longarmwj's Long Arm WJ

[longarmwj]

Great looking rig and build. Love seeing these built up. Those are very good looking beadlocks as well :thumb:

Thanks man! I love them so far! I've checked the bolt tightness every 200 miles and so far I've only had one bolt out of the 150+(estimated) bolts been even somewhat loose. I was also very surprised to find out that Discount Tire would work on a beadlock! I ordered my tires through them and have free rotation and balance from them. They were able to dial in the balance perfectly on mine.

 

[WJCO]

Quick question. I just noticed in your first post that you weren't happy with the IRO setup. My rear lower arm bushings are shot and I was considering getting some as I was told by WJ parts vendor that their arms hold up well. Any thoughts on the arms? I have factory fixed length now but was going to do the IRO fixed or adjustable arms in the rear for replacements.

 

[longarmwj]

Quick question. I just noticed in your first post that you weren't happy with the IRO setup. My rear lower arm bushings are shot and I was considering getting some as I was told by WJ parts vendor that their arms hold up well. Any thoughts on the arms? I have factory fixed length now but was going to do the IRO fixed or adjustable arms in the rear for replacements.

IRO bushings are junk. They can't take anything other than street driving. Your best bet is to do a custom setup or find a long arm kit that has heim joints that can be rebuilt. I have Johnny joints in mine and have never had an issue.

 

[jamesrw30]

Great looking WJ. Just read thought everything. One day I hope to be able to be at your level haha.

 

[WJCO]

IRO bushings are junk. They can't take anything other than street driving. Your best bet is to do a custom setup or find a long arm kit that has heim joints that can be rebuilt. I have Johnny joints in mine and have never had an issue.

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I didn't want to spend the money twice. Being that I have the oem arms now, I may just swap those out. They've lasted 140k up till now. I'll look around for some Johnny Joint styles as well.

 

[WJCO]

A couple questions.

1)When you did your IRO lift kit, did your upper rear arm have rubber bushings or the flex joints? I'm considering getting the IRO arm with flex joints installed. My OEM bushings wore out this year and instead of buying the whole new $700 arm, I bought some Mopar bushings and had a shop press them in. Either the arm is compromised from age or the tech didn't know what he was doing because the press fit isn't holding. So I'm thinking about doing that IRO upper arm ONLY with flex joints, not rubber. Anyways, if you have any thoughts on that, let me know. I temporarily have the bushings tack-welded to the arm which I know won't last.

2)I have a ProRock44 I'm swapping very soon. Any advice or tips for the front axle swap? The axle is 100% JK other than the brackets. So I have JK unit bearings, ProGrips, etc. I have new hoses already. I am going to hook up the ABS anyways and see what happens, if it doesn't work. I already have a custom drag link. I know I'll have to modify the track bar. What did you do for bump stops? Any other tips?

 

[Ddays]

I love when these threads pop up...nice WJ! Cool seeing yours and WJCO's here. Wish there were more of them :thumb:

 

[wayoflife]

LOL!! Nice thread bump and I agree, it's actually nice to see

 

[longarmwj]

A couple questions.

1)When you did your IRO lift kit, did your upper rear arm have rubber bushings or the flex joints? I'm considering getting the IRO arm with flex joints installed. My OEM bushings wore out this year and instead of buying the whole new $700 arm, I bought some Mopar bushings and had a shop press them in. Either the arm is compromised from age or the tech didn't know what he was doing because the press fit isn't holding. So I'm thinking about doing that IRO upper arm ONLY with flex joints, not rubber. Anyways, if you have any thoughts on that, let me know. I temporarily have the bushings tack-welded to the arm which I know won't last.

2)I have a ProRock44 I'm swapping very soon. Any advice or tips for the front axle swap? The axle is 100% JK other than the brackets. So I have JK unit bearings, ProGrips, etc. I have new hoses already. I am going to hook up the ABS anyways and see what happens, if it doesn't work. I already have a custom drag link. I know I'll have to modify the track bar. What did you do for bump stops? Any other tips?

I had the flex joint, which wore out so fast and so bad that the entire A-arm fell out of the Jeep. Yes you read it correctly, the bushing ate away so much that it could move freely. All after two trips at that. I would shy away from anything IRO except for their coils.

