Long arms or Short

[lifted TJ]

My tj had 4.5 inch lift. I bought rough countrys long arm kit for 1500$ to my front door from states. Had to cut off control arm mounts! Obviously not engineered

[SAR]

Originally Posted by lifted TJ

Had to cut off control arm mounts! Obviously not engineered

The long arm kit in my Jeep is mod plated in QLD and the mounts have been cut off.

I have thought about cutting the lift in mine back to 4 inch, it is currently 8 and sits on 37's. I am undecided on replacement coils or coil overs. Im leaning towards coil overs, when you add the cost off 4 coils and good shocks it is very comparable to the cost of coil overs.

NICK

[Ando_13]

Had to cut off control arm mounts! Obviously not engineered

Successfully engineered in ACT

[Wooders]

Originally Posted by rollas

At what height do long arms replace Short?

I mean is it really worth it to go long at a 2 inch lift or 3 inch or 4?

Cheers

Whilst there are a few kits that work down to the height it's really the 4"+ that benefit from LA conversions.

Originally Posted by SAR

question for the people with long arms,
1. is it an off the shelf kit
2. is it off the shelf with some mods
3. complete custom.

do you run, ( and with what size lift/tyre combo )
1. coils
2. coil overs
NICK

My TJ was Rubicon Express LA (ie off the shelf). It ran airbags (usually set to about 4-5")
My XJ is about to get T&T Customs (Also off the shelf kit) and runs ~5" with coils/Leafs.

[Richo]

Originally Posted by Wooders

Unless you are running coilovers it's unlikely that long arms themselve will give more travel compared to short.
However due to the length of the arms, there should be better quality wheel travel - ie less axle steer etc.
Onroad handling SHOULD also improve for the same lift high with LA's compared to short arms. Again less axle steer under acceleration & braking - eg tramlining.
AND the ride SHOULD be much smoother with LA's for the same configuration.

All that said poorly design LA config can result in thinks like poor anti-squat etc.
Main downside of LA's naturally they cost a fair bit more (in most cases).

The other things to consider with LA's is whether on not to stretch the wheelbase (esp on TJ's) and whether or not to triangulate.

Hmmm, again, lots of variables and lots of different outcomes.

Ive seen a lot of TJ's on RTI ramps, I think every time a well sorted short arm set up has won. In theory long arms should win, but typically they are outflexed by short arms.

That said, long arms will give a better ride, esp given lifts of more than a could of inches.

Mine has short arms (originally) that have been lengthened. Added to that, the rear has been triangulated and the wheelbase stretched around 6 inches overall (currently).
With the correct caster dialed in (and all the RE joints greased and cranked up SFT)in it does steer OK.