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Wannabe Jeepspeed/Overlander LCA/Drop bracket question

Drop Brackets or Adjustable LCAs (short)

  • Drop Brackets

    Votes: 7 46.7%
  • Adjustable LCA's

    Votes: 8 53.3%

  • Total voters
    15
  • Poll closed .
Hey all,


I have a 89 xj with 1.75 spacers, and v8 zj springs totalling me out at 3" of front lift. Tera swaybar disconnects, no rear sway bar. RE1600 track bar to be replaced with IRON Rock double shear track bar.

Currently, I'm running stock control arms and factory brackets. I'm trying to decide between adjustable shortarms like re3720's or some drop brackets like (looking at rocky road's) which would you guys think would be better.
I know its far from a real jeepspeed but its what I can afford and afford to maintain. So longarms and better springs etc are out until the student loans are paid off.... and I drive it more like a jeepspeed (within its limits) so that counts for something right?

I tend to seek the go fast more than I do the go slow(crawling) but still consider clearance to be important too so I'd like to hear what your guys opinions would be. Will the dbs fixing the castor make a huge difference in handling and dw prevention to make it worth the loss of clearance?

I am experiencing some death wobble currently when I get goin too which is the spawn of the front end rebuild I'm starting on.

Thanks in advance. And this isn't supposed to be a DW thread- just opinions on a mild jeepspeeder. So please no flame :)
 
What tire size are you running? I know most guys running 33's or 35's don't worry much about the DB's loss of clearance. If you are on 31's with your 3" lift it may be an issue. I would think at 3" you should be fine with adjustable control arms for now.
 
Just 30x9.5's at the moment. When they're worn out I'll be going to 31's.

The tires came on some Ravine wheels brand new and were still cheaper than anything at a tire shop so thats why I'm rollin em.
 
neither.


if you must replace the control arms (maybe you need new bushings, and dont want to bother with stock, i get that), go ahead. but at 3", your control arm angles arent a problem. un-ideal? maybe. problem? doubt it.

track down the death wobble issue FIRST, dont just throw money at it (unless thats cool with you). im not flaming you, but i cant provide the type of information on dw, that you could easily find in a search.

whats wrong with the trackbar? i would MUCH rather run a RE peace, than some iro junk. if the bushings bad, BAM. theres your dw.
 
Bushing and frame side joint seem fine, (even hady friends at big o tires double check me to make sure I wasn't missing something) like the idea of a double shear setup but re's didn't won't fit. If I do the db's I'll replace the bushings at the same time. But I want to improve the on/off road handling as I tear thru it. Definitely not trying to throw money away, checked a few reviews of that track bar and it seemed like a win.

The main q is just wether the drop brackets are going to improve handling enough to lose the clearance.
Oh and yeah thanks for not flaming.
 
the ride/angles at 3" isnt bad. sure, its not an M3....
drop brackets make the ride smoother when you get PAST 4" or so, once the angles get downright bad.

in your situation, i'd source some used control arms. adjustable if possible... if not just aim for the arms they put in a RE 3.5" kit, i run the re non adjustables. track down the death wobble... if you still feel like spending money, pickup some good shocks. much better bang for the buck, IMHO.

drop brackets will make the ride better, but how much so is debateable. i wont run them because i see it as a band-aid ghetto fix, that some idiot engineer figured out would sell.... i 'GET IT' that not everyone has wild xj builds going on, and not everyone wants a long arm setup.. but once you purchase the drop brackets, the arms to fit them... etc etc etc... you're up around $500. $500 that would be better spent on long arms!
 
with only 3in lift my vote adjustable lowers, if you get drop brackets your probably going to need adjustable lowers anyways.. at least i did
 
With a 3" lift, and drop brackets, your control arms will almost be going uphill to the axle mounts. Get some adjustable arms, and change all the loose/worn steering components, ball joints, track bar etc. to find your wobble. Don't forget to check your toe and tire balance.
 
I had some death wobble and some gnarly noises. The lower track bar mount was ovaled out, bushings were worn, and my ball joints were dust. I fixed those items and my heep is nice and tight now.
 
Thanks guys, yeah i'm pretty sure its coming from bad bushings in my control arms. I think I wore them out having a little too much fun on some Navajo Reservation roads when I was down there in May. Possibly the OEM track bar bracket(seems to actually be movement there, wierd). Everything else is tight as can be. I'll be change out the bushings and the track bar setup, then if the prob's fixed, start shopping for some LCA's.

Thanks again for the help NAXJA !
 
I'm at 4.5" and I would not run DB's on a much lower lift then that... my arms are darn near perfectly horizontal now and if you were 1.5" lower, then your arms would be angling up even... the loss of clearance could be an issue too. I would say go with the adjustable arms at 3" if you plan to stay at that height.
 
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