Full Traction Long Arm, your experience?

B

bentroia

NAXJA Forum User
Location
auburn ca
Hello,

Before getting the Full Traction 3.5 inch long arm for my 97, I'd really appreciate your input from direct experience with the product.

Can you give any feedback on:

1. ride quality-comfort unloaded.. the spring rates look pretty high..
2. steering and handling.. is it less twitchy than comparable height short arm systems?
3. Fox 2.0, or Bilstein 5100... how they worked with the kit.
4. overall experience.. quality of components, install, longevity of components

Thanks for any relevant info you have.
 
just an overall observation, the fox 2.0 is a much better shock than the bilstein 5100.

the team naxja/pettycash racing KOH Stock class racecar has been running the FT longarm for a while now and they seem to like it.

you might want to pop your head in their thread and do some reading on it.
 
Interested in this as well. But I have the kit on order since before Xmas. Supposed to be I production as we speak.
 
When I called Full Traction last week I was told they build these kits "every two weeks" and that "they were in production now" and "we have sold thousands of them". Let us know how your suspension project goes. It looks like the best product for my needs, just looking for some first hand experience with it.
 
Auburn, CA?
My only first hand experience was seeing a Red 97-99 XJ in Grass Valley with the FT lift. I became quite aroused.
It looks like pure awesome.
 
Yes, Auburn CA... Back to XJs after taking about a 10 yr break. I wanna make this thing, a 97 Country with 95k mi, a trail limo and that FT suspension looks like the ticket.

Ben
 
What is your budget for your build?
AS far as your question, FT is supposed to be really good.
 
Budget... Paid $4800 for the 97 country w 95k. Figuring about $4k more. $2k suspension-steering, $800 rubber, $1200 misc.. sliders, stereo, H4s.. Thoughts?
 
Here it is.. pretty tight..

COBRAND_NAME=snapfish
 
Last edited:
Johnnie Walker said:
I definitely recommend frame stiffeners, whether it be HD Offroad or Ruffstuff.
Maybe consider this kit:
http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Synergy-Jeep-XJ-4-Link-Long-Travel-System-p-25694.html
With coils/leafs and shocks of your choice
Tires, short list I recommend, Bridgestone Dueler AT REVO, GY Duratrac, MTR-k, General Grabber Red Letter, AT2, Yoko Geolander ATS.
Click to expand...

I've had my eye on that poly kit but can't fork over that kind of money for it. You would still need a 800-1000 for springs and shocks. Nice long arm setup though.
 
The poly frame side LA mounts look like a darn good place to start for a builder. The rest of a long arm kit is just DOM & joints.
 
As far as shocks, I would get Fox 2.0 or Bilstein7100s you will want the resi.
 
What is your thought on spring rates for the FT kit? Fronts are 200# per my call to them last week. That sounds firm to me.. I am not gonna run a big bumper or winch. The intent in this thing is light loads, fire trails at speed, some granite mid level trails (not upper Fordyce level). tires will be 255-265 --31ish.. We want it to be compliant and smooth / limo for long road trips and the associated off road excursions.

To your point on shocks, pan to run Fox. Again, hope they are not too harsh?
 
200# on the highway might feel firm but shouldn't be overly harsh. Remember, you're going to have a lot of tire to help it conform to minor bumps in the road.
Doing even minor go-fast, you want a stiffer spring rate than you do for crawling. Most XJ springs are around 150-180 lbs rate and are designed for rock crawling, so I'd expect the FT to shine on a Forest Service road doing 30 or better, perhaps slightly less so while crawling.
I should say clearly, though, that this is a mix of inference and speculation on my part.
 
I love my FT long arm kit and it really smoothed out the harshness in the bumps after lifting the jeep.

That said, I actually replaced my full traction coils with the RE coils as they were a bit stiffer (240# according to their site) and it really helped the ride even more for speed. It is about perfect for soaking up the bumps on the trails (and on the pothole ridden roads around here) while not being too stiff for a bit of crawling. :)

If I were to build it again from scratch, I'd still go with the FT long arms (I am very happy with the 4 link setup) but just get the arms from them and go again with the RE 3.5" coils.

EDIT: I also just came back from a couple hundred mile road trip across the state and it was plenty smooth and comfortable for the highway. :)
 
I have their 6" LA kit.
I ran into some issues because I have frame stiffeners and the extra width of the frame rails means the bolt holes on the mount brackets don't line up. My side rails also bolted to the same location.

I'm really happy with the overall ride quality (have Bilstien 5100s), but don't care for the squeaks and pops that seem to come from it. I don't like the fact that each of the four arms bolts to a separate piece. I wish they did a one piece crossmember type mount like some of the other manufacturers.

If you dont' have frame stiffeners yet, it would be ideal to weld on the FT kit (rather than bolt), then add frame stiffeners around it.
 
200# is actually pretty soft. We run our coils at 250# and I still feel they are a bit on the soft side when we're going slow (at speed they are nice).

Full Traction makes a great kit and they support it well. I know they were having some production problems for a while (one of their vendors went belly up) but they seem to be working through it now.
 
Thanks for the input. Squeaks and pops are not our friends. Have you had any luck identifying the sources?

I am close to ordering the FT 3.5 with Fox and have high expectations for on-off road ride and the overall fit/integration of the suspension system. If there is anything I can do to improve final result (no noise, compliant ride) I would love to hear it.


The Jeep will roll on 31s, maybe 32s MAX. It will see some typical CA granite trails and the long drives to reach them. The suspension will not have to support a lot of weight form cargo heavy bumpers ect. Camping gear will be minimalist and bumper swaps if any will go with light stuff.. Again, I expect this thing to be limo on the road. It is a super clean 97 country with 95k miles on it, loaded....

thanks
 
Last edited:
If you want "limo" on road, I'd lean towards rubber bushings instead of heims on your long arm kit. I don't know if FT can accommodate you but it's worth asking.
 
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