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Short arms

drkstrurethane

NAXJA Forum User
Location
arvada, colorado
Those who run short arms. What do you have and do you like them? Are they articulating? I'm trying to decide what I want to do. Please dont reccomend long arms. I'm not there yet. Maybe in the future but not now. Thanks!
 
When I was running RE arms with 1 rubber joint and 1 Super-flex joint they were great. Any arm with that combination will serve you well. Watch out for thread size as that does make a difference.
 
When I was running RE arms with 1 rubber joint and 1 Super-flex joint they were great. Any arm with that combination will serve you well. Watch out for thread size as that does make a difference.

Was the flex joint on the axle side or the frame side?
 
Was the flex joint on the axle side or the frame side?

The lowers would have been installed on the axle side because they had a off-set weld on the tube, but the upper's would have been frame side but that was 16yrs ago since I switched to LA's.
 
How much lift ? At about 3.5 inches of lift I was never stranded on a 4x4 trail by RE super-flex short arms, but the pavement ride really sucked bad. You felt every crack in the pavement, and potholes and RR tracks were like setting off a bomb under the Jeep. The extreme angle of the short arms caused the force of any pavement disruption to be jammed directly into the control arm mounts instead of flexing upward into the suspension and shocks.

Installing control arm drop brackets restored the factory control arm geometry, provided decent flex on the 4x4 trails, and made the pavement ride almost stock again. Off-road the suspension is more balanced and capable because it is not almost fully flexed out at all times.

For the small cost of drop brackets they are well worth the money.


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Short arms with a big lift will rattle your teeth. Like everybody says, long arms are the ultimate, but a drop bracket will meet 90 percent of everybody's needs for far less cost.
 
I only have 3.5-4.5" of lift. It was already instslledcehen I bought it. Drop brackets seem nice but I have heard so many stories of people getting hung up on them. I rarely drive my xj so I'm not too worried about road manners. It's mostly a weekend only rig. Thanks everyone for your input. You're all super helpful. Also RCP I'm in Phoenix now. We should go wheel sometime.
 
I only have 3.5-4.5" of lift. It was already instslledcehen I bought it. Drop brackets seem nice but I have heard so many stories of people getting hung up on them. I rarely drive my xj so I'm not too worried about road manners. It's mostly a weekend only rig. Thanks everyone for your input. You're all super helpful. Also RCP I'm in Phoenix now. We should go wheel sometime.

Anytime, I don't work so......I'm at the 101/I-17.
 
Drop brackets seem nice but I have heard so many stories of people getting hung up on them.

I installed drop brackets about 10 years ago. I have been stuck on them exactly once, but only because I wasn't paying attention. All it took to get loose was a light tug with a recovery strap. The decent pavement ride and the better off-road flex make them well worth the very slight risk of getting hung up.
 
I installed drop brackets about 10 years ago. I have been stuck on them exactly once, but only because I wasn't paying attention. All it took to get loose was a light tug with a recovery strap. The decent pavement ride and the better off-road flex make them well worth the very slight risk of getting hung up.

That's good to know. I actually found a used pair the other day for pretty cheap. Maybe I'll look further into that.
 
Cost/time go with drop brackets.
I have the RE brackets on my MJ. Have what I believe JKS lower adjustables, and RK upper adjustables. I chose to push the axle forward slight.
 
I had adjustables and moved the axle forward a couple of inches, the ride was fine at 4.5" without drop brackets (def better with long arms though)

Did you like how they performed off road?
 
Did you like how they performed off road?

I had the JKS rotating arms, they had rubber bushings at both ends but the threaded adjuster could freely rotate. Flexed like crazy, unfortunately they are no longer sold. I kept that setup until I tore the mounts off the unibody wheeling too hard. Once I was at the point where I had to weld on new mounts I went to long-arm in the front and fully adjustable leaf hangers in the rear.
 
I had the JKS rotating arms, they had rubber bushings at both ends but the threaded adjuster could freely rotate. Flexed like crazy, unfortunately they are no longer sold. I kept that setup until I tore the mounts off the unibody wheeling too hard. Once I was at the point where I had to weld on new mounts I went to long-arm in the front and fully adjustable leaf hangers in the rear.

I've never heard of that. They sound great though. Shame they're gone.
 
I have a pair of the old style rough country arms for sale that are like that.
I upgraded to trail forged uppers with Johnny joints and 1/2 jk front bushings.
 
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