Articulation Comparison

Since this has not been kicked to death at all yet, here is my 2 cents - all lifts will articulate similarly, when we are talking about sheer measurements. The measurement will change based on where you set up limits for up-travel and droop. Bumpstop for up-travel on both ends. Front droop will stop when you max out the shock (bad idea), when the steering, track bar, and all links bind enough to stop the droop (also bad), when the brakeline is tight (even worse) or when the limit strap you should put on gets tight (good). The rear will stop drooping depending on how long the shackle is, and maybe the spring rate of the leafs.

Point is, measurements of articulation end up based on other things. The lift itself has little to do with it (discalimer - long arms will droop further...that part of the lift matters in articulation)

Quality of ride and ride height, on the other hand, can vary more kit to kit.

Just my opinion:roll: I have a Clayton, and I got it because it looked stout as hell. And I am happy with it.
 
Floydargue said:
Front droop will stop when you max out the shock (bad idea), when the steering, track bar, and all links bind enough to stop the droop (also bad), when the brakeline is tight (even worse) or when the limit strap you should put on gets tight (good).
Click to expand...

This makes sense to me.

But why is it that I see so few rigs with limit straps (mine included)?
 
Alot of long arm lifts people have extended brake lines and shocks that are pretty long so that it bottoms out on the shock just as the coil is starting to unseat itself, or because the front binds up and stops the droop.
 
Just my .02 but if I were you I would start looking over all the manufactures that make lifts and compare them with what you get for the price.

1.Start with your HONEST Budget of how much you can spend with shipping cost plus figure in some extra for the parts run to the stores.

2. Once you figure out your budget, look at what you plan on wheeling? Rocks, Trails, OHV or just pavement pounding.

3. Figure out your max tire size you wanna run. IE: 32's or 33's

4. Pick a height and decide if you wanna run Long Arms or Short Arm kits.

5. Now Just Pick a Brand and Run with it! Who cares what everyone else is running. Go through these steps and you should end up with lift kit and Jeep that fits your budget and gets you out on the dirt.
 
:doh:

Logans91XJ said:
Just my .02 but if I were you I would start looking over all the manufactures that make lifts and compare them with what you get for the price.

1.Start with your HONEST Budget of how much you can spend with shipping cost plus figure in some extra for the parts run to the stores.

2. Once you figure out your budget, look at what you plan on wheeling? Rocks, Trails, OHV or just pavement pounding.

3. Figure out your max tire size you wanna run. IE: 32's or 33's

4. Pick a height and decide if you wanna run Long Arms or Short Arm kits.

5. Now Just Pick a Brand and Run with it! Who cares what everyone else is running. Go through these steps and you should end up with lift kit and Jeep that fits your budget and gets you out on the dirt.
Click to expand...

:doh:


Just in case I didn't make it clear enough in my last post. I have a '99 XJ with the RE 4.5" Super Flex and drop brackets, 33x12.5" BFG MTs on Outlaw IIs, 4.56 gears, D30 with stock shafts and an Aussie up front, D44 with an OX, alloy shafts, and disc brakes in the rear. The rear fenders are trimmed up to the pinch seam and the fronts are trimmed to the outside line of the the stock fender flare. The rear quarter panels are cut and folded. And I have plenty of rock-rash.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to jump up to 35's.

If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't lift it to 4.5". I would keep it stock or do a 2" lift and fab up new wheel wells to fit 33's.

I feel pretty stable with that backspacing and the tire width, but I think I could do better by lowering it a couple of inches.

I asked about a comparison chart because - first, I was just curious if anyone has done it, second - I wanted to get an idea how much more I would need to cut to clear 33's before I did anything.

I'm up for the task of fabbing up some wheel wells for the rear and trimming more of the front. However, I don't think I have the skills to fab up control arms. Plus, I have a four door and only have about 1.5" to 2" more to cut until I start taking too much out of the rear door.

I don't want to and won't cut into the engine bay. I've wanting to comp cut the rear. However, I'm not sure I'm ready to extend the wheel base just to clear the front of the rear wheel wells.


At one time, I was going to chop the rear and build a hybrid cage, but I'm over that idea.


ummm.. that's all I can think of right now...



oh yeah.... I guess you can say that I want to go with "less" because I think I can do about the same or better than my setup right now.
 
