MWinland Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Does anyone have any info on the RE 5.5" w/ drop brackets? I'd really appreciate input from those with the lift. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Does anyone have any info on the RE 5.5" w/ drop brackets? I'd really appreciate input from those with the lift. Thanks. yep. it won't work. xj's and mj's are nearly identical. BUT that kit is for the xj's. the mj's have a different LCA that's actually better reinforced than an xj's. due to that, you cannot use the reinforcement brackets that run along the frame rail backwards from the drop bracket. my opinion, you could build your onl reinforcement brackets. i wouldn't run without them. period. the second you have any large amount of force/pressure pushed onto your axle while driving in any conditions, they lower drop brackets become more prone to tare out. then, my further opinion, is that you either should buy adjustable control arms (face it, at the price of the drop brackets, another $150 gets you good control arms and less worry about integrity), or do a longarm/y-link setup. I wouldn't do a drop bracket kit simply because I don't see it as being too terribly safe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motion Offroad Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 yep. it won't work. Says who? RE's 5.5" kit for the MJ includes drop brackets (RE9900). We've sold several of these kits for the MJ and nobody ever said they don't work. We have a local customer who runs this kit and we've wheeled with him several times and have never had a problem with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokhound Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 i was going to say what does CW have on his rig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86FUBAR Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 My first lift was a Trail Master 4in with teraflex controlarms fer the xj and it worked great on the manche . i beat the piss out of it and i never had a problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 yep. it won't work. Says who? RE's 5.5" kit for the MJ includes drop brackets (RE9900). We've sold several of these kits for the MJ and nobody ever said they don't work. We have a local customer who runs this kit and we've wheeled with him several times and have never had a problem with them. read the rest of it. you'll note that while I do cover the bases of it being able to function, the reinforcement brackets for the LCA drops will not work with a comanche LCA bracket. that's what I've been reading regarding them anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oizarod115 Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 the reinforcement brackets won't work... yeah... so you save some $$ the MJ LCA is already reinforced, why do it again? the stock reinforcement should be plenty, of everyone ive heard thats had either the RE ones or the trailmaster, LCA bucket strength wasnt a concern. main thing with the DBs is that if you're not going to run 33's or larger that drop bracket has a tendency to catch on rocks and stuff... but IMHO its the best non-longarm kit out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockhardzj Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 I just took a 5.5" RE MJ kit off my MJ. Here's RE's New MJ kit It runs $1,160. Here's RE's XJ Equivalent It runs $1,462 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 1) The drop brackets will and do work just fine!! 2) No the XJ, reinforcements will not fit on a MJ. 3) The factory lower CA brackets are more reinforced on MJ's than on XJ's. BUT, if severe duty is what you need, Jeepco is correct, an MJ version could be easily made at home if you have the equipment. 4) Yes I have them, and I LOVE the improvement since installing them!!! 5) case in point, You cannot believe everything you read!!! Jeepco, If you don't know, (Said you read about this) and you don't even have them. Your comment is just getting the poor guy all confused?? YES the brackets give more leverage to the factory pockets that could result in problems AND, what goes up also comes down. Neither of these comments is worth mentioning. The drop brackets are WAY beefy and when properly installed, beef up the entire assembly around the control arms. Here is a news flash for everyone, OFFROADING PUTS MORE STRESS ON ALL PARTS OF YOUR RIG! MWinland, RE is a reputable company who makes many thousands of lifts every year. They know what they are doing and they have been doing it for some time. Of coarse, everything CAN BE BROKEN!! But, these are not weakly assembled or poorly thought out. Furthermore, they are PERFECTLY SAFE if properly installed. Look, if you want driveability returned to your XJ/MJ and your lifted over 4" look into DROP BRACKETS!!! CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 1) The drop brackets will and do work just fine!! 2) No the XJ, reinforcements will not fit on a MJ. 3) The factory lower CA brackets are more reinforced on MJ's than on XJ's. BUT, if severe duty is what you need, Jeepco is correct, an MJ version could be easily made at home if you have the equipment. 