As far as swapping in a PR44, you're probably going to have to play around with the control arm mounts. I'm not sure how they differ from WJs, I've never looked. It isn't a direct bolt on but it will be easy to get it to work. For bumpstops It's actually limited by the shock for up travel, and I do have limit straps for down travel, as I didn't want the shock fully extending. ABS will probably not work after the swap. I know I don't have ABS on mine anymore. Also, if you're going to me messing with the brakes, don't be surprised if you have to upgrade the booster and master cylinder. I had to upgrade to an LJ booster and YJ master cylinder because when I went to larger brakes up front, the pedal was super mushy, so that's something to keep in mind.

I love when these threads pop up...nice WJ! Cool seeing yours and WJCO's here. Wish there were more of them :thumb:

Thanks man!! WJs are becoming more popular trail rigs, especially in the south, which I love to see. When I first got mine nobody was building them around me!

LOL!! Nice thread bump and I agree, it's actually nice to see

Thanks Eddie!! I'm about to tear into mine here soon though. Probably swapping in a custom King coilover setup with some 37 Nittos or Coopers, PSC hydro assist, etc. It's a money pit but its my money pit :cheesy:

 

[WJCO]

I had the flex joint, which wore out so fast and so bad that the entire A-arm fell out of the Jeep. Yes you read it correctly, the bushing ate away so much that it could move freely. All after two trips at that. I would shy away from anything IRO except for their coils.

Ok. Thanks for the info. I did get a response from IRO yesterday that they re-designed the joint after a few failures and it now is a different kind of joint with 6 bolts instead of 4. And you can get the arm now with 3 flex joints instead of rubber where it meets the frame. They said they haven't had any issues so far. I may just keep my stock arm and deal with it until it fails and figure it out then.

As far as swapping in a PR44, you're probably going to have to play around with the control arm mounts. I'm not sure how they differ from WJs, I've never looked. It isn't a direct bolt on but it will be easy to get it to work.

Dynatrac already built it with WJ brackets from Clayton. I think we're good there. I have a bunch of info here with similarities and differences: http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...ubicon-axle-into-a-WJ-(99-04)-ProRock-44-Swap.

For bumpstops It's actually limited by the shock for up travel, and I do have limit straps for down travel, as I didn't want the shock fully extending.

I was planning on limiting straps anyways just because the WJ coils are so prone to fall out. So for your upper bump stops, you just let the shock bottom out? I thought that was really bad for shocks. Have you had any issues so far?

ABS will probably not work after the swap. I know I don't have ABS on mine anymore. Also, if you're going to me messing with the brakes, don't be surprised if you have to upgrade the booster and master cylinder. I had to upgrade to an LJ booster and master cylinder because when I went to larger brakes up front, the pedal was super mushy, so that's something to keep in mind.

Yeah, I'm going to gamble with the ABS. I found out Cruise and Speedo will work regardless, so if I lose the ABS, so be it.

Interesting about the master and booster, hadn't thought of that. I will keep that in mind. Would suck to have to deal with, but it is what it is. Was your LJ booster a direct fit to the firewall and pushrod, etc ?

 

[longarmwj]

Ok. Thanks for the info. I did get a response from IRO yesterday that they re-designed the joint after a few failures and it now is a different kind of joint with 6 bolts instead of 4. And you can get the arm now with 3 flex joints instead of rubber where it meets the frame. They said they haven't had any issues so far. I may just keep my stock arm and deal with it until it fails and figure it out then.



Dynatrac already built it with WJ brackets from Clayton. I think we're good there. I have a bunch of info here with similarities and differences: http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?...ubicon-axle-into-a-WJ-(99-04)-ProRock-44-Swap.



I was planning on limiting straps anyways just because the WJ coils are so prone to fall out. So for your upper bump stops, you just let the shock bottom out? I thought that was really bad for shocks. Have you had any issues so far?



Yeah, I'm going to gamble with the ABS. I found out Cruise and Speedo will work regardless, so if I lose the ABS, so be it.

Interesting about the master and booster, hadn't thought of that. I will keep that in mind. Would suck to have to deal with, but it is what it is. Was your LJ booster a direct fit to the firewall and pushrod, etc ?

