Long arm advice

[JTGuy]

Seeing lots of JTs with long arms lately on the U tube. Just wondering if anyone has advice on what one to get. I have 37s now and don't want any bigger. So the long arm is for ride improvement, if there is any over what I already have. I will be having it installed in a shop.

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[Bandit’s Lair]

Better to ask based on what you do with the Jeep and if you want it lifted if it isn’t already. There are tons of kits out there and each of them have their own space really.

 

[JTGuy]

I really just do casual desert and forest roads. Nothing my present suspension can' t do. I am just wanting a better ride on our ripped streets and freeways along with a better ride on washboard roads. What I have now just might be as good as it gets.

 

[gramurai]

Get front geometry correction brackets! Great ride, steering/ castor like factory new.
Long arm suspension is great but expensive and a ton of work for not much benefit unless you have a very tall lift and do hardcore rock crawling.
JL/JT already have much longer suspension arms than JK‘s and XJ’s.
long time wheeler and lurker here

 

[caryt]

If your wanting to play in the desert then first I's add ADS 3 tube bypass shocks and bumps tuned by Phil Liberty Mountain fab. Live with it for awhile if you want more then get a LA front system of your choice, Id ask Phil. LA's will ride better esp the faster you go off road. You already have RK's rear system. Thats all you need to Party. If you want more then its just more mods and $$$.

 

[daveb]

JT what are enhanced mopar rails?

 

[JTGuy]

They are rocker skids that are a little wider than the stock rock rails.

 

[daveb]

thanks i thought the question was about long arms, i miss read your trucks description

 

[BlueScapegoat]

Just get good shocks. Have them tuned if you really want to dial it in. If you can make room for more travel and longer shocks and keep the ride height at 50/50 in the shock travel then you can really tune the shocks nice. More travel means more room for the shocks to do their work.

You've already got the RK triangulated rear, that's a nice improvement.

I recently switched from a fox steering stabilizer to a PSC hydro assist and although it didn't affect the ride, the perceived feel through the wheel makes it feel like it did. If that makes sense. It's like the ultimate steering stabilizer, there's zero wobble or shake hitting bumps and you can turn the wheel with one finger. The smoother feedback makes it feel more cohesive to drive.

IMO unless you're doing chase truck/prerunner stuff the factory arms are already plenty long, the geometry is pretty good. It'll be more than adequate for 99% of people. And you should be able to retain a really good ride with them.

I haven't dug into the long arm kits on the market for the Gladiator but I know coming from other off road markets most bolt on kits are usually sacrificing geometry for the marketing. So your best action is just to start reading up on suspension geometry and what make a good long arm if you want to go that route. My guess would be any decent set up worth it will probably require welding new brackets on the frame and triangulating the rear, coilovers to make use of the travel or it's kind of moot, and at that point, at least imo, it seems a bit silly to stick with the factory axles.

Lots of different views on this subject, but that's mine.

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