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LONG ARM ?

cdhowell

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Arizona City
I have read a lot about long arms suspensions, but I am failing to understand WHY they are better than a short arm setup.

I have enough flex with short arms to let the springs flop around, and with longer shocks they would fall out. Not good at any length.

I have heard claims of a better ride. I thought spring rate and shock valving were the key factors in ride control. If it takes X amount of force to compress a spring, would that number change due to the length of the arms?

Bump-steer, a completely different system that must work in harmony with the suspension. Not really an issue and a completely different subject.

The suspension company's say you get a better geometry. This is where it gets vague.

Angle of the arm? IT can be matched with a short arm set up.

Radius of travel? Only so much travel is usable till you unload the suspension.

4 link or radius arm, your still just locating the axle. So where is the advantage? There has to be a reason for these performance gains.

I have no problems with either system, I just don't see the gains of going long arm.
 
Lift your jeep 8" on a set of 35" or 36" tires and go wheel, take a winch with you, call me when your done and let me know what you think then.
 
By going to longer suspension arm, wheelbase and castor changes are kept to a minimum throughout the suspension travel. If you look at a stock xj, the control arms are almost level with the ground. The higher you lift with short arms, the more the suspension is going to want to "push" the bump into the unibody instead of the suspension absorbing it. The long arms result in a much flatter angle for the control arms and increasing the suspensions ability to absorb the bump before it gets to the unibody.

Oh, and they increase droop tremendously.
 
The 8" Skyjacker I am running does use drop brackets to bring the control arms to a flatter angle. It flexs great and the ride could be improved on the leaf spring end.
Radius arms used in most long arm setup would change caster all the way through the suspension cycle.
And searching did not give specific answers to my original post
 
the biggest advantage to a longarm system is the better control arm angle at higher lifts compared to a short arm setup still using the stock arm locations.

now if you throw drop brackets into the mix with your short arms, then you get the better control arm angles with some loss of ground clearance.

or, you can do what I did, and raise the control arm mounts on the axle, giving you better angles plus better ground clearance. this is a win-win :)
 
LOL...it cracks me up when the smartasses take the time to make a "search" comment or some other smartass comment, when they could have taken that same amount of time and made a post worth-while that doesn't make them look like a jerk...

cdhowell, i think a long arm doesn't have an advantage until you have about 6 inches of lift. at that point, your short arms would be at a a greater angle than what the long arms would be....and like you said, the drop brackets do the same thing, the only disadvantage is the loss in ground clearance....
 
IntrepidXJ said:
the biggest advantage to a longarm system is the better control arm angle at higher lifts compared to a short arm setup still using the stock arm locations.

now if you throw drop brackets into the mix with your short arms, then you get the better control arm angles with some loss of ground clearance.

or, you can do what I did, and raise the control arm mounts on the axle, giving you better angles plus better ground clearance. this is a win-win :)

Exactly, it's all about the control arm angles. Here's a pic of my Rock Krawler long arms. The red line is where the short arm used to be. The harsh angle meant that the suspension was transfering lots of shock straight up the arm into the mount. Now the control arm can work the way it's supposed to.

IMGP00006Small.jpg
 
kunaji said:
By going to longer suspension arm, wheelbase and castor changes are kept to a minimum throughout the suspension travel. If you look at a stock xj, the control arms are almost level with the ground. The higher you lift with short arms, the more the suspension is going to want to "push" the bump into the unibody instead of the suspension absorbing it. The long arms result in a much flatter angle for the control arms and increasing the suspensions ability to absorb the bump before it gets to the unibody.

Oh, and they increase droop tremendously.

X2 Long arms do not move the axle rearward as much as short arms during suspension droop. Also they allow much greater travel, which means being able to soak up much bigger bumps. Oh, and they look much cooler too!:yelclap:
 
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