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Adjustable crontrol arms vs. crontrol arm drop brackets

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Old Dec 21, 2014 | 09:02 AM
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Default Adjustable crontrol arms vs. crontrol arm drop brackets

Guys, I have a 4.5" Zone offload lift with new lower CA's and stock uppers. I am wondering as title says if I should just get adjustable upper and lower or CA drop brackets or third a combination of both.

I know some of you will say go with long arm but I think for right now I want to stick with the short arms
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Old Dec 21, 2014 | 10:12 AM
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Originally Posted by sajohnson05
Guys, I have a 4.5" Zone offload lift with new lower CA's and stock uppers. I am wondering as title says if I should just get adjustable upper and lower or CA drop brackets or third a combination of both. I know some of you will say go with long arm but I think for right now I want to stick with the short arms
the way I look at it, drop brackets aren't bad, but they are adding more stress on the suspension and less ground clearance. For the price of go Adjustable arms.
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Old Dec 21, 2014 | 10:33 AM
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go adj. arms , why limit grd. clearance.
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Old Dec 21, 2014 | 10:41 AM
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Originally Posted by srb53150
why limit grd. clearance.
For much improved ride and flex. Adjustable uppers only allow controlling castor/front pinion angle.

If his new longer lowers are not adjustable, they may not play well with the drops which will require control arm lengths close to stock.
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Old Dec 21, 2014 | 11:23 AM
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With a 4 1/2" lift Adj. U/LCA's are a good investment and you should reinforce the mounts on the passenger side. LCA Skids are a good idea also the weld on ones not the bolt-on's.

Each to his own on the drop brackets, I didn't want to lose the clearance with them YMMV.
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Old Dec 21, 2014 | 02:40 PM
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I went with drop brackets and braces along with adjustable UCAs and LCAs.

I don't rock-crawl so the ground clearance issues are not as much of a problem. I can, and I will if I have to but I'm long past the point of seeking out rockgardens just because they're there. so I'm not as concerned with getting hung up on my DBs. Besides, for what I do, the advantages of proper control arm angles outweigh the disadvantages of the lower mounts.

Also, I am not particularly interested in going the long-arm route.

In other words,
There's nothing wrong with DBs. Providing they work for what your plans are.

As far as adjustable control arms go, well built adjustable control arms are always preferable to fixed-length arms as they allow you to fine-tune axle location and orientation.

Last edited by cdn_xj; Dec 21, 2014 at 02:44 PM.
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 11:15 AM
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Originally Posted by sajohnson05
Guys, I have a 4.5" Zone offload lift with new lower CA's and stock uppers. I am wondering as title says if I should just get adjustable upper and lower or CA drop brackets or third a combination of both.

I know some of you will say go with long arm but I think for right now I want to stick with the short arms
I would do both. You will have a much smoother ride with a flatter LCA angle..
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 11:31 AM
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Originally Posted by yarom
I would do both. You will have a much smoother ride with a flatter LCA angle..
x2 this is actually true
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 02:02 PM
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Thanks guys for the great input. Who makes the best drop brackets. I think for the adjustable CA im going to go with IRO for them.
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 02:04 PM
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Buy the time you spend the money on adj uppers and lowers and drop brackets. You can buy a long arm upgrade.
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 02:14 PM
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Originally Posted by timamybrown
Buy the time you spend the money on adj uppers and lowers and drop brackets. You can buy a long arm upgrade.
this is probably true..
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by sajohnson05
Thanks guys for the great input. Who makes the best drop brackets. I think for the adjustable CA im going to go with IRO for them.
The RC and RE kits are very similar. RE has a longer support brace. Both work well.
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by timamybrown
Buy the time you spend the money on adj uppers and lowers and drop brackets. You can buy a long arm upgrade.
If I go with a LA upgrade what company should I go with? I was looking at IRO but it appears that they make a wear LA upgrade.
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 02:50 PM
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Originally Posted by sajohnson05
If I go with a LA upgrade what company should I go with? I was looking at IRO but it appears that they make a wear LA upgrade.
I'd go with RE
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Old Dec 24, 2014 | 02:54 PM
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Originally Posted by sajohnson05
If I go with a LA upgrade what company should I go with? I was looking at IRO but it appears that they make a wear LA upgrade.


I run the IRO long arms and haven't had a single problem with them. I did upgrade to a flex joint for the upper mount on the axle side which I recommend . It flexes great runs good down the road.
There are a lot of great long arm upgrades out there I went the IRO because they are local to me and I had the chance to see the kit in action.
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