ECKSJAY said:
Are you gonna be able to go to sleep tonight with all that on your mind?
Click to expand...

:yap:

I never been able to sleep well. My wife says that I have a mild case of OCD, but I like to think that I'm thorough. :spin1:

It's not uncommon for me to get up in the middle of the night and do some research or do some writing because something is on my mind. :compwork:

If I had the time & money, I would get all the lift kits and run test just because I wanted to know.. :gee:

But I digress.........
 
Monkey55 said:
:
Just in case I didn't make it clear enough in my last post. I have a '99 XJ with the RE 4.5" Super Flex and drop brackets, 33x12.5" BFG MTs on Outlaw IIs, 4.56 gears, D30 with stock shafts and an Aussie up front, D44 with an OX, alloy shafts, and disc brakes in the rear. The rear fenders are trimmed up to the pinch seam and the fronts are trimmed to the outside line of the the stock fender flare. The rear quarter panels are cut and folded. And I have plenty of rock-rash.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to jump up to 35's.

If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn't lift it to 4.5". I would keep it stock or do a 2" lift and fab up new wheel wells to fit 33's.

I feel pretty stable with that backspacing and the tire width, but I think I could do better by lowering it a couple of inches.

I asked about a comparison chart because - first, I was just curious if anyone has done it, second - I wanted to get an idea how much more I would need to cut to clear 33's before I did anything.

I'm up for the task of fabbing up some wheel wells for the rear and trimming more of the front. However, I don't think I have the skills to fab up control arms. Plus, I have a four door and only have about 1.5" to 2" more to cut until I start taking too much out of the rear door.

I don't want to and won't cut into the engine bay. I've wanting to comp cut the rear. However, I'm not sure I'm ready to extend the wheel base just to clear the front of the rear wheel wells.

At one time, I was going to chop the rear and build a hybrid cage, but I'm over that idea.

ummm.. that's all I can think of right now...

oh yeah.... I guess you can say that I want to go with "less" because I think I can do about the same or better than my setup right now.
Click to expand...

To paraphrase: You want to lower the RE 4.5" lift to get a better COG and more stability.
 
ocean_jet said:
This makes sense to me.

But why is it that I see so few rigs with limit straps (mine included)?
Click to expand...
The D30 is a relatively light axle compared to many out there so it does not put as much of a load on the shocks when it drops to bottom. The chances of breaking your shocks from axle drop out are low unless you are running Jeepspeed. You will see limit straps on lots of Jeepspeed rigs. Also most 3 or 4 link suspensions in common use on Cherokees don't have a serious problem with unloading on hill climbs etc.
 
Monkey55 said:
Dave92 was the first to give a straight answer and Richard backed it up. That's what I was lookng for.............

In fact, I've been toying with the idea of removing my RE 4.5" SF lift and fanbing up some new wheel wells. I've also been thinking about lowering it 2". But before I do anything, I want to know what is gained and lost and why.

I didn't mean for this thread to go in this direction. If there was some comparison chart out ther, then cool. If there wasn't, then fine.
Click to expand...


You original question was a good one, just no answer. But, this is a discussion board on the internet, so it's going to generate discussion. You got to be the catalyst on this one. :)


Someone made a comment about limit straps. For a crawling rig it's not too big a deal, since topping out the shocks happens mostly at slow speeds, but if you like to go fast to get to the trails and air it out much then limit straps are a good idea.

We've found that if the springs are soft enough to bottom the suspension on the trail when articulating then it's way too soft for comfortably going fast getting to the trail. It's not necessary to be able to fully bottom the suspension when articulating to get good trail performance, when you have lockers. The added stabilty of slightly stiffer springs/shocks and the resistance to bottoming while going faster makes a better performing all around package.

Also, getting long arms simply to get better flex is useless. With the 10" travel shocks that most lift kits come with you can't get enough travel for the long arms to make a difference. I've also seen plenty of short arm XJ's with 12" shocks that have usable flex for all 12" when the arm angles have been dealt with by either using drop brakets or fabbing different mounts to improve the arm angles. Unless you're going to go with 14-16" shocks, the long arms don't matter for flex, the benefit is better arm angles for better ride and climbing straight up ledges (if the arm doesn't also hang up on the ledge).
 
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