Full Traction long arms with 3.5"coils

I'm battling some DWs now and in looking for adjustable LCAs, I stumbled on some FT long arms. Would this be a bad idea to put the long arms on my XJ with the current setup (3.5" coils and a 1" spacer, adjustable disco, dropped pitman arm, RE1600 tracbar)? Would it even fit? I'm thinking ahead, I could later add 2" spacers or taller coils, lift shackles, SYE, gears/lockers, 35s...

go fot it!
long arms can only help.

but it wont cure DW, unless your dw is coming from the parts your replacing, ie, control arm bushings. which is only 1 of like 16 items on a list that can cause DW
or, if castor is messed up, you can also adjust that with those long arms

quoted from another dw thread... fyi

mikedashg said:

Otherwise, here's the list of stuff that has been known to cause DW, happy tracking

• front tires out of balance
• bent rim
• front alignment out of spec
• loose track bar
• worn track bar bushings
• worn track bar end
• need adjustable track bar
• bad bushings/joints in control arms
• worn/damaged steering stabilizer
• worn/damaged shocks
• worn/damaged tie rod end
• bad U Joint
• bad ball joint
• loose frame mount
• steering box looseness
• need drop pitman arm
• driveshaft(s) not balanced
• bad front hub assembly
• wrong size wheel studs in hub

Click to expand...

believe me, I think I've read about every DW thread on the internet twice! Here's my DW story...

stock XJ with some tire wear problem that would wear out the outer edge of the drivers side front tire. No vibes though, but sounded like maybe the wheel bearing hub. I am the original owner, it had about 125k wife driven miles before it was handed over to me
The rear sway bar came off first, then I added some used lift parts...Rusty's 3.5" coils and leafs, longer fixed LCAs, RE 1600 trackbar, some longer shocks of unknown make, and some used 31x10.5 BFG ATs on larger than stock offset wheels. I rode like this for about a year with no additional issues, tire wear on the front corner was still not right, but not major. I had a professional alignment done since I had messed with the suspension; I think all they did was center my steering wheel, but I have paperwork showing caster was near factory max (8 or 8.5deg)

I had always thought the front needed to be levelled, so I added a 1" spacer.
BAM....majorbad DW's on the first ride out.
I rotated the tires, no change.
had a buddy saw the steering wheel while I looked at all components, didnt see anything moving. We swapped places and he couldnt see anything out of the ordinary.
replaced the tie rod with a used HD Big Daddy's one, no change
redneck tape measure alignment, it actually felt better, but still wobbling
professional alignment showed caster was just past the factory spec on one side, toe was out. they dialed the toe in, and it felt worse, DWs seemed to accelerate quickly once they hit.
replaced the unit bearing hubs, turned rotors, replaced pads..no change
replaced factory steering stabilizer with brand new Rancho, no change
replaced pitman arm with used (ZJ maybe) ~7/8" drop pitman arm...this had the biggest effect on DWs so far, they don't seem to accelerate uncontrollably, they just happen and flatten out allowing you to decelerate out of them.

So I was looking for some adjustable LCA's to pull out some caster, and I found the FT kit. As xcm said, might as well add some LAs and gain the adjustability. I was just wondering if for some reason my 3.5" + 1" might not be enough to fit in these LA's working range.

didnt mean to question your dw hunting abilities, just wanted to make sure you knew how many things could cause it.... im not a dw expert, so i will nod out.

i say go for it

my solution to getting rid of DW was getting new tires, upgradingto a zj v8 tierod, RC drop brackets and making sure my track bar was adjusted right and tight now mine is gone


good luck!

thanks. I paypal'd the cash, I'll see what I get. Hopefully I can use it with my existing springs.