Need help choosing a Long arm upgrade...

[rockclimber]

We've got two King of the Hammers races, Norcal Stampede and about 10 long weekends of hard abuse on our Full Traction kit. The bushings and rod ends are still new new condition.

If your buddy wore them out that quickly, maybe he was doing something wrong?

I would guess improper install, pre-load on the CAs due to improper length adjustment.

 

[Johnnie Walker]

For a Y-link/radius arm setup, TNTcustoms is hands down the best. Clayton is a close 2nd IMO, as the dropout crossmember is great.
And for those that complain so much about radius arms unloading on steep inclines.. the correct thing to do for any suspension setup is LIMIT straps.
From my understanding, the RC longarm kit is crap. In theory, better than short arms/no CAD brackets.
Unless you are getting the RE kit for less than the avg price, I would go with the Clayton kit. Unless you have/are willing to spend more money.

 

[sunburned]

HOLY COW!

http://www.polyperformance.com/shop...eep-XJ-4-Link-Long-Travel-System-p-25694.html

2000$ and you dont even get springs, shocks, disco's, etc? Wow...
Thats WORST then what GenWrong does...

Crazy. When I bought it a few years ago, it was $1000 for an upgrade kit, which was frame brackets, upper axle bracket, and longarms. I already had everything else, so that was all I needed and it works perfectly. Even fit with my slightly modified TNT belly pan. Perfect system if you ask me.

 

[ROBZ95Xj]

We've got two King of the Hammers races, Norcal Stampede and about 10 long weekends of hard abuse on our Full Traction kit. The bushings and rod ends are still new new condition.

If your buddy wore them out that quickly, maybe he was doing something wrong?

it may have been that it didnt like the new england winters with the salt, maybee theve got better joints now, the orig owner installed the kit in 07 we put the clayton arms on in dec of 09, and last week replaced the shot leafs with a clayton coil kit

 

[travisk]

Does price matter?

Rubicon Express Long Arm upgrade $1,049.99
Rough County Long Arm upgrade $649.95
TNT Rock-Tek Y-Link Upgrade $979.95
Clayton Long Arm Upgrade $949.00

 

[XJLI]

Not to mention everyone I know with rk stuff had the joints clunk out of the box, quality stuff huh?

Everyone, really?

 

[Jk2xj1]

I have the RK 3 link up front. I really like it, flexes well, its solid and no it didn't clunk right out of the box. I have been pretty hard on it, and it has taken the abuse thus far. I would purchase from them again.

 

[RWKHausSupply]

And a rock krawler long arm upgeade kit is under 700 $ shipped typically.

 

[RWKHausSupply]

Sorry had great cell phone posting fail...

 

[xcm]

The rk krawler joints do not have a set screw, etc. So their joint design is vastly inferior to others, imho. They WILL eventually fall apart, and if you dont notice till too late, this will ovalize the delrin (or whatever hdpe) bushing races.

Its a great kit once you replace the joints though.

I cannot understand the praise these joints get... Sure, if you 100% keep up on maintenance, you could prevent this, but a set screw is needed, and the fact that they are not there, makes them an inferior joint.

 

[xcm]

Also, apples and oranges people, the full traction 4 link kit is for race vehicles, and is race proven, the rough country kit is for budget builds. One is designed for full throttle runs thru harsh terrain, the other for people with coolers full of beer in the back who never go over 40mph.

The poly perf kit has some of the nicest xj specific bracketry ive seen, something that is important to race guys. If your only looking at price, the rough country kit is the winner. But only a moron would think this way. Also think about joints... the rc kit is notorious for shitty joints, and the full traction kit has 1.25 FK rod ends... some of the best heims ever made.

Apples and oranges.

 

[RWKHausSupply]

Really they dont??

Im looking right at one in my lca end. Ummmm

 

[RWKHausSupply]

 

[xcm]

I guess they have multiple versions, when i get back to home town, i will take pictures, mine did not.

 

[foxwar71]

How the hell did we make it to page 3 and nobody's said Iron Rock yet?!?! Jeez, youre slipping , time to open the can of worms and get the popcorn ready.


Reguardless of manufacture, Im a big fan of crossmembers that are removable while being able to leave the arms/suspension alone. makes drivetrain service alot easier, Im glad I did that when I built my mid arm 3 link setup.

 

[rockclimber]

How the hell did we make it to page 3 and nobody's said Iron Rock yet?!?! Jeez, youre slipping , time to open the can of worms and get the popcorn ready.

He didn't say it was a superbadass competition race rig... Then I would've suggested IRO

Reguardless of manufacture, Im a big fan of crossmembers that are removable while being able to leave the arms/suspension alone. makes drivetrain service alot easier, Im glad I did that when I built my mid arm 3 link setup.

That's why I'm a fan of the poly performance kit. No Arms on crossmember.

There's also the new rustys kit, looks interesting... Would be interested in some real world feedback.

 

[ktm racer 419]

Not to mention everyone I know with rk stuff had the joints clunk out of the box, quality stuff huh?

I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS.

it may have been that it didnt like the new england winters with the salt, maybee theve got better joints now, the orig owner installed the kit in 07 we put the clayton arms on in dec of 09, and last week replaced the shot leafs with a clayton coil kit

Ive been running rk joints every new england winter from 2006 to 2011.

The rk krawler joints do not have a set screw, etc. So their joint design is vastly inferior to others, imho. They WILL eventually fall apart, and if you dont notice till too late, this will ovalize the delrin (or whatever hdpe) bushing races.

Its a great kit once you replace the joints though.

I cannot understand the praise these joints get... Sure, if you 100% keep up on maintenance, you could prevent this, but a set screw is needed, and the fact that they are not there, makes them an inferior joint.

I never done any maintenance to my rk joints.


So many miles Ive lost track, 3 rigs, 7 years, all kinds of trails and wheeling.

Ive never greased them, I even broke the grease fittings on them the day i installed them and never bothered to fix them, Just a gaping hole in each joint. They are still as tight as the day I got them, never made a squeak.

Maybe I'm just awesome.

 

[XJLI]

My joints have these too

 

[Boostwerks.com]

Reguardless of manufacture, Im a big fan of crossmembers that are removable while being able to leave the arms/suspension alone. makes drivetrain service alot easier, Im glad I did that when I built my mid arm 3 link setup.

Holy crap yes. I wish someone had talked me into this 5-6 years ago when I built mine.

 

[JeepZiggy91]

Im running rks 4 link. I dont have any trail time and about 20 min street time (project still in progress) but there are good and bad to every set up. I went with this because i believe it will be best for my style.i also threw some 3&1 in the joints. If you want a perfect set up, call nasa. Otherwise do some reaearch and make youre decesion based on what you believe is best for your style. Personaly i believe rk will be best for me and i went with a 4 link because its nothing to me to get under and pull an upper link when i get to the trail or leave it on for the go fast stuff we have here in az. Ive also seen full tractions and claytons out on the trail and all three do well. It all depends on what you want.