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Long Arm Upgrade Questions (lots)

cav fab is nice, but maybe paulhead has a pic or two of the inner bolts to fuel rail issues, its about the only complaint ive read on that kit.

calyton,sfr,cav,ironman,iro all good flavors with tweaks to each. heres another kit most never see http://www.froehlichsuspension.com/3-Link-Upgrade-Cherokee-XJ_p_8.html

I did look at Paulhead's build thread. Lots of great pics and info, and I did see the pics of the bolts contacting the fuel lines.

I did look at the Froehlich kit too. Does anyone on this forum run that system?
Thanks!
 
I bought the iro 3 link during black Friday when it was a brand new product. Best $625 I have spent!


Thanks SlowXj! I have the IRO short arms right now and have a couple other things from them as well.

Do you have a picture of the cross member that shows how high the control arms are mounted? I guess what I'm looking for is how to compare this setup vs the others for ground clearance at the cross member since they seem to point that out as a selling point. Thanks!
 
I can get you a picture tomorrow if that works for you. I like their products. Also if you call they offer half price shipping for naxja people.

I plan to try their steering when the money is available

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Thank you ALL for your responses! All this is helping me a ton. I really appreciate the real world info like personal experience with the certain kits. :thumbup:
 
Hopefully these pictures work... Sorry for the poor quality. It was raining and I'm afraid to float away...
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I have the BDS true 4 link long arm kit. It performs awesome off and high speed on road, but the one thing that sucks about the setup is the control arm mounts are integrated into the cross member. This means any time I need to do work on the tranny or tcase, I have to drop the whole front suspension. I have checked out the arm mounting locations on Cal's rig, that has the Stinkyfab kit on it, and they are pretty close to where my arms are mounted, the lower arms on mine are a little farther back. The great thing about the Stinkyfab kit is you are able to remove the crossmember without having to go through the whole pita of dropping the suspension. If I did it again I would go with the Stinkyfab kit. I also upgraded my lower control arms to aluminum ones, after I bent the shit out of one arm while wheeling.

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Another vote for StinkyFab. I run the Poly Performance 3 link(they stopped making XJ stuff) which is where the SFR design came from.
I ran it as a 4-link with the D30, but went to 3-link with the D44 because the axle and bracketry are much stouter. Can’t tell an ounce of difference between the two on the street. I also use the passenger side upper to prevent any driveshaft/exhaust interference issues.
 
A word of caution if you do a 3 link issuing the factory cast upper mount on the driver side. Do not continue using the factory 10mm bolt! This should be upgraded to 1/2 inch at minimum. I run the Currie jj. Iro sells a .5 and a 13mm, but I believe rockkrawler sells a 14mm flex joint that I would have went with if I seen it before my jj.
I did shear strength calculations (yes engineering school has ruined me) While I have forgotten them by now, I remember 14mm being twice the 10mm shear strength while 1/2 inch was just under double the 10mm.

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Wait what?! Why would a LONG arm kit use the factory SHORT arm bracket?? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose?
I feel like even with a beefy bolt you’d be poised to rip the entire mount- ESPECIALLY with a 3 link and taking that much more stress.

I’m fighting a poorly designed 3 link arm, but I’d much prefer my setup over the factory body mount... and I will still improve the heim joint on the driver upper CA despite the pic above clearly showing a vertical uni/body mount for the same arm- exactly what I am trying to overcome
 
Almost all 3 links use that cast mount on the pumpkin. I know sinky Fab and Clayton do not, but I think all the others do.

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Almost all 3 links use that cast mount on the pumpkin. I know sinky Fab and Clayton do not, but I think all the others do.

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Oh maybe I read the post before mine wrong... I certainly don’t have a problem with the cast mount, in fact it is far stronger then any other stock mount imo. The passenger side is known to rip off, and The lowers are trash.

I read the upper control arm (body side) mount while using a “long arm” kit. I should read better... my fault

As for the cast mount, throw in a Jj or (my preference) IRO flex joint and that thing ain’t goin nooooo where is right! Weak link being the stock bolt size, most all offerings of this stock mount replacement have bigger bolt sizes. I like 1/2”


Read the other post again and I’m just an idiot
 
actually most XJ 3 links don't use the driver upper. front driveshaft, exhaust and that upper link all live in the same area
 
Guys-
Thanks for all the responses and pictures. More info the better!



I have a question for the guys running kits with straight lower control arms: Do I need to be concerned about tires rubbing on the LCA's at full lock? I'll be on 33's with 4" BS. Just curious if you ever had any issues rubbing. Some of the kits have bent arms to give better clearance for tires... All info appreciated!
 
i cant quite speak for your ?, but im on a 33" 4" backspace set up now and rub my SA uca. other than bent arms, I wouldnt assume any wont rub, could be wrong though.

dont forget you can adjust steering stops if you want to, i just let it ride.

what ever you go with, please post pictures once installed!
 
On my ZJ my first long arm kit rubbed just before full lock, but the back spacing was not ideal. 3.75 worked out much better so it’s been the number I shoot for when changing rims ever since

33 x 12.50 I imagine?
I’d say you should probably be ok, there’s one way to find out! Could always get some spacers if they rub- I personally wouldn’t let that be a deciding factor. Straight arms are easier to fab if one bent, and the bent arms wouldn’t be as strong technically. That said, the bend has more design into it then just tire clearance too
 
I completely agree that straight arms are stronger, but one thing I like is my driver's lower link really protects my driveshaft due to being very close to it. Also iro uses 5/16s tube. I assume this is to help counteract the bend. Probably makes no difference though lol.

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