BigRed93xj

For some specs on my rig I have a 4.5 short arm lift with 33x12.50 BFG MT. The front are just 4.5 inch coil springs and the back is like a 2 inch block and a 2.5 inch leaf spring. Also all four of my shocks are pretty much shot, the bushing on top of the shocks are worn so you can jiggle the shock around. In the future I am going to 5.5 inches of lift with the use of 1inch front coil spacers and 1inch boomerang shackles in the rear.

Before I sink any more money into performance mods, axle's or anything, I want my daily drive to be less bumpy on the road. Many of you know how it is to feel every little bump and pot hole in the road.

THE PLAN:

Rough Country 2.2 shocks ($199)
Getting rid of the block in the back and getting a 4.5 inch leaf spring and a 1in shackle. (Whats a good company to get leaf springs from?)

The long arm delima....
I either dump $900 into the TNT long arm kit (which I've always wanted)
OR
Control arm drop brackets with new lower control arms and adjustable upper control arms. Doing the drop bracket setup with EVERYTHING needed would run me close to $600.

Is this a decent plan? Or are their any other things you all have done to fix this. Please dont say take off your lift... I like my lifted jeep and I want to work with it. Any ideas. Thanks guys.

posjeepxj

if you were guna dump 900 on arms and 200 on shocks and still need to buy rear leafs wouldnt it be cheaper to buy the whole 4.5 long arm kit and then sell the stuff you dont need to recoop money?

BigRed93xj

damn you and your good point...

BigRed93xj

the only people Ive seen sell a 5.5inch long arm kit is Treks. Its $2600!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

posjeepxj

or you could buy a nice new welder, some flex joints, and some steel and build your own for about the same money and have an experience and a nice new welder to build other stuff with

BigRed93xj

haha that would be nice...Except I dont know how to do that stuff. I figure adding on to what I got it the easiet and cheapiest thing to do. The rough country long arm kit is only $600.... but the brackets hang further down than the TNT kit does. Would drop brackets be my best bet?

posjeepxj

there cheap. most of them dont look very strong. I am going to build a set this week for temporary until i get a chance to start my long arms.

blkcherokee

the go to the RC 6.5 long arm kit for $1,300 whats an extra inch an your good

posjeepxj

if you do do the drop brackets. i dont like the looks of the re or the rc ones. i like the looks of the rocky road ones but people say the suck to deal with. cheack them out then look at he rough country ones. notice the difference? rr is a one piece design that just looks so much stronger to me. up to you

http://www.rocky-road.com/xjcad.html

http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep_xj_..._arm_drop.html

BigRed93xj

I need to take a pic tomorrow of how my lower control arms connected to my frame. It almost looks like some one fabbed up some weird drop brackets. They hang a good three inches down from the uni body. I just assumed I didn't have any cuz my ride was so rough. Could my really rough ride just be caused by my crappy shocks?

posjeepxj

at 4.5 inches if you had control arm drop brackets your control arms would be pretty level to the ground. if you didnt they wouldnt be hence the harsher ride. can you remember how they sit?

BigRed93xj

they sit at an angle. So iguess i dont have drop brackets then.... I think Im going to get some.

caged

i went from the RE 5.5 extreme duty short arm kit with drop brackets. great ride, really, to a set of custom built long arms, (pretty much like the clayton setup). honestly, not that much of a change all around. but i'm gonna work on that.
the RE kit flexed like crazy because of those drop brackets and the ride was smoother than any of my buddy's xj's.

but for pure simplicity, go with the long arm kit.

RE sells a 5.5 inch long arm kit and also an upgrade kit to their 5.5 extreme duty kit.
they also have 7.5 inch coils and leaf/shackle setup.

BigRed93xj

What about drop brackets and instead of upper and lower control arms, I use a set of long arm y lnk radius arms. That way i don't have to buy the uppers and lowers. Is this possible....

mod_junkie

to you!