I haven't had any issues out of shocks so far, but that being said the tire stops the shock right before full compression, so I guess technically the tire is limiting it more so then the shock. I personally didn't do the booster swap myself, as I didn't have the time, but from what I understand it was a super close fit. I do believe that they had to drill a couple holes if I recall. I can find out for you though!

 

[WJCO]

I haven't had any issues out of shocks so far, but that being said the tire stops the shock right before full compression, so I guess technically the tire is limiting it more so then the shock. I personally didn't do the booster swap myself, as I didn't have the time, but from what I understand it was a super close fit. I do believe that they had to drill a couple holes if I recall. I can find out for you though!

Thanks, man. Any issues I run into I'll post in that other thread as well. Hoping to help anyone out who's interested in doing a front swap.

 

[longarmwj]

Well I guess it's time for a little update. I have been having transfercase issues for a while as far as slip yokes are concerned. The NV242 really doesn't have a lot of aftermarket support especially when it comes to SYEs, so I figured the best route would be to swap a NP231 in there. Well, after hunting through Facebook classifieds and Craigslist, I found a guy in Utah who had a NP231 with a 4:1 gear reduction for 600 bucks!! He had it in his XJ and only ran it for about a year before he decided to go a different direction with it. That deal in my opinion was too good not to pass up on. My concern is I believe it is a TerraLow, but for the price I figured I would give it a stab. Hopefully that doesn't prove to bite me in the ass :shock:

 

[wayoflife]

Well I guess it's time for a little update. I have been having transfercase issues for a while as far as slip yokes are concerned. The NV242 really doesn't have a lot of aftermarket support especially when it comes to SYEs, so I figured the best route would be to swap a NP231 in there. Well, after hunting through Facebook classifieds and Craigslist, I found a guy in Utah who had a NP231 with a 4:1 gear reduction for 600 bucks!! He had it in his XJ and only ran it for about a year before he decided to go a different direction with it. That deal in my opinion was too good not to pass up on. My concern is I believe it is a TerraLow, but for the price I figured I would give it a stab. Hopefully that doesn't prove to bite me in the ass :shock:

It's a great deal and the Teralow kit is a decent kit. In spite of it's manufacturer, I haven't seen or heard of anyone having issues with it in the past.

 

[NecessaryEvil]

Well I guess it's time for a little update. I have been having transfercase issues for a while as far as slip yokes are concerned. The NV242 really doesn't have a lot of aftermarket support especially when it comes to SYEs, so I figured the best route would be to swap a NP231 in there. Well, after hunting through Facebook classifieds and Craigslist, I found a guy in Utah who had a NP231 with a 4:1 gear reduction for 600 bucks!! He had it in his XJ and only ran it for about a year before he decided to go a different direction with it. That deal in my opinion was too good not to pass up on. My concern is I believe it is a TerraLow, but for the price I figured I would give it a stab. Hopefully that doesn't prove to bite me in the ass :shock:

Have no experience with TerraLow but the price is pretty good for the TC
.


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[longarmwj]

It's a great deal and the Teralow kit is a decent kit. In spite of it's manufacturer, I haven't seen or heard of anyone having issues with it in the past.

Awesome that's good to know. I didn't want to drop the coin for an Atlas just yet. One day though.

 

[WJCO]

Keep us updated on the install and if it's a straight bolt up other than the SY. I've got a noise from mine (247 with SY) but it's operating fine. So at some point I'll upgrade. Does Atlas even have an option for WJs? Not sure I'd spend that kind of money either way, but curious.

 

[longarmwj]

Keep us updated on the install and if it's a straight bolt up other than the SY. I've got a noise from mine (247 with SY) but it's operating fine. So at some point I'll upgrade. Does Atlas even have an option for WJs? Not sure I'd spend that kind of money either way, but curious.

They don't, however with some head scratching and some spare metal anything is possible [emoji23][emoji23]


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[longarmwj]

Well it's been almost a month and I haven't heard from the seller of the transfer case. I try calling and texting him but no reply every time. I've already sent the money via PayPal and after he got it he said he would sent me a tracking number. Well, that was weeks ago, and no tracking number Needless to say I think I'm putting a claim in with PayPal and go to the junk yard and get a case to rebuild. In the back of my mind I wondered if the deal was too good to be true, and it looks like that might be the case :naw:

 

[wayoflife]

Well that sucks! I hope you're able to get this resolved with PayPal.