my ? to you guys is there a huge differance between a long arm kit and short arm, i kno you get a lil more flex but is it worth the 900 dollar differance for a dd that sees the trails once every month or so??? anything thing would be nice..

 

yes, worth more than the 900 in my opinion.
the drive quality is far more superior.
long arms are not worth it for anything under 5.5 inches tho.

 

Interesting. Someone convinced me to get long arms after I told him that I was considering 3-4" of lift. I don't mind spending the extra bucks for a decent suspension setup, though I'm thinking 2-3" at this point. Honestly, my Cherokee has barely gone off road since I bought the thing.

 

I was all gung-ho at getting long arms for a little while, but my Jeep flexes all I need it to with 5.5" and drop brackets. Gets the 35's to tuck up nicely, although my next big mod is probably going to be longarms.

 

Rough Country 4.5" short arm with control arm drop kit or 4.5 long arm kit?

I really want to save money Should I just spend the extra 500-700$ for long arms?

 

if u wanna save money you would start off by not buying a rough country kit. many people on here will tell u their junk. you will end up spending more money buying a RC kit and replacing the stuff that breaks/wears out than you would buying a higher quality kit from the get go..

 

just get the long arms now so u dont have to upgrade later. and you need a minimum of 4.5" lift with 33" tires for a long arm kit (from what i am told)

 

ill tell you next week im building my la kit now

from what i have seen if you can afford a la kit then go for it no questions asked and if your like me and have a limited budget and like building things then build a kit yourself

 

I'm perfectly happy with my drop brackets, adjustable lowers and 35's. The ride quality improved 10-fold, but it's the rear leaves that create the harshness. I believe the add-a-leaf the P.O. did stiffened it too much and my shackle angle is straight up and down.

I believe a shackle reloc. and/or better/softer spring pack will improve the rear like the drop brackets did my front.

I think the long arm stuff looks cool, but for the money they just don't benefit my 16 year old Cherokee.

 

see i am not running drop brackets or long arms and i am very happy with my short arm flex. The shocks are what is limiting my flex now. i dont see it worth that much more....

 

Yea, same here. My front will flex all day long. Hell, most "boulders" I run over with the front I barely notice.......untill the rear tire climbs over it(then I think i'm gonna tip over ).

I think the LA stuff has its place, but it's not for me and what I use my Jeep for.

 

I'm running LA's on my 4.5" lift on 265/70/16 and i LOVE them. The ride is nice. Haven't had a chance to flex it out yet, still need to trim fenders and make qd's. If i knew i was going to be staying at 4.5" lift i would not have gotten the LA kit. However, i know eventually i will be going with a bigger lift, so i figured i would do it right the first time and get the long arms.

 

Last time I drove a rig with long arms on the free way it was spooky. Besides that, control arms that sit at a angle from frame to axle, end up transmitting more impact energy (from bumps) up into the frame... and not through the springs and shocks. Control arm drops are preferred for daily drivers. The flatter the control arms sit, the better your Jeep will track and more stable it will feel at higher speeds. If it's for trail only, go for it. In the end it's up to you.

 

I would go long arms if you can afford it. It is not all about flex. As said above long arms will be more paralell to the ground and transmit less of bumps throught the frame, they will also want to go over obstacles easier as you are pushing your front tires straight forward instead of down and forward. Adjustable short arms with drop brackets will do pretty much the same thing. Some people prefer that route as they can build as they go starting with the arms and later adding drop brackets. I have long arms and my friend has adjustable shorts with a drop and the ride is pretty similar. The only thing about the drop brackets is they sit lower and could hit stuff on the trail, but my friend has has no problems so far and we wheel some pretty tough trails.

 

They hang about as low as the arm from a long-arm setup would.