long arm kit...

[shimmy]

but the rules are, you can't hack the body, and it has to looke as factory as possible when you are done. that is what i am going to do.

sure... we'll just let the stumps and trees hack up the body for ya. haha. i'd go with TNT or clayton. do you plan on installing any of this yourself? you may even want to look into RK and get a beefier Xmember while you are at it. although TNT and clayton are extremely stout kits, you can't beat the flex of a 3link

 

[tealcherokee]

sure... we'll just let the stumps and trees hack up the body for ya. haha. i'd go with TNT or clayton. do you plan on installing any of this yourself? you may even want to look into RK and get a beefier Xmember while you are at it. although TNT and clayton are extremely stout kits, you can't beat the flex of a 3link

why do you think claytons buggy is a 3 link up front

 

[Avanteone]

My vote is for Clayton's.... I've abused his kit for almost 5 years now with zero issues. I've installed a dozen or so of his kits and they just work great. I've installed a RocKrawler kit and it sucked, I will be installing a TNT kit shortly. I have 4 more Clayton's kits showing up Monday and all but one are sold already, so I'm slightly biased Their new stuff is even nicer now that they're all powder coated and the ends are zinc plated.

John

 

[matt6669]

My vote is for Clayton's.... I've abused his kit for almost 5 years now with zero issues. I've installed a dozen or so of his kits and they just work great. I've installed a RocKrawler kit and it sucked, I will be installing a TNT kit shortly. I have 4 more Clayton's kits showing up Monday and all but one are sold already, so I'm slightly biased Their new stuff is even nicer now that they're all powder coated and the ends are zinc plated.

John

just curious as to why you think the rock krawler kit sucked, and i question what kit you installed whether it was a gen I or a gen II

Matt

 

[Avanteone]

just curious as to why you think the rock krawler kit sucked, and i question what kit you installed whether it was a gen I or a gen II

Matt

Don't know if it was Gen 1 or Gen II, it was brand new. I may have worded that in a confusing manner... the kit itself looks fairly solid, I MEANT that the installation sucked. It was a pain in the ass when compared to other kits on the market. All that drilling, and lining up hole inside and out of the frame rails, and make sure everything cleared his rocker protection, etc. It just seemed much more difficult than it needed to be. Coming from a shop owners perspective, I just see the additional labor cost to the customer being a definite downside to the kit. The Clayton's crossmember takes less than an hour to clean up and weld on, then you bolt the arms on one side at a time, it's just simple and works.

J

 

[Jeepdogrob]

I have rusty's LA kit with a hp 44 front and 35's. I don't go easy on it and have yet to break it.

If you wheel anything hard enough it will break I don't care who the manufacturer is......that's just part of the sport.

X2; However, I really like TNT.

 

[matt6669]

yeah the installation of that kit can be quite hard unless you know a few secrets. To someone doing it for the first time it can be a little daunting but a shop that sells rock krawler lifts and installs them will know the secrets.

It usually takes about 2 hours to install a long arm kit when we do it at our shop. So compared to some of the other kits that have a bazillion bolts to bolt things its not to shabby.


My vote is for a rock krawler kit, you can't beat the flex and ride of a 3-link design. And rock krawler backs there product up with a beat on it guarantee sooo you really can't beat it. Also if you know who to talk to the kit can be had for just a little over 400 dollars which is a steal compared to some other companies.

Matt

 

[rehab]

my buddies and i have always just made our own. ill see if i can dig up some pics but they are pretty much the same as the rusty's

i was on rusty's site earlier and looky what they came out with!

still not TnT status but its a start... and it doesnt cost a butt load, but then again either does the TnT

anyone have any close up shots of how the Rock Krawler system is put together? i might have to fab some up this summer!

 

[blue_flip]

sure... we'll just let the stumps and trees hack up the body for ya. haha. i'd go with TNT or clayton. do you plan on installing any of this yourself? you may even want to look into RK and get a beefier Xmember while you are at it. although TNT and clayton are extremely stout kits, you can't beat the flex of a 3link

yeah i plan to go three ling coil over in the rear later

 

[bobnoxious]

It usually takes about 2 hours to install a long arm kit when we do it at our shop

Sounds like you have 4 guys working on it. Does this time include removal of any of the old parts (and the problems they can present coming apart)? Rear suspension? Adjustments?

 

[99xjache]

another vote for the TnT kit. You cant beat the clearance

great flex too

Aaron

 

[RyanM]

my rustys arms are noisy as hell. theres too much slop in the treads. you gotta keep em heavily greased. the frame/crossmember peices seem solid. altho i get some unibody flex, when i got it binded real good- i can feel my rusted floor pop, if this is unibody flex.

yea nice job rusty of copying tnt. ima call and bitch. he's still using those ends tho.... i like the OEM rubber style ride. dont get me wrong the kit rides GREAT. but the threads on the end im unsure about. the high clearance is better but ive dragged these things up and down ledges and landed on them, they are definatly solid.

 

[tealcherokee]

i dont get all the hype about the tnt arms being bent for "clearance"....a piece of tubing is not going to hang you up, if you land on it, it will slide....and if its made out of something good, it wont bend.

Adam from claytons has the radius arms up front, and 4 link rear, he drives straight up and over a jersey barrier, slides up the front arms, across the skid, down the rear arms and over.

JP's buggy also goes up and down the loading dock just fine, a good 40" or so.... comes at it at an angle, drives up until the front tire is on it, then literally hammers down, and jumps the truck and it lands on the rear arms, and then drives up....

ill take claytons stuff, thanks

 

[matt6669]

Sounds like you have 4 guys working on it. Does this time include removal of any of the old parts (and the problems they can present coming apart)? Rear suspension? Adjustments?

We were talking about doing the front only, meaning pop out the stock arms hack off the stock lca mounts, and mount the three new arms. This is with two guys working on it but someone by thereself should have no problem doing it in 3 hours if they work fast.

But then again i do work fast because as the saying goes time is money sooo I don't tend to waste time.

Teal i TOTALLY agree with you. I would much rather have my 1.75 solid stock arms hanging down BELOW my DRIVESHAFT instead of having my driveshaft be the lowest point on my truck. I would much rather land on my arms than land on a wimpy driveshaft but to each there own i suppose right.

Matt

 

[mack]

all the hype isn't just in the arms, most of the "clearance" is in the crossmember/belly pan, i'll take TnT, thank you

i dont get all the hype about the tnt arms being bent for "clearance"....a piece of tubing is not going to hang you up, if you land on it, it will slide....and if its made out of something good, it wont bend.

Adam from claytons has the radius arms up front, and 4 link rear, he drives straight up and over a jersey barrier, slides up the front arms, across the skid, down the rear arms and over.

JP's buggy also goes up and down the loading dock just fine, a good 40" or so.... comes at it at an angle, drives up until the front tire is on it, then literally hammers down, and jumps the truck and it lands on the rear arms, and then drives up....

ill take claytons stuff, thanks

 

[OBX Fisherman]

I'm running the RE LA kit.

Works well for me althought the skidplate/tranny mount hangs down 1/2" lower than the factory setup.

Gary

 

[carmike692000]

Well phooey. I had about decided I would settle with the RE 3.5 or 4.5" lift kit. Now I'm considering the TnT kit, but it's soo expensive!

Do you have to grind off the stock LCA brackets? How do you do that? Do the RE kits come with longer LCA's?