4) Yes I have them, and I LOVE the improvement since installing them!!! 5) case in point, You cannot believe everything you read!!! Jeepco, If you don't know, (Said you read about this) and you don't even have them. Your comment is just getting the poor guy all confused?? YES the brackets give more leverage to the factory pockets that could result in problems AND, what goes up also comes down. Neither of these comments is worth mentioning. The drop brackets are WAY beefy and when properly installed, beef up the entire assembly around the control arms. Here is a news flash for everyone, OFFROADING PUTS MORE STRESS ON ALL PARTS OF YOUR RIG! MWinland, RE is a reputable company who makes many thousands of lifts every year. They know what they are doing and they have been doing it for some time. Of coarse, everything CAN BE BROKEN!! But, these are not weakly assembled or poorly thought out. Furthermore, they are PERFECTLY SAFE if properly installed. Look, if you want driveability returned to your XJ/MJ and your lifted over 4" look into DROP BRACKETS!!! CW :agree: Couldnt have said it better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 CW, the bracket assembly is attached via a thru-bolt into the old CA mounting bracket. what else holds it on? if it's just that, then you've added more problems and not helped anything. I think if you're gonna do CA drop brackets, they should be temporary and if you need them, you need to go get a damn longarm. I don't enjoy being high up and having a gut feeling that my suspension is gonna brake because the week point is not properly reinforced and has no backing...you hit a bump going forward at speeds, BOOM your axle tilts backwards and on comes the carnage. I wouldn't spend the $$$ on a CA drop kit. ever. if you're doing that, just chop your LCA mounts out, make yourself two longer lower control arms...or longarms if you will...and create your own brackets for them. stronger by far and offers more area for mounting points to the frame. plus it wouldn't cost much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86FUBAR Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 jeepco if u want to feel unsafe, run a long arm setup , i know i feel a little uneasy about mine sometimes because i only have 2 grade 8 bolts holding the arms to the frame and thats it. and also the drop brackets are temporary, most people ,like my self purchase those types of kits because they are cost effective and do the job well . i know when i got my 4in lift back in high school my willing to cut off major pieces of the frame for a long arm kit were not things i was into not to mention i couldn't afford it, (that and nobody offered that type of kit that i new of). I'm with CW on this all the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockhardzj Posted August 26, 2007 Share Posted August 26, 2007 the bracket assembly is attached via a thru-bolt into the old CA mounting bracket. what else holds it on?if it's just that, then you've added more problems and not helped anything. It's held on by the upper and lower control arm bolts, along with the 2 bolts that hold the caster adjustment plates in. It's strong for all highway, and light offroad use, IMHO, but if your looking into much offroad, Then yes, then you should be looking at control arms. I would say they are more for show than anything. They are held in alot stronger than you think though, and it would take more then a 6" deep pot hole in the road to rip one out. They have been engineered quite well, if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORCA Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 Wow... lots of back and forth over this. :nuts: Simply put: I'm also running the 5.5" XJ kit on my MJ with drop brakets. Angle grinders make it fit :brows: The only way I can see it failing is if you were to install it incorrectly/not torque down the bolts. You would really have to try to make it not work. RE offers a great product and instructions for dummies (like mE!!). After 4-5 years of service and 2 vehicles, my drop brakets are holding up fine. Only complaint about RE was there old 'quick' sway bar disconnects. Now that I think about it, the only thing that didn't fit was the main leave of the RE leave pack. Swap it with your stock MJ main leave and your good to go. Probably won't get as much lift, but a SOA would fix this too. If it's not one thing it's another. Just Empty Every Pocket remeber? :popcorn: Thanks. :chillin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 I ran a set of used RE drop brackets on Pong years ago, and loved them. As a mater of fact I used them with stock uppers and lowers with 6.5" coils :eek: Pong could unseat the coils by 3-4 inches. I have never had any issues with any RE product. I switched to a Long arm setup and lost some flex. Mine was the Tera kit, and it is now sitting on my parts shelf, but it did use a parrallel 4 link, like designed from the factory. Where as most of the kits out there today are a radias arm setup. As pointed out earlier they only have two bolts holding the axle in place :nuts: Yeah it works. BTW I sold the Db's to another jeeper who ran them for a while, and then resold them himself, and as far as I know the brackets live on in the jeeping community Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogetemturbo Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Wow, there is a lot of fish flopping