Long arm upgrade, worth it?

deezus

deezus

New member
mastrcruse said:
I recently went from the 3.5" X factor midarm to the X factor long arm. It's not worth it at 3.5"...my midarm was a little bit tighter in the rear because it wasn't a 3 link and it's a bit squashier now. Is it smoother, yes, I'd say the onroad characteristics got more fluid.

With how much the kit is, put that away and buy something else at 3.5" long arm doesn't make THAT big of a difference. Both are great setups and have a great onroad and offroad ride so you can't go wrong either way.
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Good advice. Ty

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wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Trail Jeeps said:
After working on and test driving a bazillion JKs, I can honestly say that unless you're going gigantic, going for really crazy articulation or really wanting to go fast on the dirt all the time, a long arm kit really won't get you much more than what you have now. Factory style JK arms are long enough to give you a great ride up to about 4- 4.5" of lift and can get you into a 12" travel shock with a little work.
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Shocks will still be your limiting factor and a long arm kit won't change that when it comes to "crazy articulation". That being said, I'd have to agree with most of what you said. Of course, I haven't worked on a "bazillion" JK's - just a couple of dozen or so over the last 10 years.

mcgee149 said:
I'm only at 2.5 with a long arm and it's best thing I did for my jeep
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LOL!! I suppose I'd have to agree that the factory ride sucks but I'd be hard pressed to say that you'd need a 2.5" lift with long arms to fix that.
 
jeeeep

jeeeep

Hooked
wayoflife said:
Without question, the Plush Ride coils are the most comfortable coils I have ever tested but that comfort does come at a price. If you load up your Jeep with a TON of gear like I do, the rear end of your Jeep will sag. To help address this, I ended up running 1" rear coil spacer. I figured, better to look a little ass high when unloaded than be ass down on the trail and really, I'm almost never unloaded. For me, I would prefer a soft comfortable ride that can sag than to have a stiff firm ride that holds up weight.
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this is what I'm experiencing now, I used to unload the Jeep but it's easier to keep stuff loaded and out of site since installing the rear deck.
I'm guessing all spacers are made of the same plastic materials?
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
jeeeep said:
this is what I'm experiencing now, I used to unload the Jeep but it's easier to keep stuff loaded and out of site since installing the rear deck.
I'm guessing all spacers are made of the same plastic materials?
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There are some companies like Rough Country that make steel spacers but I think you'd be better served with the rubber/urethane/plastic variety.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
The length of the arm can't change the length of down travel. As stated, the shocks are the determining factor. You could run an arm that goes from your front shock mount and bolt the other end to your rear bumper if you wanted, and the front shock would still stop at its fully extended point giving you your down travel measurement. Science.
 
pbujk13

pbujk13

New member
MR.Ty said:
Or save money by only getting arms that are needed to adjust for caster and pinion angle etc. :yup:
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Ddays said:
^^ This needs to be a stickie or something. Way too many people (including my former self) buy into the notion that you need 8 all new arms when you put in a lift...
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Good points!
I was way misleading on my statement about 8 arms ( still cheaper+easier than long arms for install.)
Really at 2-2.5 you want the front LCA adjustable to dial the front back in, and at 2.5-3 *maybe* the rear upper.

I only had the front LCA as a replacement adjustable arm, and I never even got around to installing the rear uppers - the rear measurements and ride were fine without them on my rear 2.5 coils + .5 spacer.
 
P

PennyCO

New member
OverlanderJK said:
What the fuck does that mean?


Yeah Wes, WTF does that mean? Oh wait....I guess it would mean to assume someone would have recognized in the original reply that an arm (long or short) is only going to move up and down (travel) to a certain distance based on what ever is at the end of it (shock/coilover). One would ASSUME people on this forum are smart enough to recognize what he meant in the first place. I don't understand why people get flamed on here so often over nothing (or lack there of). Not like he is spreading bad/wrong information. Well.....bazillion is a stretch....maybe a few million.....

To back what was said, I have had both short and long arms setup on Evo Coilovers. Near zero difference in articulation and crawling (if anything short had the advantage of better clearance). I would say a min tire size for long arms would be 37s+. Not to say you can't do it, but I would suspect this would be the size you are going to actually "feel" some difference once at speed.

Overall, I felt like it drove better on the hwy rolling 37's better after long arms. So much so my wife recognized the difference and would then drive it. In the dirt I was getting blown away by guys at speed on the short arm setup. Now it runs much smoother on the runouts.
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Strike Force Zebra

Strike Force Zebra

-
PennyCO said:
OverlanderJK said:
What the fuck does that mean?


