motoman677

Hey so I made the armature mistake in getting the rough country 4.5 inch short arm kit with full leafs. I want a better ride and more flex so should I was about to order the control arm drop when I found out there were long arm kits. Would there be a noticeable difference in the long arm to the CAD? If its just a little than I don't know if its worth the extra 400 dollars. If there is a Major difference I might wait long and save for the long arm kit. Another thing I was thinking about a long arm kit from Iron Rock Offroad and they aren't adjustable. Then how would you measure your caster or change it? Do they come pre-set? And are there any Long arm kits that are substantially greater than most, I have heard good things about IRO,thanks a lot!!

spaz_22

What are your rear shackle angels at? Get some shackle relocation brackets before you spend money on things that won't fix your problem.

Project_98xj

I run short arms and they work just fine for me, as do many others, so I wouldn't start by saying you made a mistake. Any setup can flex good with the proper adjustments etc.. Second there are many different versions of "long arms" from radius arms, 3 link, 4 link, etc.. rough countrys "long arms" are radius arms. where its a y setup, the uppers are attached to the lowers. and you don't necessarily need a kit that is adj. many kits come to pre spec'd for a certain amount of lift. control arms drop brackets are gonna do exactly that. drop the upper and lower control arms to give you the right geometry for a better ride down the road. now note, when offroading the quality of ride isn't going to matter.. plus its a lifted rig, the ride is gonna be compromised on any vehicular that you mess with the suspension. The cad isn't going to help with flex tho. if anything it may hinder flex, but flex isn't just with the control arms, proper bump stops, shocks, springs, etc.. is going to play factor as well. so that being said. if you are gonna use your rig for a daily driver, with light wheeling cad will be perfect. if you are gonna do some more harder wheeling but still want good ride then long arms will be a better choice.

Donnie_K

Actually control arm drop brackets offer a lot more droop, giving you a lot more flex offroad. Saying they don't help flex just isn't true. However if you wheel a lot, drop brackets cost you ground clearance. I run Iron Rock's "3-link" radius arm setup, and so far I love it. Though a true 3 or 4 link would be better, they also cost a lot more.

motoman677

love your jeep, I follow you on insta

SteveMongr

With drop brackets and short arms I use the full range of 10" travel shocks.
It droops so far that I can change a 4.5" lift coil just by removing the shock and track-bar.
But, if I had the coin I would rather have long arms from Clayton, Rock Krawler, FST, or Full Traction.

98cherokee531

I am on fixed length control arms for a 3" lift, 3" coils and 1.5" spacer, disco'd swaybar up front, stock brake lines not relocated, 3" lift shocks and a stock trackbar relocated at the axle. Cheap setup I know. The rear is just a 3" aal and a .5" lift block with a pinion shim. Shackle angle sucks. I was able to obtain this flex running this^ setup. I'm on 31s and yes they were pushed into my flare a little but I'm running 3.5" backspace so they stick out past the flare. And I was stopped here by my shocks extended fully, and the control arms were hitting the coil bucket/ shock mount. So technically you didn't make a mistake because I have a cheaper and less efficient lift yet it rides alright compared to some of my buddies rigs and I can still flex enough to feel sorta badass? Haha

bheath

hate to tell ya bud but this is false info. CAD brackets are not going to hinder your flex vs no brackets.

now, they are not going to flex like a true 3 link, for obvious reasons, but they make a huge difference over having nothing but stock brackets.




sry to the op. not trying to hijack your thread. and for a little info, for the most part, you get what you pay for with LA's. A true three link LA setup is the bee's knees for offroad. stock setup is the bee's knees for on road.

For reference, that pic is 4.5" lift, CAD brackets, and 33's. 6.5" lift shocks and an adj tb.

holycaveman

Some great advice so far. In my opinion skip the long arms. Unless you just want to brag about long arms. Not that long arms are not great, just for most(90%) they are not needed.

CAD will give you tons of flex properly set up. I fully use 10" shocks without drop brackets running 33's.

But since you are over the 3" mark CAD would be the better option in my opinion.

I just got back from an rti competition. Flex is one thing, a properly set up machine is even better.

Bottom line is if you need more than 10" of full travel per shock. You are wheeling a full on buggy, trail rig, or competing, or just into mad flex.

And at that point, the last thing you are going to worry about is the ride on the street.

94XjSport94

Long arms make an XJ lifted higher than 3".

bheath

No, springs lift an XJ... Lmao jk bud.

Bluebyu

I'm on stock and my xj flexes good.enough for me at 5"s of lift.

I guess drop brackets could help though. I just don't want to loose ground clearance

94XjSport94

Blah blah blah lol

bheath

I rarely hit my CAD brackets but yes, it does happen.

Well you know...

BigBirdxj

Hey Guys! First time posting here. Followed this thread because i just started my project and i am always trying to learn as much as I can. Today it's mostly about a forum and how it works. In any case I am going with a long arm set up for two reasons. First it's super cool and second: since it will be a DD I am looking for a better ride quality on the road. The mathematics of a longer radius translates into a more dispersed impact of road undulations for a quieter and smother ride. Otherwise bump to strap length is all ya got, right?