skyjacker questions

does anyone have an xj with the 6" skyjacker RR kit on it or any comments to make about it. I am wondering how this kit performs and how reliable/durable it is. Also if anybody knows, what is the difference between the crossmembers for the atomatic and manual? could an atomatic crossmember be used on an xj with a manual trans?

there is a post almost identicle to this a few weeks ago try a search.

The previous posts are here:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8464&highlight=skyjacker+rock+ready
and here:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7531&highlight=skyjacker+rock+ready

I have other questions though. I'm considering either the Rock Ready stuff (just sub-frame, LCA's, & UCA's), or a long-arm kit, like Rubicon Express. I only want about 4.5" of lift total, so I'm wondering what the loss in clearance is with Skyjacker comparedc to the RE Long-arm. It seems like both would hang down about the same, but the Skyjacker wouldn't hang down as far back, giving you more clearance for a larger portion of the frame with only a 4.5" lift. I've tried all the way up to a 5.25" lift on normal CA's, and it rode awful and I just didn't like the angles and the feel (didn't feel overly stable sideways). IIRC I heard something about being able to use Dodge Skyjacker arms with the Rock Ready stuff so you could have bushings instead of heims because the heims are annoying with road noise and all that, and if I went Skyjacker, I'd get those. Anybody have info or opinions on the points I mentioned?

Hey guys,

I have just the subframe and lower arms and almost couldn't be happier. The upper arms are normal length, so I'm just using RE arms. The lower arms are from the dodge truck, so I got arms that had bushings on the frame side but it still has the heim on the axle side. My heims started clunking fast and I'll be totally happy when I can get rid of the two on the axle (maybe if teraflex ever starts producing their rubber heim/bushing things?) I guess you could get the dodge arms that have bushings on both sides, but you would then not have any way to adjust them. Now that I have a welder, I would make my own if I could do it over again. They basically need to be able to adjust between 20-21". 20" is to little caster, 21" is to much. I have a friend that did this and just used jonny joints on solid lower arms, and then got adjustable uppers to be able to align it. Hope this helps some.

Marcus

I don't rock crawl, so I can't comment about ground clearance and such

Thanks for the info Marcus. How much lift do you run on your XJ, and how much lower than stock does the sub-frame put the LCA mounts?

I run the RE 4.5" lift with the front skyjacker stuff. I don't have my jeep right now (traded with a friend who needed some work done on his) but I remember measuring and it was something like 4-4.5" lower. By the time I put the lift on and then bigger tires, I had a lot more ground clearance than stock, but not as much as short arms with the same lift. The good part about the skyjacker subframe is that it is pretty smooth making it possible to use it to slide the car over pretty much anything easily, very much how long arms will.

The subframe is extremly strong and durable. I have personal experience since I was in an accident where my front tire it the side of a car at 50mph, taking all the impact of the collision. My axle housing and all the brackets were bent up very well, but the subframe and arms didn't have a scratch on them. I've seen cherokees hit things much softer that crushed in the frame at the LCA mount or tear it off the frame. I'm sure this would have been the result of my collision without the subframe. A lot of jeepspeed guys race with the unmodified subframe and arms and I don't think anyone has ever broken any of those parts (not that I've seen or heard of).

Let me know if you have any more questions. I should have my jeep back within 2 days, if you want me to go measure exactly how much it drops the LCA let me know.

Yeah, if you wouldn't mind measuring it. I'm buying a welder soon so I may just purchase the subframe and make the control arms myself because I would prefer bushings over heims and their control arms are a little over-priced anyways. By the way, I hit my diff on something a while back and I did push my LCA body mount up into the sub-frame rails, which also means I'll have to pull it out slightly or oval out the hole so I can fit the Skyjacker sub-frame to it.

Tera is now shipping the bushings and Johnny Joints you speak of. They are a direct replacement foe the SJ heims and have 5" of threaded adjustment.
Here's a pic of my 1st gen JJ installed. The current style has the grease fitting on the end of the cross bolt.


Comparison pic.

Oh sweet, thanks Jeepzz, I didn't know they were out yet. Bet those are really nice huh, no more sounding like every bolt under the front end is loose?

Marcus

I just measured, the subframe drops the LCA mount 4" and moves it back a few inches (looked like 2.5")

Jeepzz-did you get the new teraflex end strait from teraflex?

Marcus

Yep, Tera's facilities are only a few blocks from where I work. I got the very first set sold to the public. They didn't even have part numbers assigned to them yet.
Being the first isn't a good thing though. I destroyed the rubber bushings in Moab 1 month after purchasing them. I got credit for them and went with the Johnny Joints instead. Tera's johnny joints were delayed in manufacturing and they had 'temporary' hybrid johnny joints being built in cooperation with Currie, those are the one I've got and they've been good so far.
Tera's own Johnny Joints are now on the market and look slightly different than my Currie built parts. Visually, the grease fitting has been moved to the end of the cross bolt. This would mean that the Tera bolts are hollow to allow grease to pass through them. I don't know if the hollow bolt is a good thing or not on the LCA. Only time will tell. I like where my grease fittings are located, up and out of the way. I don't know why Tera didn't keep that part of the design.

Cool, that's great information to know. I will probably head to the JJs now after your experience. It will be nice not wondering if I'm only hearing the heims or if I really did forget to tighten the shock when I put it back.

Thanks
marcus