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considerations when doing a 5.5XJLA from RE

J

jeepster89

NAXJA Forum User
Location
springfield massachusetts
i am looking into doing a 5.5 long arm kit from RE. i was wondering what else i would need to upgrade with this i already have a new 8.8 lined up going to be putting 4:88's in JB SYE kit and tom woods drive shaft. i know some thigns for the steering will need to be upgraded but im not sure what or if there is alot of other things. any help and thoughts would be greatly appreciated thansk alex
 
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I recommend that you spend some time searching on what different Long Arm kits have to offer. I beleive that the general consensus is that if you really wheel, then Rubicon may not be the best option.

Again, im not trying to give any real advice, as I have no personal experience with ANY manufactures longarm kits... However I was once seriously considering longarms and have since come to beleive that longarms, and especially Rubicons aren't always the best solution. Depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Do yourself a favor and do a quick search before settling on RE.

-jm
 
I have the RE LA and it was a pain to install. The arms hang down and drag along rocks. Look at the other designs of arms like TNT and you will understand what I mean. The grease fittings on the arms are in a horrible spot. With the kit a lot of sliders will not fit due to the lower control arm/transfer case mount.
 
ill put in a vote for the rock krawler kit without a doubt.
One of the best bang for your money in terms of cost and what you get.
check them out at www.rockkrawler.com and ill agree with what everyone else said, there is definitely a better option than re.

Matt
 
Go either TNT, Clayton, Full Traction, Rock Krawler, or drop brackets before you consider the RE LA kit. My friend is a dealer of RE parts, and he HAD to install it on his rig, otherwise he wouldn't have gone through all the trouble of drilling and all that other mess. He likes the kit, other than the stupid wing attachement, but he's got to run parts that are quality.
 
RE is a great builder for a lot of other applications, but in this case they took too long getting the RELA on the market, and there are too many quirks that bother folks. Possible incompatibility with sliders and other underbody reinforcement is a big one, and as mentioned there are zerks in weird places. Check out TnT Customs (www.tntcustoms.com) for a good long-arm solution.

Jim
 
would i be better off buying a lift kit of 5.5 or 6.5 then getting a long arm upgrade or getting a long arm 5.5 or 6.5 kit?also who knows how much the full trac kit is it does not say on their website or do i have to call
 
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If I were to do it with bolt on parts, I would piece together a lift useing the TnT longarms and belly-pan, probably a RE trackbar and bracket, Skyjacker or RE ZJ coils, Bilstein 5125 shocks, not sure what leafs, and all the other associated stuff from wherever has a good deal (SYE, brakelines, etc)
 
with the tnt customs kit there is no welding required for the brackets for the long arm upgrade? i mean iv never done anything this large so i would need to make up a list of the parts i would need and i could buy them separtly just trying to find the lowest costing way pieces or kits. with pieces i know i get what i want. and ifi buy them serpatly i could buy little by little and not worry about saving 1600 bucks which is hard for me to do lol
 
Just curious. If you are trting to keep it cheap why longarms? What about the RE 4.5" kit? You can run 33s with it and you can't run much bigger on the 5.5" kit without lotsa trimming anyway. Save money too.
 
jeepster89 said:
at the moment tehre are 33's on the jeep i just got but i wanna run 35's since these ones will be worn out by the end of mext year if all goes well with it being wheelable by then.
Click to expand...

I have the 5.5LA and it's not enough for 35's. I lost a lot of flex and travel because I had to bumpstop the crap out of my XJ. Fenders are cut with Bushwackers installed. I still rub. The 5.5 comes with 4.5 leaf springs and lift shackles and I'm having a hard time finding ways to lift thre rear now. I don't want blocks. Already have lift shackles. The leaf springs are new and I don't want to tear them apart for add a leafs. Your steering will suffer from the 35's. Then there is the whole axle problem. I hope that is enough.
 
i agree.. when you move up from 33's to 35's there are a lot of considerations.. Honestly i have the RE 4.5 and i run 33's and i could run 33's on the re 3.5 with a lower COG and the same ammount of trimming/ bumpstopping
 
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