Longarm vrs Shortarm

[RAT]

I refuse any input on this subject. do a search.

LMFAO... You and me both.

[Max7]

Longer is better.

No question about it, I will definitely be getting long arms from Nth, which by the way are "dog legged" addressing the catch concern. Honestly though I don't care if I drag an arm short or long. I have a Short arm from Nth and my arms don't have any paint on the underside, at all. Everything gets hit. I generally see LA's out at the Hammers on ALL the built rigs, as well as Competition. Short arms are generally a cheaper way to gain limited clearance with worse than stock handling, Long arms however are generally more expensive and justifiably so. A good LA kit should address exceptional handling on: Street, Rock, and off road at speed, IMO. I found this article from Rock Crawler.com that I hacked up to get to his point. I agree with his theory.

"The theory of the long arm kit is to decrease the angle at which your control arms live. When TJ’s are lifted using the stock suspension mounting points, the control arm angles are increased, which causes the front axle to have to move forward and up causing the ride quality to be somewhat harsh. Another negative aspect of this modified factory geometry is that the wheelbase is shorter than delivered from factory. This causes two things: squirrelly handling and tires that are noticeably not centered in the wheel wells at ride height.

A TJ lift, like the (brand X) 4.5” kit, adds control arms that are slightly longer, and springs that are much taller. The effect is that the axle sits 4.5” lower from the frame, and those control arms are now at an almost 30° angle. This, combined with a stiffer spring rate, makes it much tougher for the axle to react to bumps as it was designed to do. Now don’t get me wrong…I said in my original 4.5” article that the road ride was very good after the springs broke in, and I still think that to this day, but riding in a stock TJ once in a while reminds me of how nice the ride COULD be.


The (brand X) long arm kit improves these angles by doing something never before done on a TJ…using 36” long control arms! The arms bolt to the axle in the same location, but your frame mounts will need to be cut off. The arms bolt to a new transfer case cross member that replaces your stock one. This allows the use of the long arms, and decreases the angle at which they live. Even with the 5.5” springs, they are at a less steep angle, and with the 4.5” springs, they are even better…close to stock. Even with the tall springs, the road ride is as good as stock.

What about off-road performance? ...the Jeep will feel more balanced and stable, and respond better to situations where the tire may stick up against a vertical rock. I knew exactly what he was talking about…many times I had approached an obstacle only to find that when gas was applied, the entire Jeep lifted, wanting to climb, but the tire on the rock moved down and back instead of up and over as the spring stretched and unseated." By: Chad Crowell

Best, Max7

[Britain]

Looky the pix of the long arm yeller heep...pix says a thousand words.....

[blkTJ]

I refuse any input on this subject. do a search.

[Mike]

What kind of wheeling do you plan on doing the majority of the time?

I dont know of anyone that goes out to Johnson Valley/The Hammers with long arms. Not that the articulation isnt great, but its just one more thing to get hung up on.

Tam

Interesting... I'm pretty sure that JeepVirgin and Double AA both have long arm kits and do JV regularly. I haven't been to JV yet, but I know that I have seen pics of all types of suspensions crawling those rocks.

I haven't had a long arm kit long enough to truely make a comparison with confidence yet, but I can say that having a LA smooths out a huge amount of the roughness of the trails and the crappy CA freeways. The difference is night and day in comparison for this aspect.

I'm loving my long arm suspension so far. It's nice keeping all four tires on the ground. Its actually tough to get a tire off the ground. YES, I land on the arms, but I also landed on my short arms REGULARLY too.

[xjkevin]

i dont think you can really go wrong with the right long arm kit.

[Jeeperator]

What kind of wheeling do you plan on doing the majority of the time?

I dont know of anyone that goes out to Johnson Valley/The Hammers with long arms. Not that the articulation isnt great, but its just one more thing to get hung up on.

Tam

Thats what I thought long arms though a little better articulation seems like they would get hung up on rocks. I plan on all sorts of wheeling but I do plan on driving my rig too and from the site of course unless somthing breaks. Btw is there a stability issue with long arm (looks like it in the above pic) That would break my heart if I did that.

[JeepGal]

What kind of wheeling do you plan on doing the majority of the time?

I dont know of anyone that goes out to Johnson Valley/The Hammers with long arms. Not that the articulation isnt great, but its just one more thing to get hung up on.

Tam

[womb raider 940]

here is a neat long arm

[Jeeperator]

What are the advantages +'s & -"s to both.