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School me on shortarm v.s. longarm lifts


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Differences between short and longarms... obviously the stock suspension is short, and longarm conversions relocate the LCAs further back, but what are the pros and cons of each??? As I hear, longarms are softer-riding on the street... but thats really all I know. I want 6" of lift in the end when its all said and done. Sell me

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At 6" of lift, with a short arm suspension, the control arms run at about 45 degrees. As the suspension flexes up, the front wheels will swing forward. As they drop down, they swing back. Among other things, this results in needing more fender clearance/more cutting to make tires fit.

 

A long arm suspension the wheels don't move forwards/backwards nearly as much with up/down.

 

Also, because of the longer arms and lesser angles, a lot more flex is possible without binding. With long enough shocks, it's not unlikely to have one wheel completely stuffed, while the other one hangs down low enough for the spring to be loose.

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this topic comes up but no one ever really goes into depth on it, short arm vs long arm is too vague.

 

theres short arm,then short arm with drop brackets then 3link,4link,and radius arm long arm lifts which all will operate diferently and have different pros and cons.

 

It would be nice to go into each lift,maybe make a guide to help anyone whos trying to understand the different types of lift and the applications they would be used for.

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these are only my experiences watching various long arm configurations in operation.

 

4-link with tracbar: i run this setup. a lot of guys say it will bind, but with good flex joints, it works just fine. i run Johnny Joints and OEM bushings in all 4 arms. Road ride is far better than my old short arms. The huge improvement was out on the trails. it climbs way better, and the range of movement is excellent.

 

3-link with tracbar: pretty much the same as the 4-link. The only reason that i decided to build a 4-link was just in case one of the upper links fails. Yeah i know the odds of that happening are slim to none, but its just that added security.

 

y-link: havent liked it since day one. it unloads going up severe climbs, which usually results in the front end bouncing under acceleration. it ruins the oem axle bushings in no time flat too.

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ive heard the 3 link flexes better then the 4 link and is a better choice for crawling but the 4 link is more stable at higher speeds then the 3 link making it better for desert racing or sand dunes.

this would make me think the short arm with drop brackets would perform better then a 3 link long arm in the same applications.

 

ive also heard of the y-links unloading, supposed to be even worse in TJs.

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Ok, good info so far. I want to have a setup that performs well on trails but isn't dangerous on the street. I'm trying to get a feel for what would be the best use of my money. Any further shortarm lift would require replacement upper and lower units of very high quality (I'm impressed with JKS' product quality and features...). What exactly would short arms with drop brackets entail and what would be the pros/cons of this setup be?

 

We'll go one at a time :typing:

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Ok, good info so far. I want to have a setup that performs well on trails but isn't dangerous on the street. I'm trying to get a feel for what would be the best use of my money. Any further shortarm lift would require replacement upper and lower units of very high quality (I'm impressed with JKS' product quality and features...). What exactly would short arms with drop brackets entail and what would be the pros/cons of this setup be?

 

We'll go one at a time :typing:

 

 

basically the drop brackets bolt in under the stock arm mounts and drop the control arms about 4" putting the arms close to factory geometry restoring handling and improving flex. the only big downside is you now have brackets hanging down so you give up some clearance.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Gonna revive this thread.

After another wheelin trip I've decided against anyting that hurts what ground clearance I have, so drop brackets are out.

I was looking around this thread

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19871

and I'm very interested in the Clayton radius arm kit. It looks tough as nails and dead simple, only thing is I don't know the upsides/downsides of a radius arm versus the others. This isn't the "y link" that everybody's been bashing in this thread is it?

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Gonna revive this thread.

After another wheelin trip I've decided against anyting that hurts what ground clearance I have, so drop brackets are out.

I was looking around this thread

http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/view ... =2&t=19871

and I'm very interested in the Clayton radius arm kit. It looks tough as nails and dead simple, only thing is I don't know the upsides/downsides of a radius arm versus the others. This isn't the "y link" that everybody's been bashing in this thread is it?

 

radius arms=y-link

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Longarms have nothing to do with what type of wheeling you do. Better flex is just a by-product of having them. At that height (6.5") your control arm angle's are just way to steep and the ride will suffer greatly. Additionally if you ever try to go over anything, your jeep will be pushing itself over the axle, not pushing the axle forward with it. Having your control arms at that angle (short-arms) at that height your putting more abuse on your uni-body and just asking for trouble down the road. Longarms are the answer.

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