Short arm vs long arm lift question

Dirtrider.... said:
Have any of you been disappointed and regretted installing a long arm kit? What are the biggest drawbacks to the long arm vs standard short arm kits in your real world experience?

I have a 2012 JKU with a 3inch lift on 37s... lift was on the jeep since 2014 when we bought the jeep.

My main off-roading adventures are rock crawling and exploring. I run out of up travel quickly on dirt roads so I keep speed down especially when loaded up with camping gear. Would be nice to drive down a dirt road at 45mph and hit a dip without bottoming out the rear.

Been thinking about refreshing the main suspension items... we've put over 100k miles on her since we've owned her and she's my daily driver.
Click to expand...

You would need to either lift the jeep, or run smaller rear bumps (I assume trim the rear pinch seams) in order to get more up travel... which is what you will need to go "down a dirt road at 45mph and hit a dip without bottoming out the rear"

not really understanding what any of this has to do with installing long arms or not :thinking: but get 4" springs and some decent shocks, keep the 3" bumps in the rear and be two tits to the wind.

...Or...

Make the jump to coilovers... :big_boss:
 
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Dirtrider.... said:
Have any of you been disappointed and regretted installing a long arm kit? What are the biggest drawbacks to the long arm vs standard short arm kits in your real world experience?

I have a 2012 JKU with a 3inch lift on 37s... lift was on the jeep since 2014 when we bought the jeep.

My main off-roading adventures are rock crawling and exploring. I run out of up travel quickly on dirt roads so I keep speed down especially when loaded up with camping gear. Would be nice to drive down a dirt road at 45mph and hit a dip without bottoming out the rear.

Been thinking about refreshing the main suspension items... we've put over 100k miles on her since we've owned her and she's my daily driver.
Click to expand...

Merged here.
 
Dirtrider.... said:
Have any of you been disappointed and regretted installing a long arm kit? What are the biggest drawbacks to the long arm vs standard short arm kits in your real world experience?

I have a 2012 JKU with a 3inch lift on 37s... lift was on the jeep since 2014 when we bought the jeep.

My main off-roading adventures are rock crawling and exploring. I run out of up travel quickly on dirt roads so I keep speed down especially when loaded up with camping gear. Would be nice to drive down a dirt road at 45mph and hit a dip without bottoming out the rear.

Been thinking about refreshing the main suspension items... we've put over 100k miles on her since we've owned her and she's my daily driver.
Click to expand...

I have never regretted my long arm decision, that being said it’s not going to change your travel.


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Don't regret for a second moving up to long arms. The only issue I have is with that the high clearance mounts weren't available in the kit I bought when I did this a couple years ago. The frame mounts for the rear control arms constantly catches and drags on shit exactly when you don't want it to. Now that the high clearance mounts are available separately I'm getting those installed.
If you're even thinking about it you should just do it now and not regret it later on.
 
^^This^^. What Ddays said. I’m in exactly the same position and will be upgrading the mounts. Don’t regret it one bit


2015 JKUR AEV JK350
1985 CJ8 Scrambler
 
Dirtrider.... said:
Have any of you been disappointed and regretted installing a long arm kit? What are the biggest drawbacks to the long arm vs standard short arm kits in your real world experience?

I have a 2012 JKU with a 3inch lift on 37s... lift was on the jeep since 2014 when we bought the jeep.

My main off-roading adventures are rock crawling and exploring. I run out of up travel quickly on dirt roads so I keep speed down especially when loaded up with camping gear. Would be nice to drive down a dirt road at 45mph and hit a dip without bottoming out the rear.

Been thinking about refreshing the main suspension items... we've put over 100k miles on her since we've owned her and she's my daily driver.
Click to expand...

I am in the same camp as these other guys. Had a short arm/ geo bracket life and went to long arm. As far as loads, we pull a 3000# pop up over the North Cascades every few weeks in the summer and it's performed flawlessly on and off road... other than what Ddays mentions below. Yes, it was a lot of work, but I would have put in twice as much effort to get it to ride like this. If you search my posts, I put a lot of pics up of the install.

Ddays said:
Don't regret for a second moving up to long arms. The only issue I have is with that the high clearance mounts weren't available in the kit I bought when I did this a couple years ago. The frame mounts for the rear control arms constantly catches and drags on shit exactly when you don't want it to. Now that the high clearance mounts are available separately I'm getting those installed.
If you're even thinking about it you should just do it now and not regret it later on.
Click to expand...

I need those high clearance mounts.
 
