Any good reasons not to do Long Arms????

I'm trying to decide what to do with the lift on the new XJ. Help me out with some current info.

On my last XJ, I had a hybrid short arm lift; 7" w/ the RE drop brackets and RE HD Track bar and 6" skyjacker springs and a coil spacer up front w/ 5.5"-ish Alcan leafs and a lift shackle in the rear and 33's.

For this one, I don't think I want to go as high as before. I'd like to get the shortest lift I can to stuff a 33 effectively. I'm considering a Long Arm 5-6" lift and whatever cutting is necessary to stuff a 33. I want to get a flexy leaf in the rear. I felt like the Alcan's I had were too stiff, and didn't flex very well (probably too much arch).
or
The RE 5.5 Extreme Duty Short Arm lift with the drop brackets etc, similar to what I had last time. I think I can fit a 33 with some fender work???? Can anyone verify that?


I've heard lots of people in favor of the LA lift, but there have to be some draw backs to them. Are there any reasons I should consider NOT buying a long arm?

I've been out of the XJ game for about 2 years, so I've lost track of what's good and bad about the current lift offerings.

This truck is not a daily driver, but I do want it to be drivable for 6-10 hour drives to Moab, SW Colorado, and camping trips, etc. This truck is a 3rd vehicle, so it's pretty much a dedicated camping / wheeling toy.

Please let me know what I should consider before deciding to go Long Arm.


Thanks

5.5" is plenty of lift for a 33 if you're willing to do a little trimming. If 33s were my target size I would trim and bumpstop more, run about 4" and short arms.

As for long-arms vs drop brackets... Some longarms have poor clearance, like Claytons, Full-Traction, Rock Krawler (best is TnT), not that drop brackets have great clearance though. If it's a radius arm type longarm (RE, Claytons, TnT, etc) it will go through bushings faster than a 3 or 4 link (drop brackets, Full-Traction, Rock Krawler) because they rely on bushing deflection for articulation, but for most people it isn't rapid enough to be a major concern.

If I were to ever buy a front XJ suspension for trail riding, it would definitely be the TnT kit.

Im at 4" with 33's. Great down and up travel. Bumpstop and trim accordingly. I have short arms, and no DB. Check out IntrepidXJ's rig. Running short arms at the stock location and 33's. Randy has been all over the place, and his does very well. www.myxj.net

I'm right under 3" of lift with 33's and trimmed fenders. Works great 99% of the time. When doing high-speed stuff, sometimes I'll hit the bumpstops hard. I think 4" and 33's would be perfect. You don't need drop brackets nor a long-arm lift for 4".

Well I have the RE 5.5 short arm kit, at our last jeep event I maxed out a 30 degree ramp with that kit. I'm now in the process of building long arms for MORE FLEX!!! I'm on 33's with trimmed fenders and I can stuff them with no probs. If your looking at RE call Alex at PORC, he was the cheapest I could find for my kit.

Great information. Thanks guys.

From what I'm hearing, I might go with a 4.5" Lift and trim like mad, and not need to mess with he drop brackets or long arms.

I've always been jealous of my buddy who managed to stuff 37's in his old full size blazer with 2.5" of lift and MAJOR trimming.

The lower I can keep the truck, the better, this time around. I felt like the last one with 7" got really tipsy some times.

How big of a bump stop are you guys with the 4"ish/33 running?


Thanks for all of the good information.

2" in the rear and stock up front.

Frank Z said:

The only down side I've experienced was getting the alignment done the first time after installing my DIY long arms. The tech was a little lost because he'd never seen a long arm set up before.

Click to expand...

Talk about throwing the tech to wolves. One would figure if you can build your own long-arms, you could do your own alignment.

Wait, you maxed out a 30 degree ramp with an RE 5.5 short arm setup. Theirs no way thats possible. You must mean a 20 degree maybe.

i am running 7.5" RE coils with RE superflex control arms and RE drop brackets and suports, and at 1/3 the price of a long arm set up i have no complaints.

long arms are over rated.:spin1:

before this set up i ran 6" skyjacker coils with stock control arm location and 35" mtr's. no bump stops and no rubbing.