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Jeep need advise? LJ long arm upgrade kit....

gijohn40

gijohn40

too poor to wheel... :(
Location
Layton, Utah
So my 06 LJ has a 4 inch lift and seems to do ok... but I would love to upgrade to a long arm for a better ride. I found this one from Rustys offroad for $1350 and was looking it over it seems like a decent one... anyone have any experience with it? I know they installed it on a 05 LJ on TRUCKS back a few years ago (video is on rustys website).

http://www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-s...kits/rustys-lj-wrangler-long-arm-upgrade.html

The reason I was looking at this kit is that it has the belly up skidplate which I would love to have.

I have a 1 inch body lift as well as the 4 inch suspension lift.

So let the stories begin....
 
BCGPER

BCGPER

Starting Another Thread
Location
Sunny Arizona
I ran the Rubicon Express kit (a very similar design) on my 06 . It was the nicest riding Jeep I've ever owned.

One thing I didn't care for was the uber long lower rear arms. I found myself dragging them quite often. I see Rusty's now offers high clearance arms at no extra charge. You might want to consider those on the rear at least. My long front arms were not an issue.
 
L

leemastergt

Active Member
Location
Orem, UT
I've never run anything made by Rusty, but they are very unpopular on some of the other forums because of their joints. You can research that a bit more if it concerns you.

I do have personal experience with long arms in general. Running the Clayton long arm upgrade with the 3-link in the front instead of the radius arms. I chose the Clayton kit for several reasons:
1. lifetime warranty on control arms
2. Let me choose my own transfer case skid, instead of requiring me to use a skid that I may lose clearance with.
3. Uses Currie Johnny Joints on all ends.
4. Trusses the rear axle and now sells an optional truss for the front axle.

With the Clayton stuff I have more ability to articulate that I currently take advantage of. My shocks are definitely my limiting factor, which is what I want. It rides really well on-road and off-road. My only gripe is the same as BCGPER... Sometimes the lower control arms snag rocks. Here's a vid of what I'm talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FYTeW4PVW4

A complete fail trying a small ledge that I should have been able to climb you would think... the slick rock was just a little wet so I lost some traction, and I couldn't bump it like I wanted to because my lower control arms were hitting. So I kept at it nice and slow so as not to beat on things... Couldn't make it until I moved over to the smaller side. Skip to the 1:30 mark.

Also, I would think if you're on a little bit bigger tires than I am ( 35" MTRs) then the control arm issue would probably go away. We'll see when I go up to 37s! :D
 
UNSTUCK

UNSTUCK

But stuck more often.
I would highly recommend Genrights four link in the rear and their three link in the front. More money, but very nice parts.
 
Samersen

Samersen

Active Member
Location
Heber City
I have Teraflex's LCG LA upper and lower on an LJ. Love it. You are welcome to come test it if you want. I moved from a RE superflex to the Tera. I went with them because they are local and have great service. I have Just 4 Fun do the install and they are great!! They also recommended the Tera to me. Because they have long uppers and lowers.
 
skippy

skippy

Pretend Fabricator
Location
Tooele
I love my teraflex long arm on my TJ and I loved there long arm on my JK as well all around great products
 
thenag

thenag

Registered User
Location
Kearns
leemastergt said:
I do have personal experience with long arms in general. Running the Clayton long arm upgrade with the 3-link in the front instead of the radius arms. I chose the Clayton kit for several reasons:
1. lifetime warranty on control arms
2. Let me choose my own transfer case skid, instead of requiring me to use a skid that I may lose clearance with.
3. Uses Currie Johnny Joints on all ends.
4. Trusses the rear axle and now sells an optional truss for the front axle.

With the Clayton stuff I have more ability to articulate that I currently take advantage of. My shocks are definitely my limiting factor, which is what I want. It rides really well on-road and off-road. My only gripe is the same as BCGPER... Sometimes the lower control arms snag rocks. Here's a vid of what I'm talking about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FYTeW4PVW4

A complete fail trying a small ledge that I should have been able to climb you would think... the slick rock was just a little wet so I lost some traction, and I couldn't bump it like I wanted to because my lower control arms were hitting. So I kept at it nice and slow so as not to beat on things... Couldn't make it until I moved over to the smaller side. Skip to the 1:30 mark.

Also, I would think if you're on a little bit bigger tires than I am ( 35" MTRs) then the control arm issue would probably go away. We'll see when I go up to 37s! :D
Click to expand...

I went with Clayton on the XJ, but since I wanted a rear coil conversion with the long arm kit that limited my options (for the XJ)

The Clayton stuff is beefy and well thought out. When I ordered they said it would be 2 weeks, it was at my house in 9 days. I had to raise up my front axle spring base and then get shorter springs for the front, The exchange was hassle free. They answer their phone and will talk to you. The Clayton kits are expensive but usually include things like drop down pitman arms, extended brake lines, track bar, drop down track bar brackets, etc, I know you probably already have all this, but if don't it is something to add in when comparing prices.


It seems like Clayton and Teraflex are the most highly recommended, If I had an LJ I would probably look at the Tera since they are in Utah. Tera doesn't make a lot of xj specific stuff so I have never bought anything from them. (although the front dual rate JK anti-sway bar can be easily modified for the font of an xj and is near the top of the "next mod" list)

Nathan
 
gijohn40

gijohn40

too poor to wheel... :(
Location
Layton, Utah
glad to hear about the rear lower hitting things.. I will look at the offset ones. I know that TNT is working on a set that is for a TJ that work great on the LJ but they said they are a few year out on actually making them public. I would go with Teraflex but they just seem to want so much for them... THanks Mesha for the price quote. I might save up some more and go with the teraflex.

Last year I did the Rose garden hill trail and even though I had 4 inch of lift and 33 I got hung up on that damn transfer case mount. this is my biggest concern right now. I almost bought the plate from a vendor on there but then I noticed that the Long arm upgrades all came with one so I relooked my decision over.

THanks everyone for the input and I hope to hear more...
 
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