So how much can you flex?

[Ba-Riedo]

Bling, being in the cool kids club, better ground clearence...

-Alex

 

[juniorXJ]

better on road manners too, because of the radius of the arm. too short and with too much angle (like me) the axle will want to suck back under the rig instead of moving up into the fender.

 

[RRT]

Long arms wont give you more flex, a properly set up short arm setup will flex just as much as long arms.

-Alex

Sorry Alex, but I disagree. One reason is that usually on a long arm kit, there is only 2 attaching points to the frame. Stock or modified stock has 4. IN THEORY the 4 points will only travel so far. If not for shocks, brake lines, drive line, etc. The front axle of a vehicle with long arms could fold all the way under a vehicle.......but I would not recommend that. :nono: But I have seen many short arm kits get respectable flex as seen here.

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

Then is there really any advantage to long arms?

Ride quality to keep the laydeez happy.

 

[RRT]

Ride quality to keep the laydeez happy.

I have stumbled across some really ummm.....nice videos on You Tube that show "Bennifits" of poor ride quality.:looney:

 

[Ba-Riedo]

Sorry Alex, but I disagree. One reason is that usually on a long arm kit, there is only 2 attaching points to the frame. Stock or modified stock has 4. IN THEORY the 4 points will only travel so far. If not for shocks, brake lines, drive line, etc. The front axle of a vehicle with long arms could fold all the way under a vehicle.......but I would not recommend that. :nono: But I have seen many short arm kits get respectable flex as seen here.

You would think that two mounting points would be better then two, but a radius arm setup actually is more prone to binding then a 3 or 4 link setup, granted those 3 and 4 link setups have the mounting points pushed further back then stock.

-Alex

 

[2xtreme]

The argument between Long, Mid and Short arms has been discussed for years (it is like the Chevy-Ford argument and many others). The reality is that almost all of the time the limiting factor is not the arms or binding on any well set up suspension but the length of the shock extended (Just about everything else (binding, bushings, brake cables, etc can be modified to alow more flex).

So assuming for any "normal" lift the shocks are in the stock location (or close) the flex of Long arm is the same as for the short arm. For referance I have a 12" travel Bilstein on a 4-4.5" lift. My shocks limit my travel so if I moved my shock locations and ran a longer shock I could increase my travel (probably to as much as 14", not sure I would want to go any further than that even though I am sure they could continue to droop). With a Long arm set up properly you might be able to get realistically above the 14" travel but this is not what I would consider a "normal" type set up (shock mounts are all moved). What I am getting at is that the only way you could say you get better travel with a long arm set up is if you moved all your shock mounts and had longer than a 14" travel shock.

In my mind the major advantage to long arms is the ride quality. NOT Flex, NOT ground clearance.

Michael

 

[ECKSJAY]

In my mind the major advantage to long arms is the ride quality. NOT Flex, NOT ground clearance.

Michael

Short arms have a tighter radius and the wheel movement inside the opening is MUCH more pronounced than the longarm design. On a longarm, for the same amount of travel as a short arm setup, the wheel moves almost literally UP and DOWN in the wheel opening. Short arms tend to move the axle front and back during the same amount of travel. That also helps with steering and trackbar torsion (bind?) over the short arm.

 

[JBweld]

Short arms have a tighter radius and the wheel movement inside the opening is MUCH more pronounced than the longarm design. On a longarm, for the same amount of travel as a short arm setup, the wheel moves almost literally UP and DOWN in the wheel opening. Short arms tend to move the axle front and back during the same amount of travel. That also helps with steering and trackbar torsion (bind?) over the short arm.

True.

In my mind the major advantage to long arms is the ride quality. NOT Flex, NOT ground clearance.

I dissagree with the general statement about ground clearance. There are a few LA designs that offer great ground clearance(TNT comes to mind) over drop brackets.

 

[postalxj]

 

[2xtreme]

Short arms have a tighter radius and the wheel movement inside the opening is MUCH more pronounced than the longarm design. On a longarm, for the same amount of travel as a short arm setup, the wheel moves almost literally UP and DOWN in the wheel opening. Short arms tend to move the axle front and back during the same amount of travel. That also helps with steering and trackbar torsion (bind?) over the short arm.

Good point! I don't have stock steering and there is the potential for more binding due to this, as well as the trackbar. I suspect that the stock steering and trackbar would work, but would have more "stress" on them than with a Long Arm set up.
Michael

 

[ManBearPig]

Hit the ramp today over at All-Pro Offroad.

Just over 4" on 34's, Stock control arms

 

[Smittty9785]

anyone know if the 4wheel parts store on 82nd in Portland have a ramp? id like to go see how mine flexes. havent checked out in a while, still need to measure for bumpstops as well.

 

[88manche]

They do. I put my jeeps on there last time i was up there.


http://fwporc.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1218331692

 

[Smittty9785]

right, once i get insured ill take it over there. ive put off bumpstops until now... wow that sucks.

 

[88manche]

who needs bumpstops

 

[Smittty9785]

i already smashed my oil pan once, but thats when i was getting 6ft air at the dunes in Pismo Ca.

 

[postalxj]

Here are a few more!!

This is how i have it now to save on the D@M Fuel!!!

 

[2xtreme]

I dissagree with the general statement about ground clearance. There are a few LA designs that offer great ground clearance(TNT comes to mind) over drop brackets.

There are some LA kits that do provide much better ground clearance than other LA kits and mid arm kits (and even arguably in some small situations stock short arms). However, as a general rule I don't think it is really feasable to argue that LA kits (generic) have better ground clearance than stock location short arms.

Michael

 

[WaXJ_Skier]

There are some LA kits that do provide much better ground clearance than other LA kits and mid arm kits (and even arguably in some small situations stock short arms). However, as a general rule I don't think it is really feasable to argue that LA kits (generic) have better ground clearance than stock location short arms.

Michael

I kinda like the LA for the fact that they give a little protection to other things.