Let's Talk Long Arm Kits

[UNSTUCK]

So I am full swing into finding an LJ Rubicon to purchase. I've been looking at built ones as well as stockers, but have yet to get any warm fuzzies over one. About the best I've found was a bone stocker with high miles. I think I could get it cheap enough to build it and have it priced pretty well.

So if I was to go this route, What long arm kit do I want? I see that the main ones are Nth degree, Full Traction, Teraflex, Rock Krawler, and maybe Rubicon Express. It's looking more and more like I want parts of each kit. I want a four link rear, but I don't really want the radius arms of RE. I also want a nice belly pan. I see coilovers as well that would be nice.

My last option would be the 3 and 4 link kits from Ruff Stuff. I think for the price of the other kits I could build these and maybe even run ORI's. I wonder how much longer the downtime would be to build it. Maybe the same. I'd like to only tie it up for the weekend and have it driving again by Monday.

In the end, the LJ will be low to the ground and sitting on 37's. It will be a daily driver and used for everything around here and Moab.

So what kits have you run and liked? Any of them you wanted to throw away? I only really know the RE kits and for their price they are ok. But if I spent another grand or two for these other kits, will I be that impressed?

Just thinking out loud here.

 

[Greg]

IMO and to help you narrow it down...

Rock Krawler is cheap junk, not sure if they've improved over the years, but I've never been impressed.

Rubicon Express went under, I hear 4WPW bought their line? Not sure how that will effect support and parts supply.

Full Traction kits had issues, do a search on here... Benjy & his wife Kami had a Full Traction suspension on their TJ and it was plagued with problems, bad customer support, etc.

Nth Degree... weren't they picked up by AEV?

It's hard to beat TeraFlex, they really push the LCG philosophy and their long arm suspensions are beefy, well thought out and well proven. I put what was essentially a LJ suspension on my TJ and it was impressive. My build was a bit more hardcore, but the TeraFlex longarm really made that thing work. I also had their BellyUp skidplate and it was nice & beefy, good clearance too. The TeraFlex suspension was easy to install, IMO.

How low do you want to keep it? With raised fenders, I cleared 40's with 3" springs. But my TJ wasn't intended to be a street legal vehicle.

 

[N8RB8R]

Teraflex is definatly the way to go for a "complete kit". I have ran their kit on 4 of my jeeps and have never had any problems and been very impressed with the performance.

The kit is very complete and stout.The belly up kit that is included with the kits is also top notch.

My last rig I had this kit on was my Hemi Lj, it was stretched and running 16" swayaway's on the front and using all 16"s of travel- not bad for a kit that can be installed in a weekend.

 

[Gravy]

I've liked my clayton stuff. It's beefy.
I get sticker shock from nth degree stuff.
Full traction is calmini's jeep side... not great.
RE makes good stuff now that 4wp picked them up as their premium line I like em.
I liked my rock kralwer 3 link. Their integrated belly pan is nice.
Tera is great and they are proud of their stuff.

My opinion is take what you like from the other kits. Build your own. There something to be said about bulding your own stuff.

 

[N8RB8R]

I am using Barnes4wd universal 3-link front 4- link rear kits on my current build, they are very complete and include high quality components and utilize Currie Johnny joints which is a huge plus to me.

This would be the best option cost-wise if you already have some coils/shocks or coilovers laying around to use.

Being able to set the geometry of the links where they would work the best for your application is also another big plus.

Link to the site http://www.barnes4wd.com/product_info.php?cPath=470_126&products_id=2321

 

[Cascadia]

I had the RE long arm upgrade on my lj. I was only running some 2 inch springs and had gen right hi fenders front and rear. I cleared 37s with no problems. My 2 main complaints were the rear lowere arms were LOWER arms and they got hung up quite a bit. The integrated belly pan brought my belly up a little but even with 37's the belly was way too low. I'm talking 14 3/4" low. The kit worked great though and had plenty of flex and parts didn't wear out. At least not in the 11 months I had the kit on before I sold it. I also had the rear triangulated and got rid of the track bar.

I wanted to go with Clayton but didn't know how to weld at the time. I couldn't afford an LCG at the time either.

 

[UPNO4]

I am a Tera Guy to I have installed almost all of them and the Tera gets 2 thumbs up

Full Traction is, like said earlier Calmini's Jeep line, they have some of the worst customer service ever known in this industry. That alone should stop anyone from wanting products from them.
Rockkrawler is beefy but they change geometry and components so often, you gotta wonder why
RE well they are well known but the radius arms still leave a little to be desired. I think they are flexy but IMO they are a bit to mushy of a suspension.
Clayton? Well much to garage made looking for me, Square control arms come on we gotta have something good looking under our Jeeps not saying square wouldn't hold up but it just looks tacky IMO. Yes I have installed a couple and not really impressed.
Nth degree look cool but its the one I haven't experienced yet, but they do have some interesting ideas. I have seen a couple in action and they are somewhat intriguing.

So that's my .02 hope it is useful in some way shape or form

 

[Slangy]

My opinion is take what you like from the other kits. Build your own. There something to be said about bulding your own stuff.

This is kind of how I did mine. I have the Tera lowers but took things I liked from others to build my own uppers. Next go round I will just build my own all around

 

[UNSTUCK]

So maybe it comes down to Tera or building my own. For the price of their kit I could do a lot on my own. Building it would not be a problem, other then maybe time. I like the idea of building a stock rig up, but my wife doesn't really want me to hide out in the garage working on my own stuff. It's okay to be out there making money, but not spending it, she says. I found a nice rig in AZ I might have to take a harder look at.