Long arm question

I was wanting to make my own long arms and wanted to see if anyone knows if I could keep my upper control arms in the same spot or would it be a better idea to move those one as well, I was thinking of just having the lower long arms but need to know more about this.

if your gonna do a 3 or 4 link, then you will want to extend the upper(s) too.

Thats the way teraflex makes thier long arm and it is not very desirable, if your going to do it, do it right and make it a true four link or make it a radius type.

Have you considered radius arm I have been running Claytons Long arm (4.5) for well over a year on my DD. I love the on road ride, and the off road proformance is great, articulation is amazing. Their parts are of very high quailty, kit came very complete, and customer service was outstanding.

I'm still thinking of what to do, I'm not sure if I want to 3 or 4 link it, just want to get ideas and find out whats best, this was just the first thought that came to mind.

next thought should be how your mounting them to the unibody.

89eliminator said:

next thought should be how your mounting them to the unibody.

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I'm gonna weld some 3"x3" angle iron to the unibody as stiffeners and make the mounts off of that.

after looking for different long arms would be my best bet the Clayton long arm upgrade, the rubicon express long arms or treks offroad y-link.

NativeXJ said:

after looking for different long arms would be my best bet the Clayton long arm upgrade, the rubicon express long arms or treks offroad y-link.

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Well all of those are very good companies so it really just depends on how much you want to spend. I know that the RE long arms are very nice from experience, and I think Clayton is one of the more stout long arm kits out there and I have heard good things about the treks kit as well.

JRW7072009 said:

Well all of those are very good companies so it really just depends on how much you want to spend. I know that the RE long arms are very nice from experience, and I think Clayton is one of the more stout long arm kits out there and I have heard good things about the treks kit as well.

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I've seen the RE long arms in action and they are very nice and I was leaning towards those and still am but I want to consider all options and find out whats the best in quality and price, I figured theres alot of people here that have ran all of these kits that would give me the pros and cons of each.

Hi: If you opt to make some custom long arms yourself be prepared for some precision fabrication and welding-Here is a little example of what I have done using someone's plagiarized write-up..first I want to go on record and thank whomever was the original author and I apologize for some of the personal modifications I took the liberty to change on my personal set-up-


Long Arms
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6' of 1 3/4" X .25 DOM tube = $80.00
Item ID Items Price Quantity Total
TA-241 1.0" -14 tpi Tube Adapter
Thread Hand: Right Hand Thread
Tube Inner & Outer Diameters: Size 2: 1.25 in ID - 1.75 in OD - $1.00 $11.99 2 $23.98
:TA-241 1.0" -14 tpi Tube Adapter Tube Inner & Outer Diameters: Size 2: 1.25 in ID - 1.75 in OD
Ballistic Poly Bushing 2.63" w/ weldable housing
Ballistic Poly Bushing 2.63" w/ weldable housing

7/8" 14tpi Hex Tube Adapter
Tube Inner and outer diameters: 1.0 in ID - 1.25 in OD
Thread hand: Right Hand Thread $9.99 2 $19.98
URL=http://img36.imageshack.us/i/thumbsnailasp.jpg/] [/URL]
Forged Chromoly 2.63" Ballistic Joint
Bearing thru hole: 9/16''
Stud diameter / Thread Pitch: 1.0" - 14 tpi
Thread direction: Right hand thread $42.99 2 $85.98


Cross member

3' of 2"x4"x3/13" rectangle tube = $10


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Total =

The crossmember was made of a piece of 2"x4"x3/16" rectangle tube. I made brackets on each end that would allow the stock crossmember bolts to be reused as well as new bolts drilled through the qsuedo frame. The bolts that go through the frame should be sleeved to keep the frame from being crushed. but do have a strip of 3/16" plate on the other side to spread out the load.
*Pics of the cross member as well as the mounts here*

The lower arms were made of 1 3/4" dia x .25 walled DOM ( 2"x.25" DOM, optional was way overkill for my XJ ) -I would recommend modifying this next statement to,..
quote," 32" one end to the other,..etc.. ".." measure your own lower arm requirement from front axle eyebolt to frame side mount eyebolt,as these dimensions are going to be different for each vehicle lower arm setup On one end of the long arms use a tubing-notcher to cut the notch for the bushing holder. Use a 2.5" bi-metal hole saw and lots of cutting oil to cut trough the tube. Once done the ends clean up with a grinder.
Once the bushing sleeves were prepped I welded them onto the DOM.
Another way to get the bushing sleeves would be to buy the bushings -
My upper arms are simply some aftermarket adjustable ones that use the stock locations that cost about ninety-dollars.
Once the LCA mount is gone bolt up the long arm. At this point I needed to remove the other UCA so that I could set the caster. I used the jacks and the pipe wrenches to get the UCA off and then set the caster where I wanted it. I then took the mount that would be welded to the lower arm and bolted it to the upper arm. The upper arm only sits right on the lower arm at one angle. Just move it around till it isn't binding and weld it on.

Once one long arm is done remove the other LCA and fallow the same steps of mounting the arms.
HTH