clayton3854

getting a RC 4.5" lift this week. do i literally need a control arm drop kit. the RC website says its reccomended but i dont have the cash to afford it right now. so do i actually need one or is it just a benifit? thanks

Howler_GT

Controll Arm Drop kit will lessen the angle your control arms are at.
Lesser angle=smoother ride.

From stock the XJ controll arms are as parallel to the ground as they will ever be. This transfers all harshness(bump force) up into the suspension.
After lifting the control arms are less parallel (angled) causing the harshness (bump force) into the control arm mount causing a harsher ride.

Up to 3" of lift, a control arm drop is not needed as the angle is not steep enough to cause a severe change in ride characteristics.

Anything above 3" you will notice a change.

Needed? Not really. Recommended? Highly. (Especially if its a daily driver)

ol"blue

With that big of a lift it is highly recommended, unless it's just a trail rig. Either that or a Long Arm kit. It improves the travel arc of the axle during suspension travel, and avoids caster problems.

mobilecherokee4

i just got a 4.5 inch lift i put on myself and i dont have ner control arms or drop kit but i need one and woulg highly recommend one when you have the money, it's not absolutely neccessary but help it ride better

a1racer

if you don't want to get the drop then get some adjustable arms at least so you can keep the jeep aligned and it will ride ok with the adjustable arms as long as they are set up right.

clayton3854

ok thanks guys and how much will these cost. long arm kit? control arm? or the adjustable arms?

a1racer

long arms about 700 to 1100 drop kit about 200 and new adjustable arms short about 300 to 500 so just depends on what you would like to do

clayton3854

def gonna havta go with the drop kit money wise lol. can you tell me the difference between all of them and which is best middle and worst please

a1racer

best is long arm because it has the best geometry to it. next is adjustable and drop they do roughly the same. but do it in different ways the drop brackets do it by lowering the mounts and the adjustable arms give you a way to get the alignment numbers for a lifted xj back to almost stock. i have adjustable arms on now and with about a 5 inch lift it rides pretty good has descent flex and OK all around but i am going long arm some time late this year or early next to get the better ride and ability to have more flex. sorry this was kinda of long

clayton3854

no longer usually means better description so thanks. im new to all this jeep and lift stuff but i wanna learn as much as i can. so will these kits lessing your flexability? like id get best flex without any? but have a rougher ride with them? am i getting this right?

ol"blue

You get the best ride and most flex with the Long Arm kit. But that also costs the most money, and involves the most work.

a1racer

long arm = best flex but a well set up short arm with johnny joints will give very good flex as well i get a lot of flex from mine to the point i really need to put a limit strap on there but you will get more and a better ride with long arms they ride better on the road because they are flatter to the ground not like the short arm that will have an angle to it and put more stress to the body. the drop kit will handle this by putting the arms back to a more stock setting but factory arms don't have the best joints or material for wheeling

clayton3854

ok thanks guys. again short on money so im gonna havta go with the control arm kit bc its cheapest and will do for the time being

a1racer

no problem it will still give you a near factory ride and more flex then with out it

nhegel

My RC 4.5 kit came with adjustable control arms. Once installed it appeared that the lowers were going to make contact with the mounts on axle. So I got the RC drop brackets installed. They smoothed out the ride a little. I did not have flex pics before, but I have alot of after pics in my album on here and photobucket.

Here is a pic before the brackets, and at that time I had them installed upside down. You can see there was not much clearance there.