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Long Arm Review: Give your Pros & Cons

I run the Clayton LA system with the full coil conversion in the rear and I love it. I am running 36" Iroks with Fullwidth axles D44 front and 60 rear. Because of the full width axles my tires do no rub the LA's and I haven't noticed the LA's getting hung up on anything, they are really beefy and you can push over anything if they do get hung up. Like I read earlier in the post was the great design of the crossmember its easy to use and with the coil conversion comes a complete belly pan which is also great and easy to drop off if need be. I dont drive this on the street but I know other people with the lift that say it's a completly different vehicle from when they had leaf's in the rear. Would I go a different route if I built another jeep? No, Would I reccomend Clayton? Yes Also with Johnny Joints at both ends of the LA's maintainin joints is a breeze with the greese gun and they dont fail often.

AJ
 
I will throw this out there, I ran the Rock Krawler long arms that everyone else is running. I just upgraded to the new Rock Krawler arms(prototype) that should be out by the first of the year. They now have rubber bushing at the frame end, and also have a bend in them for great clearance!!

I dont have any pictures to post, but there will be a complete writeup on this lift online very soon!!!

The current arms that everyone is running have solid joints at both ends, and straight arms. The arms weren't an issue for me, I just used them as sliders on the rocks, never had a problem. I wasn't thrilled with the solid joints, it made for a less then perfect ride at slow speeds(trail or around the city). It wasn't bad, just could have been better if there was a bushing to help take some of the inpact of small holes and bumps. The new setup gets rid of all of that, the ride is even better then before!!

The welding is a negative for some people (me included before i got the setup) but the nice thing is, the brackets can be welded on with your current setup still intack, then you can drive it like that till your ready for your install, you dont have to touch your stock setup to put the new brackets on.

Also, if your really looking for a nice setup, go with the RK lift with the rear coilovers!!! :worship:
 
you would be correct, RK is now sending out there new kits. They are called Plus kits and they have bent arms and a rubber bushing at one end.

I actually didn't even know they were sending them out, I sold a kit and my customer recieved a bent arm kit. But everything worked out and its looks like this should be a nice upgrade for someone looking to get atleast one soft joint on the arms instead of two heims.

Just incase anyone is interested. RK is keeping the bent arms at the current straight arm prices but they will be going up ASAP. So if you want to order and get a great deal let me know.

Matt
 
I have the first RHD Clayton 8" kit with rear coil conversion. As far as I know, Clayton makes the only RHD long arm kit for XJ's and TJ's in the world. I had Clayton install my kit and I'm delighted with the finished result. It makes the ride on 35" tires seem like they were original equipment. No, it actually rides and handles better than an original equipment zero lift XJ.

I spent two weeks in Moab during the Fall Fling and only used my lockers twice when I had too much air in my tires. It keeps its wheels on the ground but I need a lot more seat time to get used to the huge amount of articulation my Jeep has. I've been driving a leaf sprung 5" lift for the last six years and I'm not used to having this amount of flex. My biological 'seat clenching' tilt meter needs recalibrating as a result.

So far, I've only found one pitfall with this kit. If you want a rear exit, street legal exhaust system like mine you will either have to consider having a custom fuel tank made that can provide more clearance for the pipe route in the front right hand corner, or relocate the shocks. Clayton is looking at this newly found condition as most customers just cut the pipe off behind the cat and have a turn down on the end.

With the stock 2001 tank and DPG skid plate, my custom built exhaust system dented a shock can on double bump going into a gas station but was fine otherwise wheeling in Moab after I had the pipe ovalised.

Clayton also developed an OTK steering for my Jeep which is probably also available for LHD Jeeps by now. Give them a call and ask.
 
Is full-traction the only 4-link kit? do you need to have 6" of lift or could you do less? i would like a 4 link setup for improved on road driving but a 6" lift isn't really practical for my DD, will it not work at 4.5"? any other 4 link setups that do?
 
provided i beefed upt he mounts on the RK 3 link, what are people opinions on it for mild jeepspeed/prerunning stuff? i really like the full traction kit but the clearance loss could be an issue.


Mike
 
matt6669 said:
you would be correct, RK is now sending out there new kits. They are called Plus kits and they have bent arms and a rubber bushing at one end.

I actually didn't even know they were sending them out, I sold a kit and my customer recieved a bent arm kit. But everything worked out and its looks like this should be a nice upgrade for someone looking to get atleast one soft joint on the arms instead of two heims.

Just incase anyone is interested. RK is keeping the bent arms at the current straight arm prices but they will be going up ASAP. So if you want to order and get a great deal let me know.

Matt
Click to expand...


Hey Matt,

I purchased my RK 3 Link from you a little over a year ago now and I had a question. For those that have the earlier design, can we order JUST the new arms to get the ones with the bend for clearance and the soft bushing?

Thanks
 
Blue XJ said:
I have the Rock Krawler kit

Pros
- excellent on road ride
- extreme amount of articulation
- cheap price tag

Cons -
- too much flex a times
- have to weld brackets on
- grease fitting break very easily
Click to expand...

x2 on all this other than now this kit is a bolt on kit
 
XJmania030 said:
Could some one post up sone pics of a RockKrawler lift..
Click to expand...

HPIM1163.jpg

HPIM1036.jpg

HPIM1043.jpg

HPIM1266.jpg

HPIM1192.jpg
 
hmm looks like there's somewhat of a clearance loss with the rk kit too. nothing too much i guess, i'm defenitely digging the rk kit, maybe it will find its way onto my next project, anybody tried any go fast stuff with the rk kit?


Mike
 
It seems to me the most difficult thing about asking which suspension is better is that very few have actually driven all of the choices. I really wish I could just let everyone drive my XJ on the trail, the street, and then the freeway and compare it to theirs. That's the only way I can think of. Maybe I can talk the other manufacturers into having a demo day in Moab during fall fling and select 10 NAXJA members who currently all drive a short arm kit to do a comparison...I'd do it.

If you're local to the Denver area, PM me and we'll make arragements for you to lay under it and ride in it (running a trail will have to be scheduled though - yet doable! ;)). That goes for anyone on this forum.

Matt

YLinkSample28.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have had experience with both the Rockcrawler 8" and the Rustys 8.5" lift. If I had a choice between those two, I would choose Rustys all the way. The Rockcrawler kit didn't seem to flex as well, and didn't really enjoy the welding during the install. They both ride comparitively the same and both of them have been used as daily drivers.

The main problem that I had with the Rustys kit was that I had already fabricated my own Rock rails, and when it came time to install the Rustys kit, I had to actually fabricate the long arm mount brackets because of where my Rock rails were welded to the unibody frame.

Here are pics of what I had to do to get around it:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/jlattin21/axle017.jpg
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/jlattin21/axle005.jpg

Both kits seem beefy enough to handle all the abuse that have been thrown at them. I actually added 2 more inches to the Rustys kit and it took 2 more inches without having to adjust anything. It was great. Here's the finished beast:

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w57/jlattin21/Jeep.jpg

Whichever kit you decide to go with, make sure you have something reliable to cut the lower control arm mounts off. All I had was an old sawzall with a battery that didn't last more than 5 minutes between charges. Needless to say, it took me days to cut them off little by little cause I was too cheap to go buy a new battery.:rof:
 
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