on this subject. How are drop brackets supposed to be a temporary thing? I can name off 4 or 5 JeepSpeed XJs that have been running them for YEARS AND YEARS... not to mention all the other ones that are running them as well in the recent years....I even know of 2 comanches that have been running them for years. One of which just raced in the most recent JeepSpeed race (night race in Lucern) in the Open Class and did very very well. I run them on my MJ and I'll compare my 10" of clean un-bound travel against any longarm kit anytime. It's not that the Long Arm is better or the Short-arm/Drop bracket is better, it's about the feel you want. A short arm kit feels tighter, a long arm kit feels like the truck is wider. Concerns of dragging the DBs on rocks on less than 33" tires? What do you think a Long Arm is gonna do? I just think that there are too many people that jump to cutting everything off and building something custom. Companies like R.E. spend more money than I'll ever make on researching and designing kits that work. Yea you may have to spend some money, but for the safety of yourself, anyone else in the rig, not to mention everyone else on the road, think more than twice before building a custom suspension. Long Arm Kits are wicked...and my MJ will have long arms eventually, but these damn drop brackets work so frigging good!!! I'll just off my soap box now, just needed to toss in my 'lil bit 'o knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORCA Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I just want to reinforce the 'permanence' of my drop brakets on my truck. They have worked great for years, and I plan on keeping them around as long as the truck is moving. short arms fo life! :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86FUBAR Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 How are drop brackets supposed to be a temporary thing? when i said it was temporary i ment that most people buy the drop brackets as a good starter kit then upgrede later as the skill and wallet alow, just as u stated with ur truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogetemturbo Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 ok, gotcha. I mis-understood then. I just don't want people to get the wrong idea about the drop brackets. I'm contemplating building another MJ...I'm thinking stock height...short bed...33s...minimal up travel...loads of down travel...CORR style...maybe with a healthy 4.7L V8/nv3500/np242?......It get's me drooling to think about it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masscrawler Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 I'm contemplating building another MJ...I'm thinking stock height...short bed...33s...minimal up travel...loads of down travel...CORR style...maybe with a healthy 4.7L V8/nv3500/np242?......It get's me drooling to think about it... Sounds like my goals for my MJ. Its well on the way.... Ill be posting soon in MJ Projects. Back to the subject, If the Jeepspeed guys race and run up front with them then they are proven enough for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockhardzj Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 ok, gotcha. I mis-understood then. I just don't want people to get the wrong idea about the drop brackets. I'm contemplating building another MJ...I'm thinking stock height...short bed...33s...minimal up travel...loads of down travel...CORR style...maybe with a healthy 4.7L V8/nv3500/np242?......It get's me drooling to think about it... Ehem. Stealing Ideas, Are We?:D You'll probably get to it first, but its in the line for the next one that falls into my hands! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warf90 Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 I will admit, I had my concerns about DBs also. But when building my MJ, I bought a set of the DBs for mine with 7" of lift. I am running sky jacker upper and lower control arms with them. They are awesome, it flexes like mad and drives great on the street. I think until you have a set, install them, drive on the street with them and wheel with them, you probaly should not bash them or the design. I am very happy with the way mine turned out and the way it performs on and offroad. That is just my input for what it is worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogetemturbo Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 Rockhardzj...I do remember seeing something around on here that you were planning something like that, I hope yer not offened. I actually have a buddy that owns a shop that put one into his LB with an NV3550 and an NP242...This truck is very wicked...It makes me drool...I need to get some pics of it and post them. I think he is going to turn it into his new race truck for Jeepspeed and turn his stroked/alum head/monster into a pre-runner... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockhardzj Posted September 2, 2007 Share Posted September 2, 2007 Not offended, It will give me more encouragement, just won't be able to say I was "the first" any more. Thats OK though, my truck will be a first when its done, not my current, but the next project will be with the interior and stuff... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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