Yeah Wes, WTF does that mean? Oh wait....I guess it would mean to assume someone would have recognized in the original reply that an arm (long or short) is only going to move up and down (travel) to a certain distance based on what ever is at the end of it (shock/coilover). One would ASSUME people on this forum are smart enough to recognize what he meant in the first place. I don't understand why people get flamed on here so often over nothing (or lack there of). Not like he is spreading bad/wrong information. Well.....bazillion is a stretch....maybe a few million.....

To back what was said, I have had both short and long arms setup on Evo Coilovers. Near zero difference in articulation and crawling (if anything short had the advantage of better clearance). I would say a min tire size for long arms would be 37s+. Not to say you can't do it, but I would suspect this would be the size you are going to actually "feel" some difference once at speed.

Overall, I felt like it drove better on the hwy rolling 37's better after long arms. So much so my wife recognized the difference and would then drive it. In the dirt I was getting blown away by guys at speed on the short arm setup. Now it runs much smoother on the runouts.
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Pot, meet kettle!!!

I ran long arms on my 08', short(factory) on my 15'. Both Jeeps with CO's and 37's. Driven the same roads/trails with the same loads inside. I saw a better ride in bumpy washboard roads with the long arms. I'm staying factory (except front lowers to correct geometry) for now. I'm happy with it and it performs great for my driving abilities. Just my $.02.


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WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
PennyCO said:
Yeah Wes, WTF does that mean? Oh wait....I guess it would mean to assume someone would have recognized in the original reply that an arm (long or short) is only going to move up and down (travel) to a certain distance based on what ever is at the end of it (shock/coilover). One would ASSUME people on this forum are smart enough to recognize what he meant in the first place. I don't understand why people get flamed on here so often over nothing (or lack there of). Not like he is spreading bad/wrong information. Well.....bazillion is a stretch....maybe a few million.....

To back what was said, I have had both short and long arms setup on Evo Coilovers. Near zero difference in articulation and crawling (if anything short had the advantage of better clearance). I would say a min tire size for long arms would be 37s+. Not to say you can't do it, but I would suspect this would be the size you are going to actually "feel" some difference once at speed.

Overall, I felt like it drove better on the hwy rolling 37's better after long arms. So much so my wife recognized the difference and would then drive it. In the dirt I was getting blown away by guys at speed on the short arm setup. Now it runs much smoother on the runouts.
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Welcome back. The reason members here jumped on this is because a lot of the aftermarket Jeep community throws out 'long arm' and 'articulation' as being one in the same, when in fact they're not. ASSUMPTIONS or not, many newbie Jeepers think buying an expensive long arm get will get them that articulation and it's absolute bullshit. Members here try VERY hard to make sure information stays accurate no matter whether or not it bunches up someones panties. That's why it was brought out in the open immediately. We look forward to your follow-up post in a few months.
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
PennyCO said:
Yeah Wes, WTF does that mean? Oh wait....I guess it would mean to assume someone would have recognized in the original reply that an arm (long or short) is only going to move up and down (travel) to a certain distance based on what ever is at the end of it (shock/coilover). One would ASSUME people on this forum are smart enough to recognize what he meant in the first place.
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Funny, I could have sworn he was talking about not needing long arms "unless you're going gigantic, going for really crazy articulation". This is of course based on what he's learned "after working on and test driving a bazillion JKs". Guess I made assumptions about what I was reading :thinking:

I don't understand why people get flamed on here so often over nothing (or lack there of). Not like he is spreading bad/wrong information. Well.....bazillion is a stretch....maybe a few million.....
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And I don't understand why a guy who hasn't been on here for 2 years finally decides to chime in after getting his panties in a bunch over nothing. If you're "going for really crazy articulation", long arms will NOT make a difference being that your shocks will still be the limiting factor when it comes to vertical travel. Suggesting otherwise is BAD/WRONG information. Of course, I haven't worked on a bazillion or even a million JK's. I mean, if I had any experience working on and testing even one or even two over the last 10 years, I might have things like photos and videos to show as much.

To back what was said, I have had both short and long arms setup on Evo Coilovers. Near zero difference in articulation and crawling (if anything short had the advantage of better clearance). I would say a min tire size for long arms would be 37s+. Not to say you can't do it, but I would suspect this would be the size you are going to actually "feel" some difference once at speed. Overall, I felt like it drove better on the hwy rolling 37's better after long arms. So much so my wife recognized the difference and would then drive it. In the dirt I was getting blown away by guys at speed on the short arm setup. Now it runs much smoother on the runouts.
Click to expand...

Not sure what tire size has to do with correcting suspension geometry but hey, I'll assume you're the expert here. :yup:
 
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