Long arms for a DD and street, vs brackets

[JTGuy]

Mine is a casual off roader and daily driver. Before I fall down the rabbit hole I am just wondering what is the best setup all around. Ride, reliable, easy to work on and possibly someday resale. My signature shows where I am in the build. Now I have the front CA brackets and just added a rear track bar bracket. I am thinking about going all out and doing a F & R long arm system for the best possible ride and just for doing it. Will it ride better than CA brackets? What issues are there with a LA system? I would have to have it installed. I figure close to $10K installed.

Sponsored

 

[Sweetums]

If you were in a TJ or LJ, I'd absolutely say the long arm kit is worth the ride quality. The Gladiator already has pretty long control arms from the factory, about 3x the length of the old TJ/LJ platform. At 2" of lift I don't think you will see a difference in ride quality, that axle is already moving almost vertically with each bump and long arms will have a negligible improvement - we are talking thenths of a degree here. The point of a long-arm kit is to help the axle move straight up and down rather than pushing forward into a bump like a short-arm lift does. That causes a "hop" in the front end and make the ride very bouncy. You already have a mid-arm from the factory and it's pretty close in length to a long-arm kit for a TJ.

In my opinion: In terms of ROI, this is a bad bet. I have a Metalcloak Gamechanger 2.5" lift with basic Rocksport shocks and the truck rides amazingly well just plugging into the stock control arm mounts. Brackets will only decrease clearance and they have a nasty habit of breaking off due to the extra leverage the control arms have on them. You are going to sacrifice money and durability for no perceptible improvement in ride quality - I bet in a blind ride-a-long you wouldn't be able to tell a long-arm from stock length control arm trucks at 2" of lift.

The fact is you bought a solid axle vehicle, it's going to ride more like a truck than any other vehicle in the class. You could make control arms a mile long and it won't change that.

But that's just, like, my opinion, man. It's your truck and if you want long arms because [REASONS] then go for it, you don't need approval from Random Internet Sweetums to build your Jeep your way.

 

[JTGuy]

Thanks for the info, you are probably correct. I'll just do the CA brackets for now. I really don't think they will fail or be a clearance issue for my off roading.

 

[PuddleJumper]

JT technically qualifies at the high end of medium travel factory. CAs would be the best bang for buck imo on a DD. MY JTM has no lift and 37s but it rides stock as a sport would with a 2in lift. The only thing it really needed, and Jeep should've just sent em factory with, was the Mopar Extended LCAs.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Check this out if you have some time:

https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/goodbye-long-arms-hello-short-arms.1076868/#replies

 

[Flyin6]

My opinion: The best setup is to select the height you need, then use the TerraFlex front and rear brackets along with your choice of control arms.
T-flex brackets correct the nasty rear pinion angle during extreme droop and get you close to 5 degrees of positive caster in the front. Adjustable control arms can also get the caster.
This setup is actually more than you need for casual off-roading.
Now, having said that, and I actually run that setup, I am really sweet on the long arm setup.
This coming winter, I will likely go full LA and call it a day (Well, except for maybe the addition of coil-overs...;-)

 

[Gizmo]

Check this out if you have some time:

https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/goodbye-long-arms-hello-short-arms.1076868/#replies

10 year old thread and much different vehicle . For mainly on road ride long arms do effect the ride . I had a 99 with clayton long arms and an 05 with Savvy short arms at the same time . Its similar to how geo brackets have such a good effect on the road. Off road they have the same complaints by some , getting hung up .

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

10 year old thread and much different vehicle . For mainly on road ride long arms do effect the ride . I had a 99 with clayton long arms and an 05 with Savvy short arms at the same time . Its similar to how geo brackets have such a good effect on the road. Off road they have the same complaints by some , getting hung up .

It's 15 years old and the same links and coils suspension.

I'm guessing you've read this thread and maybe even commented in it.

I think it's a good example of how you can build a suspension with shorter arms, but still have it ride good. The owner of that rig said " it romps the whoops like nobodys business " after it was done.

 

[imallcrawl]

I may be wrong about this, but I thought long-arms were used for more flex? For casual off-road and daily driving, I don't think you would need long arms. CA front drop brackets should be good enough and the ride will be great IMHO

 

[Zachattack50]

I have noticed a noticeable ride improvement with the metal cloak rear correction brackets. I am running adjustable upper and lowers from JKS front and rear at around 4.5" of lift, works very well. I am using the factory front mounting points, and steering, only adjustable track bars, in factory locations as well.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

I may be wrong about this, but I thought long-arms were used for more flex? For casual off-road and daily driving, I don't think you would need long arms. CA front drop brackets should be good enough and the ride will be great IMHO

Shocks are usually the limiting factor in flex.

 

[Zachattack50]

Sway bars on a lifted gladiator stop way before shocks. found that out the hard way

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Sway bars on a lifted gladiator stop way before shocks. found that out the hard way

Yes, those too if they are hooked up.

 

[JTGuy]

Well, not going to do LA's . I'll just make it with JKS geo brackets. Best possible street ride and still be good on washboard desert. Not a Rubicon trail guy. I could have saved $$$ with only doing Fox 2.0 Accutune remote res. Long arms on the newer jeeps is less important due to good factory arms.

 

[Sweetums]

I may be wrong about this, but I thought long-arms were used for more flex? For casual off-road and daily driving, I don't think you would need long arms. CA front drop brackets should be good enough and the ride will be great IMHO

They do offer more flex, but they also offer a smoother ride.

Clickbait aside, Nate at Dirtlifestyle did a great video on this where you can see the difference between long arm and the super-shorty arms on a TJ. He shows you the math and a real-world demonstration.
With LASERS!

Sponsored