I might go all out and get long arms for my jeep. I figure I know Im not going to be satsified till I get em' so why not now. It's almost christmas right... so the question is what is better, a bolt on setup (bolts through the frame rails at the cross member) or a weld on setup. The bolt-on people aka Rustysoffroad.com say it is never a good idea to weld anything onto the unibody, while the weld on people, claytonoffroad.com, say it is unsafe not to have it welded on. Anybody have any thoughts on this?
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Post by SPYDER on Nov 11, 2004 13:19:31 GMT -3
go RockKrawler, its weld on i believe but the quality and flex you get is unbelievable. its a 4link so you loose 1 upper control arm but it isn't noticable...or atleast that is what i have been told. the other thing to think about is currie's J-arms. not a long arm and not a short arm but a middle length arm....they have all the benefits of LA's but with out any of the drawbacks.
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Post by hunna on Nov 11, 2004 17:32:54 GMT -3
i was thinking about j-arming my xj.
i heard that there better then long arms but they take up a few inches of ground clearance from hooking up under the axle.
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Post by dsgray16 on Nov 11, 2004 17:55:23 GMT -3
Iv never heard of J-arms, ill have to check those out
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Post by SPYDER on Nov 11, 2004 22:51:14 GMT -3
they take away maybe 1/2" of ground clearnce over the factory mounts...if that....im strongly considering them but the fronts are a b**** to install cause you have to move the trackbar/swaybar mounts.
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Post by hunna on Nov 12, 2004 0:00:00 GMT -3
they take away maybe 1/2" of ground clearnce over the factory mounts...if that....im strongly considering them but the fronts are a female dog to install cause you have to move the trackbar/swaybar mounts. if that’s all then i might look into then some more. on NAXJA, i thought this guy who has them said it was more then that. but i think the guy said it didn't matter anyways because the arms are strong and would just slide over rocks. then he said the long arms get hung up on rocks all the time and bend. i tried to find the thread but couldn’t. |
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Post by dsgray16 on Nov 12, 2004 0:07:10 GMT -3
yeah those J-arms sounds like they would be a pain is the a** to install. The RockKrawler Tri-Link system looks like it would be nice, plus it costs half as much as the Clayton sytem. Then i guess it just comes down to finding someone to weld the new mounts on.
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Post by jeepnut on Nov 12, 2004 7:56:47 GMT -3
To be honest, I'm not sure why you want to go to a long-arm.
Being that this is an XJ, you already have the benefits of a long
wheelbase. The only real benefit of the long-arm, IMOO, is a
better on-road ride because of the CAs being more parallel with
the road. I don't buy into the "better articulation" of them.
The longer wheelbase and drive shaft will smooth out the ride as it is.
You haven't said how much of a lift you are doing and
the higher you go the more LAs make sense. Keep in mind
though that they are notorious for becoming expensive
skid plates.
This is just an opinion and I have never lifted an XJ but I wish
you the best of luck on your lift.
Roger.
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Post by jps4jeep on Nov 12, 2004 9:30:14 GMT -3
To be honest, I'm not sure why you want to go to a long-arm. Being that this is an XJ, you already have the benefits of a long wheelbase. The only real benefit of the long-arm, IMOO, is a better on-road ride because of the CAs being more parallel with the road. I don't buy into the "better articulation" of them. The longer wheelbase and drive shaft will smooth out the ride as it is. You haven't said how much of a lift you are doing and the higher you go the more LAs make sense. Keep in mind though that they are notorious for becoming expensive skid plates. This is just an opinion and I have never lifted an XJ but I wish you the best of luck on your lift. Roger. Yes! Long arms in XJ will be somewhat of a pointless mod except to say that you have them. the type of wheeling that we do in this part of the country, long arms would not be neccessary, If you went to Moab and did extreme rock crawling then I would say go for it. Also long arm kits on a longer wheel base vehicle will kill you break over angle. (one of the benefits of short arms) One thing that I have heard to be a great improvement over factory and in both ground clearence and ride quality... use the control arms out of a Grand Cherokee. They are already have the shape and design of the J arms so the CA is more parallel with the ground and is higher up near the frame for a nice break over angle! |
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Post by dsgray16 on Nov 12, 2004 13:45:13 GMT -3
Thanks for all the input, its great to get opiniuns on this kind of thing before making any desisions. To answer Rogers question, my plan is to go to 6 inches of lift, I have all the components I just dont have the arms figured out. i would prob not even worry about them, or think about a long arm setup, except for the fact that the arms i have now are from a skyjacker 3inch lift kit. As it is, with 4.5 inches of lift they seem to be almost pulling the axle back. I think at the very least i should get some adjustable arms to make sure i get the axle somewhat more centered. As for long arms, i deff see what you guys are saying about the breakover point, thats a drawback of switching to long arms. this is a tuff one....
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Post by jeepnut on Nov 12, 2004 17:50:26 GMT -3
Your welcome. 6 inches is a lot of lift but I still don't see
a need for LAs on a long wheelbase.
Actually forward. As you lift the JP, it will pull the axles
closer together. This will also change your front end
alignment (Toe) and steering wheel centering. If you see
me, ask, and I can give you a demonstration of this with my
AiROCK
Yes I agree. With 6 inches of lift I don't think it would be
a good idea to go without Adjustable CAs. You can correct
most issues with a high lift with ACAs. The uppers can tilt
your diffs to improve the pinion angle and relieve vibrations
from the drive shaft. The lowers can lengthen your
wheelbase back to stock. While were on this subject, some
advice on the install. Make sure that the length of each control
arm is equal to its counter part and be prepared to do a lot of
work to get this right. If you need help with this don't
hesitate to ask.
I hope this helps.
Roger.
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Post by SPYDER on Nov 14, 2004 14:31:56 GMT -3
ok...i would just invest in the RE drop brackets at 6". Their 5.5" lift sits higher than that and everybody says it rides great with just their fixed lowers and the drop brackets.
im not a fan of adj. lowers cause you can drag the jam nut across rocks and either destroy the nut to the point were you can't loosen them or they come loose on the trail and you are screwed.
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Post by jeepgod on Nov 14, 2004 14:47:02 GMT -3
my friend had re 5.5 now its about 4.5" saged alot in less than 6 months. just my .02
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Post by SPYDER on Nov 14, 2004 20:47:14 GMT -3
thats a new one to me...i have never heard of an RE lift saging that much or really in general.
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Post by JeepTJ00 on Nov 14, 2004 21:14:22 GMT -3
Play around on www.Jeepin.com Jason at that site has a very very very well built XJ with 35's and the RE 5.5 with the drop brackets. I wanted to model my XJ that I had after that one. But I got reid of it before I started to make a decent amount of money. Bob |
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