bluebeast

Hey everyone i am trying to decide on a new lift and i think i found a winner.I am planning on running a rubicon express 5.5" short arm kit with some 33's and was wondering if anyone has any opinions on it and if you could post some pictures if your running this same setup.Thanks

rweaver138

5.5 RE short arm with control arm drop brackets and 33's

djlarroc

I don't know if I'd roll over 4.5" on short arms IMO. Drop brackets work great and they are tough. If you wheel in alot of rocks though be ready to bang them alot. If I went over 4.5, I'd do long arms for sure.

5.5 on short arms w/out drop brackets is going to drive crappy and not flex the best.

rweaver138

good thing im a mud ****, filling every hole!

caged

i ran that re kit for years. came with the drop brackets and wheeled great with 33's. never had an issue with the drop brackets holding me up on any rocks, and that's what i primarily ran. i hate mud.

the drop brackets were designed specifically for that kit. it flexes almost as good as a long arm kit, probably better than some. hehe.

it's a great kit, you'll enjoy it. and you can upgrade later to the re 5.5 longarm very easily.

djlarroc

Hey Caged, did you ever hit the DBs on the rocks? I have adj short arms from RC, and was going to buy their kit, but everyone I asked said they'd always hit them on rocks. Not get hung up on them, but hit them frequently. So that was my reason for not buying them. Plus the ride/flex should still be good on only 4.5.

XJ Stryker

More of a chat question rather than Tech.


Moved

xjbones

i have only touched my drop brackets to rocks once......and i wheel alot!!!!

i am at 7.5'' with short arms and drop brkts.........have been that way for over 2 years and i still dont want to go to long arms........even my secret project is going over 4.5'' and im using drop brkts.

Nstyfox

^^^y you hatin on longarms yo????.............................i dont really talk like that

djlarroc

Hmmmm... I'm still up in the air as far as getting dbs or not. I wonder if the CA angle is the same for yours at 7.5 with dbs and mine at 4.5 w/out dbs?????

rweaver138

i would just go with the drop brackets. ive had no problems with mine, and if you dont like them you can just take them off and sell em

caged

there was a few times, but nothing serious. the brackets are tough and no signs of any rash.

i still have that stuff kickin around and gonna use on a smaller build i think.

Cliff

I am trying to make the exact same decision as well right now and I think I have come to the same conclusion. I have been reading reviews and looking over a bunch of stuff and people seem to love the RE 5.5" short arm kit. I have narrowed it down to 3 choices. The RE 5.5" kit, the 6.5" short arm kit from Rough Country or the 6.5" kit from Rustys.

Yeah that's what I figured. Rusty's doesn't come with or offer any drop kit brackets so that's what helped me eliminate them. So for me its now between Rough Country and Rubicon Express. I don't want long arms right now because its going to be my DD. I want to do just what you are planning bluebeast run 33's with the kit now while it is my DD. Then maybe down the road if I make the jeep mostly a trail rig I might go up to 35s. Do you guys think 35s on a 5.5" is OK or should I go with 6.5" Anyway not to hijack the thread... I think from what I read you are really going to like your choice bluebeast! Enjoy

xjbones

i doubt it very much.....my control arms are almost flat.

i had some 4.5'' coils on my mj the other day and the control arms looked steeper than xj with the drop brkts.......so now my mj has drop brks and 5.5'' coils.

xjbones

im not hating on long arms....just have had great exp. with drop brkts yo........