Long Arm Brand Selection

[darkhorse13]

Since this is bumped back up... Synergy Mfg now has a long arm kit for JT's. I personally like their products because of the "rubber" bushings and on-vehicle adjuster sleeves. I believe you have to piece the kit together though... not a bad price.

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[piroman683]

Cost / benefit, loss of clearance (you'll smack them on ledges, rocks, etc.).

ah, I'm not as worried about that as I'm smashing whoops at 60+ mph, so the longer front arms help allow for better wheel travel and ride when at full droop. The rear I don't run a long arm kit because I would have to go back to using a track bar vs. my triangulated rear set up.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

ah, I'm not as worried about that as I'm smashing whoops at 60+ mph, so the longer front arms help allow for better wheel travel and ride when at full droop. The rear I don't run a long arm kit because I would have to go back to using a track bar vs. my triangulated rear set up.

I'm surprised nobody makes a JT long arm kit with triangulated rear uppers.

Have you thought about building one?

 

[darkhorse13]

I'm surprised nobody makes a JT long arm kit with triangulated rear uppers.

Have you thought about building one?

Rock Krawler has a 3-link rear long arm but they don't offer a long arm 4-link to compliment their current rear upper only conversion. Someone way smarter than me could probably comment here how the angles or lengths between the 4-link upper conversion and possible lower long arm links don't play together... I too have the RK upper 4-link conversion and love it.

 

[piroman683]

I'm surprised nobody makes a JT long arm kit with triangulated rear uppers.

Have you thought about building one?

Evo makes a nice one, but you have to remove the gas tank and purcahse a separate one to put where the spare tire mounts.

The Rock Krawler Pro-x upgrade for the rear is perfect for my use. I actually have 18in of rear wheel travel when paired with Fox's longest 2.5 DSC shock (32.3in ext). However, no one made long enough springs so I ended up getting custom springs made, and that turned into me starting my own business. (as well as custom 3.0 bypass shocks for the JT)

 

[piroman683]

Rock Krawler has a 3-link rear long arm but they don't offer a long arm 4-link to compliment their current rear upper only conversion. Someone way smarter than me could probably comment here how the angles or lengths between the 4-link upper conversion and possible lower long arm links don't play together... I too have the RK upper 4-link conversion and love it.

RK did an awesome job getting their lengths correct which minimizes pinion movement through the full suspension cycle. If someone kept the RK triangulated uppers and switched to long lowers then at full droop the pinion will want to point down which would put some serious stress on it.

The challenge with a linked set up, in general, is keeping uppers and lowers the same length or same effective length depending on mount/pivot points. Which ever arm is the longer one, that one becomes the leader in dicting the main movement of the axle. The shorter one will pull the axle toward the frame.

This works because the suspension really cycles in an arc. Imagine the center of a circle at the frame mount and it's radius is equal to the length of the longer control arm up to the mount on the axle. As the axlecycles it is actually moving along an arc with a radius = longer control arm. Now imagine a shorter upper control arm mounted at the frame in the same area as the lower (same starting points of the circle). The shorter control arm will require the axle to tilt towads it in order to make up the length difference from the lower longer arm. You can see this movement with the stock suspension as it cycles.

As I type this I realize I should include a sketch/drawing as it is a bit compleitcated and confusing. I'll try to do that before the end of the weekend.

 

[RodRecket]

I'm surprised nobody makes a JT long arm kit with triangulated rear uppers.

Have you thought about building one?

Rock Krawler makes a front long arm/triangulated 4-link mid arm kit:
https://rockkrawler.com/3-0-inch-jt-silverback-no-limits-system/

I'm planning on trying this kit. haven't seen much about it, but everyone seems to be pretty positive about their triangulated 4-link.

 

[JTGuy]

If all you want is ride improvement then a quality set of front drop brackets and some adjustable CAs will do just about what a LC conversion will do. Easier, less money, reversible. It's still on my list. You loose 2.5 inches at the front lower frame mount but you will loose that with LAs about.

 

[DankjeeP]

Study up on the pros & cons of long arm conversions. While there are some benefits in terms of ride quality and stability, you enter that black hole of expense vs benefit when you take the plunge. I’ve run a long arm on my JK for the last 11 years. Without going into it all, as cool as it is, were I to face the decision again I’d just opt for quality (not AEV) front drop brackets and call it good. With the drop brackets you get about 75% of the benefits without the complication and cost. JMHO, of course.

Were I to do another long arm the only companies kits id consider would be EVO, Clayton or maybe Metal Cloak. The first two because they are using Currie’s Johnny Joints. A lot of these other outfits’ proprietary joints are suspect IMHO, and I’ve suffered the joint fix curse with Teraflex for the last 11 years.

Dumb and dumer
nd I’ve suffered the joint fix curse with Teraflex for the last 11 years.

 

[darkhorse13]

Curious if anyone is pulling the trigger on the Synergy Front Long Arm Kit this Black Friday (or any other discounted long arm kits)? Really tempted for the price. Compared to WFO and even the new Clayton long arm kit, the Synergy lower long arms seem to be about 3in shorter than the others and don't tie into the crossmember for strength. I know Clayton doesn't use the crossmember, but their weld-on brackets are moved back closer to it than the Synergy brackets. Curious to get other's thoughts.

Synergy is free shipping:

WFO: shipping ~$250 additional

Clayton is free shipping:

 

[RodRecket]

Curious if anyone is pulling the trigger on the Synergy Front Long Arm Kit this Black Friday (or any other discounted long arm kits)? Really tempted for the price. Compared to WFO and even the new Clayton long arm kit, the Synergy lower long arms seem to be about 3in shorter than the others and don't tie into the crossmember for strength. I know Clayton doesn't use the crossmember, but their weld-on brackets are moved back closer to it than the Synergy brackets. Curious to get other's thoughts.

Synergy is free shipping:

WFO: shipping ~$250 additional

Clayton is free shipping:

Clayton is in a little different category as their long arm upgrade kit is a radius arm long arm kit. If you have a clayton kit already you can reuse the front upper control arms, they are relocated to a bracket on the extended lower control arm. I don't know a lot about radius arm kits but I have read about their tendency to have more significant caster angels during articulation.

 

[darkhorse13]

Clayton is in a little different category as their long arm upgrade kit is a radius arm long arm kit. If you have a clayton kit already you can reuse the front upper control arms, they are relocated to a bracket on the extended lower control arm. I don't know a lot about radius arm kits but I have read about their tendency to have more significant caster angels during articulation.

Correct, and apologies I didn't clarify that in my post. I guess I should have used Metal Cloak's true 4 link long arm as another example. They too utilize a new cross member for their bolt on kit. Personally I just can't get on board with the gold color of their stuff.

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