KevinG said:
I am in the same camp as these other guys. Had a short arm/ geo bracket life and went to long arm. As far as loads, we pull a 3000# pop up over the North Cascades every few weeks in the summer and it's performed flawlessly on and off road... other than what Ddays mentions below. Yes, it was a lot of work, but I would have put in twice as much effort to get it to ride like this. If you search my posts, I put a lot of pics up of the install.



I need those high clearance mounts.
Click to expand...

They're beauties! Can't wait to get rid of the damn shovels on my frame I have on now...
 
Thanks for the feedback... my long-term goal is to install an evo long-arm high clearance kit and bolt-on coilovers :crazyeyes:... my pocketbook doesn't seem to agree at the moment...

one local shop quoted me 30 hours of install time to install both the long-arm kit and bolt on coilovers. Does that amount of time seem correct in your experience with the install? the install is way above my youtube watching mechanical skills... lol so its definitely not a project i will attempt to tackle.

ohh an I did install a stock front sway bar to replace the currie anti-rock... WOW what a difference. very happy with the highway driving again. who knew. now on to search for a good set of quick disconnects for the front sway bar.
 
Dirtrider.... said:
Thanks for the feedback... my long-term goal is to install an evo long-arm high clearance kit and bolt-on coilovers :crazyeyes:... my pocketbook doesn't seem to agree at the moment...

one local shop quoted me 30 hours of install time to install both the long-arm kit and bolt on coilovers. Does that amount of time seem correct in your experience with the install? the install is way above my youtube watching mechanical skills... lol so its definitely not a project i will attempt to tackle.

ohh an I did install a stock front sway bar to replace the currie anti-rock... WOW what a difference. very happy with the highway driving again. who knew. now on to search for a good set of quick disconnects for the front sway bar.
Click to expand...

30 hours is probably a good estimate. Theres a shitload of cutting, grinding and welding to be done on those mounts.
 
Dirtrider.... said:
Thanks for the feedback... my long-term goal is to install an evo long-arm high clearance kit and bolt-on coilovers :crazyeyes:... my pocketbook doesn't seem to agree at the moment...

one local shop quoted me 30 hours of install time to install both the long-arm kit and bolt on coilovers. Does that amount of time seem correct in your experience with the install? the install is way above my youtube watching mechanical skills... lol so its definitely not a project i will attempt to tackle.

ohh an I did install a stock front sway bar to replace the currie anti-rock... WOW what a difference. very happy with the highway driving again. who knew. now on to search for a good set of quick disconnects for the front sway bar.
Click to expand...

Good choice...you won't be disappointed. I did the exact same thing to my brute...
 
Dirtrider.... said:
Thanks for the feedback... my long-term goal is to install an evo long-arm high clearance kit and bolt-on coilovers :crazyeyes:... my pocketbook doesn't seem to agree at the moment...

one local shop quoted me 30 hours of install time to install both the long-arm kit and bolt on coilovers. Does that amount of time seem correct in your experience with the install? the install is way above my youtube watching mechanical skills... lol so its definitely not a project i will attempt to tackle.

ohh an I did install a stock front sway bar to replace the currie anti-rock... WOW what a difference. very happy with the highway driving again. who knew. now on to search for a good set of quick disconnects for the front sway bar.
Click to expand...


The only local shop that would even touch something like the long arm quoted me 35, so 30 sounds about right for a shop that is familiar with it. As far as the antirock, you don't "need" disconnects with it.
 
KevinG said:
The only local shop that would even touch something like the long arm quoted me 35, so 30 sounds about right for a shop that is familiar with it. As far as the antirock, you don't "need" disconnects with it.
Click to expand...

i removed the anti-rock... back to stock front sway bar... non-rubicon model... figured i'd put on disconnects to allow full travel when needed on trails.
 
Clearskies said:
Mel @ ORE quoted me 30 hours also... Pretty spot on

BTW, Love the EVO long arms and coilovers
Click to expand...

Actually it is ORE who quoted the hours... just checking to confirm... the labor charge puts the build out of reach until next year. but i do want it done correct. now to save up... maybe i shouldn't buy the kids any xmas presents this year...hahaha
 
Dirtrider.... said:
i removed the anti-rock... back to stock front sway bar... non-rubicon model... figured i'd put on disconnects to allow full travel when needed on trails.
Click to expand...

Sorry I read that wrong. I didn't want to piss on your parade if you just bought the AR.

Dirtrider.... said:
Actually it is ORE who quoted the hours... just checking to confirm... the labor charge puts the build out of reach until next year. but i do want it done correct. now to save up... maybe i shouldn't buy the kids any xmas presents this year...hahaha
Click to expand...

I about choked when the quote came from the shop up here in Washington. What I would have paid in labor covered the price of the coilovers. Jealous that your location is that close to ORE.
 
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