Rubicon express long arm upgrade or drop brackets and quality arms?

So I have the chance to get a great deal on a new R.E. long arm upgrade but I'm torn. The only kit I was really interested in was the full traction kit. But I am doing the 5.3 swap and money is tight so I come for advice. Would you run that R.E. long arm or go with drop brackets and jks/ Currie short arms. ( either way the front end will be on coilovers) I don't rock crawl I go fast in the dunes and desert and then I go fast to and from the camp ground lol also the wife drives it around town when it's raining and I will drive it as much as I can on road lol . Not to worried about ground clearance.

I would hold out for the 4 Link you want.

Depends on how great the deal is on the RE kit, otherwise I would also recommend holding out for the kit you really want. I'm personally not a huge fan of radius arms, but in having ran radius arms, drop brackets and currently a 3 link, I would choose radius arms over brackets. So far my 3 link rides awesome and flexes better than any other setup I've had, but I could definitely see potential oil pan clearance issues with an LS swap, although I can't confirm this.

I'm kinda looking at the same thing...but I use mine 95% on road now. So for me, drop brackets & adjustable arms arms is probably the way I am gonna go for now, then when I get my frame stiffeners & new axles in, I'll decide if I want to go long arms or not.

Yeah, I will add that drop brackets make a great temporary, cheap alternative. You can still return to stock if desired for whatever reason. Once you go LA and cut the mounts, it is what it is. Plus you can easily remove and sell them if you upgrade down the line.

TRCM said:

I'm kinda looking at the same thing...but I use mine 95% on road now. So for me, drop brackets & adjustable arms arms is probably the way I am gonna go for now, then when I get my frame stiffeners & new axles in, I'll decide if I want to go long arms or not.

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Thanks for the input guys!
I'm kinda in the same boat as this here I mean I love a mile from the dunes so if it just does ok then I'll be good. and I just want something that will do decent off road and so I can just drive this thing when I'm done with the 5.3 swap. I'm asking this because I'm not 100% sure but haven't there been a good amount of guys that won jeepspeed races on drop brackets?

92xjRJ said:

Thanks for the input guys!
I'm kinda in the same boat as this here I mean I love a mile from the dunes so if it just does ok then I'll be good. and I just want something that will do decent off road and so I can just drive this thing when I'm done with the 5.3 swap. I'm asking this because I'm not 100% sure but haven't there been a good amount of guys that won jeepspeed races on drop brackets?

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If you're playing in the dunes and going for speed while off road, LAs are the way to go. Simply picture the arch of a longer arm vs a shorter one, and how much sharper the arch is with the short arms for a given amount of travel and geometrically it just makes sense what's superior. DBs will be better than stock when lifted, but there';s no question what's better between LAs and DBs.

I'm happy with my drop brackets. I DD mine and do occasional off roading. Any good trails are a 5 hour drive. The beach is only 2 hours, so I do a fair amount of that.

I'd go drop brackets over the radius arms if you're doing higher speed desert driving.
You'll have more tuning options with the drop brackets and short arms then the radius arm setup.
If this was just a daily driven jeep that sees some trails I'd say the R.E. but if you're gonna be doing high speed desert/dune runs, you'll want a better option for tuning like the d.b. And short arms


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I decided to go with drop brackets and WJ arms for now.

If the ride is better, then in a few months or so I may switch to adjustable short arms or maybe long arms.......have to see.



I will say, changing out the axle side bushings by yourself, on jackstands is a royal pain in the tookus.....I ended up making some tools of my own to go along with the ball joint press to get them out, and I made a tool to install them with no press.

Yes, I kept the tools for later use.

I have mid-arms on my XJ, and CAD brackets with full adjustable short arms on my MJ.
They both flex comperable and the ride is great on both.
Overall setup will make a difference.

Well, the drop brackets are in, and the control arms are working.................but in none of my research did anyone mention that the WJ upper control arms bend the wrong way (down not up) for max clearance on a high pinion cherokee.

I also think there should have been a left & right side upper, as they had a clearance dimple in the same place on both, so it didn't help on the drivers side, and did on the passengers side, where it is not needed.

Unless someone gave me a bad set............

Anyway, the height difference in my lower arms is 1/2", so they are almost level, but not quite.

Gonna have to see how the drivers UCA does...if it is hitting, I may have to go back to XJ uppers to get back the clearance...it is tight, like less than 1/4" at rest tight.

During the short test drive prior to alignment, it seemed to ride very nice, and almost felt as if it didn't need an alignment.


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UPDATE:

The alignment shop said it was almost dead on.......and they were impressed with the brackets & the work to get them on with the WJ arms.

So now, we'll see how the real test does this week driving 50+ miles each day on some nasty roads.