TNT Customs Y-link radius arms...

yet another (better?!) choice for XJ longarms...

i've only got a couple hundred miles on them, but so far so good! :thumbup:





now i just need longer shocks up front!





here's a "clean" shot from the company website (www.tntcustoms.com):



FYI this kit gets officially released tomorrow... :clap: kudos to TNT for a smart design and a bulletproof implementation.

cheers.

terry

Any benefits to say a clayton system or a full traction kit?

doesn't look like there's much flex going on at the front axle. What makes this one a "(better)" choice than the the rest of long arm kits in a rapidly crowding market?

Nice looking cross-member

i don't have experience w/ those kits, so i'll leave the "why buy" to the folks at TNT:
http://tntcustoms.com/CatalogItemDetail.asp?id=15

however i was impressed by the geometry and better clearance (about 1" more than stock)...



...not to mention the slick HD x-member w/ the built-in t-case skid; pretty bombproof.

to each his own, but i'm a happy customer.

:cheers:

terry

i like the cross member and the clearence. I was gonna go with claytons but maybe if i hear enough good things about this kit, ill reconsider. What size front and rear springs are u running?

doesn't look like there's much flex going on at the front axle.

Click to expand...

well i'm shock-limiting the droop right now, and have a pair of brand-spankin' new RE springs in the rear...
once everything settles in and i get some longer shocks, it should be nice 'n flexy.

Nice looking cross-member.

Click to expand...

i agree:

XJawgi said:

i like the cross member and the clearence. I was gonna go with claytons but maybe if i hear enough good things about this kit, ill reconsider. What size front and rear springs are u running?

Click to expand...

i've got the RE 4.5" spring packs w/ their extended shackles; up front i'm running the RE 4.5" coils w/ spacers. i'm a tad high now, but should settle to right about 6".

hopefully i'll be out at EJS to put this through the paces, since we've got tons o'snow here in CO... (can't wait 'til spring!).

terry

So how did you get access to this kit before anyone else? Either way, I really like the kit, but I'm wondering if it will do for 7" of lift

xjj33p3r said:

So how did you get access to this kit before anyone else? Either way, I really like the kit, but I'm wondering if it will do for 7" of lift

Click to expand...

right place, right time!

they did an initial prototype, then made some design improvements and subsequently made this kit as the working "master" prototype (so i eagerly volunteered!).
the only change (to my knowledge) from my kit is the addition of another access hole somewhere in the bellypan to facilitate easier wrenching.

drop bob a line and ask about that lift height; he's a good guy w/ a solid reputation here in CO. [email protected] (note: though he's actually in WY)

good luck.

terry

From what I've seen, I like this kit. It looks like some thought really went into it. And I especially like to see another option for the XJ crowd.
Billy

That looks awesome!
Nice job.

i've been keeping my eye on this kit since the initial prototype was posted on colorado4x4. i really like the hd x-member, and how well the arms are tucked up so high. they don't hang down like other la kits i've seen.

couple of questions though. how are the road manners of the kit? would it be good for a dd? also, how well did the alignment specs come out?

thx

I'll testify to Bob's reputation. I have the "master prototype" of his frame stiffeners on my rig, and the fit and finish are great. You can barely tell they are there just looking at them, and they stiffened the frame considerably. I got a peek at some of the long arm stuff that was going on MMIXJ's jeep while Bob did my install, and it looked just as well executed. I won't hesitate to buy from Bob again.

Fuel90 said:

i've been keeping my eye on this kit since the initial prototype was posted on colorado4x4. i really like the hd x-member, and how well the arms are tucked up so high. they don't hang down like other la kits i've seen.

couple of questions though. how are the road manners of the kit? would it be good for a dd? also, how well did the alignment specs come out?

thx

Click to expand...

I am also curious about the on-road performance.

I have a RE 3.5" that actually gave me about 5". The angles on the LCA's is really killing me driving around Minneapolis. I am considering drop brackets because I don't think I want to do a whole long arm setup, however this TNT setup looks pretty simple and not terribly expensive. Any thoughts?

Bling $$??????

ecrogers said:

I am also curious about the on-road performance.

I have a RE 3.5" that actually gave me about 5". The angles on the LCA's is really killing me driving around Minneapolis. I am considering drop brackets because I don't think I want to do a whole long arm setup, however this TNT setup looks pretty simple and not terribly expensive. Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Almost all off road suspension modifications are taking you in the opposite direction of street ride performance.

Drop brackets just for street? I'm not sure I'm following. I know for fact that the street performance will not be that drastically different between the 3.5 and the 5.5 w/drop brackets.

Long arms for street suspension performance? I'm really not following.

Intriguing set up... The bend in the arms is a question...

--ron

the biggest benefit to both long-arms and short-arms with the DB's is on-road ride and handling.

Jeepin Jason said:

the biggest benefit to both long-arms and short-arms with the DB's is on-road ride and handling.

Click to expand...

IMHO though Jason the off-road characteristics of both setups are equally beneficial to on-road ride.

Fuel90 said:

i've been keeping my eye on this kit since the initial prototype was posted on colorado4x4. i really like the hd x-member, and how well the arms are tucked up so high. they don't hang down like other la kits i've seen.
couple of questions though. how are the road manners of the kit? would it be good for a dd? also, how well did the alignment specs come out?
thx

Click to expand...

the onroad manners are both better and worse...

better, because w/ the improved geometry of the longarms (larger radius so more up travel than forward axle movement) you don't feel all of those "hits" like w/ the short arms. for example i was having a blast on sunday at an offroad park out here just playing jeepspeed for a lap around the track and letting those longarms just suck up the bumps, whereas previously i would have slowed down considerably for fear of tearing off the upper control arm mounts at the frame (if you know what i mean).

now the ride has suffered some in that the attachment points are now pretty much directly under your seat; and since it utilizes the RE joints you lose the bushing affect of dampening the vibes that do make it up the arms.

fwiw, this is my daily driver (though i try to commute by bus to work as much as possible-- partially to save my new mud rovers for the spring, not to mention gas money!).

i'm going to wait a little while to take it to be professionally aligned on a rack; bob basically did an alignment for me, and in fact corrected my castor and toe-in. better yet, i got the full wheel base back now, as my 4.5" short arm kit had reduced it.

terry

ECKSJAY said:

IMHO though Jason the off-road characteristics of both setups are equally beneficial to on-road ride.

Click to expand...

I'm not saying they don't have benefits offroad, but I think that you'll notice more of a difference in terms on on-road performance, vs offroad. We used to run a 3.5" short arm lift on our TJ with 35's, and then upgraded to a 4.5" long-arm system, with the same tires. Offroad (ie: slow speed crawling, etc) I really can't tell any difference btwn the short arm setup and the long-arm setup. Granted though, I myself never wheeled it much with the short arms (the TJ is my wife's rig). Onroad however, the long-arms made a big improvement in ride. And the same thing is true of the RE drop-bracket kit on our XJ -- the most noticeable improvement was on-road ride.

Either way, they're good to have and better on and offroad than running the same amount of lift with short arms. :repair: