shortest long arm?

sorry for using up the space but I had a question that was bugging me and I couldnt find It by searching, whats the shortest Lift you could run a long arm set-up on?

I'v seen 4.5" with long arms but thats It, what about 3", 3.5", 4" Lifts?

Im sitting at about 3" in the rear and 4" up front and may be able to get a real good price on some used rusty long arms, the old Y link design....

Anyone got any pictures of a 3-4" longarm set-up, all I see is 6" and 8" set-ups, and while they are sweet, they arnt practical for me...and what else would you need to do with this set-up, have longer shocks so your not limited?

4in would be the minimum required for a long-arm, according to Rock Krawler.

Long Arms show their stuff from 4.5"+ Up to 3", the stock arms will work and will require the least amount of mods to run. I run RE drop brackets with 8" lift and they work great. I have adj lower CAs and non adj uppers at the moment, soon to have RE adj uppers as well this winter, just need to install them.

Troy

it seems that in the skyjacker system (more of a medium-length arm) that you could rund 4" so so. this is just a hypothesis as i haven't seen it actually done. the subframe and arms only come in the 6" and 8" sizes, but i also think this is too tall. in those applications the arms still look to angle down 15° or so. if someone was to run 4" springs it looks like they would sit nearly horizontal, like stock. i would like to run this combo myself as the subframe seems like a better solution than drop brackets. i have heard all kinds of bad stuff about the rockready setup though. the full traction setup looks like it would work with 4" springs also. can anybody confirm or deny these guesses?

in the case of the radius arm setups, it looks like you would have very little usable uptravel before the longarms are near the frame. again this is just my guess and maybe someone could confirm it for me.

i figure lots of people will think "why bother when you only have 3 or 4 inches?" for me it has to do with proper stock-like ride and handling. even at 3" the short xj arms look as if they want to push back into the subframe if you hit a bump, as opposed to cycling up. also the stock arms are crappy stampings and the aftermarket arms look much stronger.

another solution may be to fab (or have fabbed) raised brackets on the axlehousing to level out the arms. i don't really see this done often, so i don't know how feasable it is.

thanks for any feedback,
mike

PapaPump said:

it seems that in the skyjacker system (more of a medium-length arm) that you could rund 4" so so. this is just a hypothesis as i haven't seen it actually done. the subframe and arms only come in the 6" and 8" sizes, but i also think this is too tall. in those applications the arms still look to angle down 15° or so. if someone was to run 4" springs it looks like they would sit nearly horizontal, like stock. i would like to run this combo myself as the subframe seems like a better solution than drop brackets. i have heard all kinds of bad stuff about the rockready setup though. the full traction setup looks like it would work with 4" springs also. can anybody confirm or deny these guesses?

in the case of the radius arm setups, it looks like you would have very little usable uptravel before the longarms are near the frame. again this is just my guess and maybe someone could confirm it for me.

i figure lots of people will think "why bother when you only have 3 or 4 inches?" for me it has to do with proper stock-like ride and handling. even at 3" the short xj arms look as if they want to push back into the subframe if you hit a bump, as opposed to cycling up. also the stock arms are crappy stampings and the aftermarket arms look much stronger.

another solution may be to fab (or have fabbed) raised brackets on the axlehousing to level out the arms. i don't really see this done often, so i don't know how feasable it is.

thanks for any feedback,
mike

Click to expand...

the only bad stuff I've heard about the Skyjacker kit is the axle truss thing and the crappy heims in the LCAs, both easily dealt with. The truss itself looks really good, but expensive to buy by itself (ask Phil).

the TnT kit looks like it might fit inside the frame rails when stuffed, allowing for lower lift heights and more compression.

PapaPump said:

in the case of the radius arm setups, it looks like you would have very little usable uptravel before the longarms are near the frame. again this is just my guess and maybe someone could confirm it for me.

Click to expand...

yup thats about the size of it
Im runnin my LA on 4.5" of true lift and the upper arms are REAL close to hittin the unibody at full stuff.

AT 3.5 I would definitly hit the upper links at the frame side

and depending on how you mount the lowers to the "frame"
you lose do much clearance that the short arms would be way better

I made something real similar to this

so youi can see where short arms defintily are an advantage to this

but I was building for 4.5 then and a 6" in the future.

BrettM said:

the only bad stuff I've heard about the Skyjacker kit is the axle truss thing and the crappy heims in the LCAs, both easily dealt with. The truss itself looks really good, but expensive to buy by itself (ask Phil).

the TnT kit looks like it might fit inside the frame rails when stuffed, allowing for lower lift heights and more compression.

Click to expand...

i agree, the tnt kit looks very tucked even with a large lift, i think it would work with a smaller lift. maybe someone has done it. i suspect though, when someone invests that much in control arms, it's almost always because their lift is way beyond the limits of the stock arms. in other words, its not likely. of course there's people like vegasanthony who are planning ahead.

on the skyjacker lift, those two things you mentioned, along with mounting the track bar to the steering stabilzer bracket, are what i've heard bad. i guess what i meant by "lots of problems" was that everyone has their heims wear out. this is suprising considering they are the size of a fist. the truss i have heard referred to as a waste of metal and too heavy. i like it. it addresses the upper link angles and the principal weakness of the D30 in one swipe. in addition, it allows you to run articulating joints at both ends of the UCAs. the only other setup i have seen for that is the currie johnny joint kit, where you cut the passenger side ears off and weld in a new piece, and press a new one into the driver's side.

when i first became a member there was a rockready kit in the classifieds for $1300...that is not a bad deal. but with their little problems and the $2500+ price, it seems like a rip. especially since the full traction system came out. if i find one used i may buy it, but for now i think i'll stick with drop brackets.

VegasAnthony said:

and depending on how you mount the lowers to the "frame" you lose do much clearance that the short arms would be way better

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that would be a big issue if he were to be sitting 2" or 4" lower yes, even the drop brackets give you this problem at low lift heights. but as mentioned it may be possible to have the arms tuck inboard of the frame to avoid clearence and uptravel issues. too far inward though and the driveshaft may be an issue.

No problems moving the arms inboard and up!

what is going on there? it looks like you have uppers and lowers, but the upper is connected in two places...is that what i am seeing? and if so, why?

PapaPump said:

what is going on there? it looks like you have uppers and lowers, but the upper is connected in two places...is that what i am seeing? and if so, why?

Click to expand...

Thats the front DS on the left....

mingo said:

Thats the front DS on the left....

Click to expand...

Hahahaha........

oops

heheh i thought i was looking at the passenger side...for some odd reason...even the the UCA mount is inboard of the lowers...just complicating things for myself

i wish i could delete that one

Its a typical radius arm,other than inboard and up.Heres the passenger side plus my raised lower axle mounts(95XJ only,havent retrofitted the 2000 yet).

See my homepages for all the pics!

Re: oops

PapaPump said:

heheh i thought i was looking at the passenger side...for some odd reason...even the the UCA mount is inboard of the lowers...just complicating things for myself

i wish i could delete that one

Click to expand...

i have to give you one of these.

















:twak:

i feel like i deserve that dirt