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Adding Drop Brackets

Harvo

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Chattanooga
How many of you run drop brackets with a 4.5 inch RE lift? It must improve ride quality right? If I wanted drops when I order the lift, would I need to specify adjustable control arms, or will the 4.5 inch kit arms still work? And do drops lower only the lower LCAs or both UCAs and LCAs?

How does the 4.5 lift perform without drop brackets? I know alot of you guys are running 4.5 RE lifts and seem pretty happy.

Thanks-
 
Harvo said:
How many of you run drop brackets with a 4.5 inch RE lift? It must improve ride quality right? If I wanted drops when I order the lift, would I need to specify adjustable control arms, or will the 4.5 inch kit arms still work? And do drops lower only the lower LCAs or both UCAs and LCAs?

How does the 4.5 lift perform without drop brackets? I know alot of you guys are running 4.5 RE lifts and seem pretty happy.

Thanks-

I don't have the RE kit, but I was at 4.5" of lift without the drop brackets. The ride sucked and the steering was sloppy, especially over bumps. It often felt like death wobble was just a few wobbles away. Once I installed the drop brackets it felt like a new vehicle. Ride greatly improved and steering felt alot better.

As far as control arms, I can't help much. Prior to the drop brackets I had Rusty's fixed 16.25" lower arms and stock upper aprms. After the drop brackets I went with the stock arms, upper and lower. It's been this way for a couple of years now, and I don't plan to change it.

The drop brackets drop both upper and lower arms ~ 4 inches at the unibody.
 
im running just under 6" lift on my xj with stock arms and drop brackets and it works fine. there is no need to have adjustable arms with drop brackets.
 
Hmm, I didn't see the short bus parked outside...

r@m
 
I love my Drop Brackets. I had my RE6130 on for almost a year before installing the DBs, and like FrankNBrew said, it really felt like a different vehicle once the install was done. You don't need adjustable arms, and the stock length ones will work at ~4" but I'd still recommend an arm that is more robust than the factory stamped ones. I have the adjustable LCA simply for peace of mind in case I need to fine-tune alignment.

If you order the DBs at the same time as your lift, make sure whoever takes the order understands that and changes the control arms that come with the lift. RE is very good about allowing mix-n-match orders based on their kits, that's why I recommend getting a credit on the t-case drop and RE swaybar discos and applying that toward JKS Quicker Discos and an SYE.
 
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My '88 MJ had a Trailmaster lift when I bought it. It was a 4" lift with drop brackets, and I'm told the RE drop brackets are virtual clones of the Trailmaster brackets. Personally, I hated them. They accomplished what they were intended to do -- they retained stock steering geometry using stock control arms, and that's a good thing for driving on pavement. But off road they hung down too low and seemed to always be waiting to grab a rock I thought I had taken a good line over.

I took them off and dropped the MJ back to stock height. Traded the lift to a guy upstate for an engine/tranny/transfer case.

I think the drop brackets need at least 5.5" to 6" of lift if you plan to actually take 'em off road.
 
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