Short arms vs long arms

whispike

whispike

Member
It was recommended to me by a local shop to go with Currie full shorts arms over a long arm kit. Mainly to help center my axles in the wheel wells, get the caster right and they said it would allow 11 inches of rear travel. What are some of your thoughts on this?


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whispike said:
It was recommended to me by a local shop to go with Currie full shorts arms over a long arm kit. Mainly to help center my axles in the wheel wells, get the caster right and they said it would allow 11 inches of rear travel. What are some of your thoughts on this?


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Long arm or short arm won't change your performance off-road. Long arm kits help more with on road handling not off road. The Currie arms are great quality, I would recommend those arms.
 
My bad.. It's early. I read your post wrong. You said 3.5 long arm.. I read that as 3.5 mid arm, which blows. I have no experience with RK long arm kit, and it's a good possibility there long arm kit with kings rides very well down the road. There mid arm on the other hand...
 
whispike said:
And by the way it's on a 2014 JKU with 3 inch springs.


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The shop is kind of right, you don't need long arms on a JKU with only 3in of lift. The only down side will be a "flighty" feeling at highway speeds. That can be mitigated by adding a drag link flip kit. At the same time, swapping your control arms alone won't increase your flex. The amount of travel mostly depends on the length of your shocks.
 
whispike said:
It was recommended to me by a local shop to go with Currie full shorts arms over a long arm kit. Mainly to help center my axles in the wheel wells, get the caster right and they said it would allow 11 inches of rear travel. What are some of your thoughts on this?


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I've installed and tested the Currie kit and it's a good kit. With the amount of lift it provides, there is no need for a long arm kit. In fact, there really is no need for such a complete kit. Not saying that a complete set of 8 adjustable control arms isn't a bad thing, it's just that the actual amount of axle shift you'll see isn't enough to require them. To add in a bit more caster, all you really need are adjustable front lower arms and to set your rear pinion, a set of adjustable rear upper arms. The 11" of travel is "articulated" travel and not true "vertical" travel. Still nice though but all of it comes from droop as they do use a dual rate spring and I found them to lack good stuff.
 
MR.Ty is right, you don't need long arms at that height. But if you set the arm lengths for proper caster you should not feel flighty.

I don't know that you need to do a drag link flip, but if you do raise your front track bar also and make sure you have enough bump stop.

EDIT: Listen to Eddie, you likely don't even need the full set of arms.
Were you getting a full short arm KIT? Or just arms to go with springs you have? That part of your question wasn't clear to me.
 
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chitown35 said:
MR.Ty is right, you don't need long arms at that height. But if you set the arm lengths for proper caster you should not feel flighty.
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This is correct ^^^ Proper caster will help prevent a flighty feel at highway speeds.

I don't know that you need to do a drag link flip, but if you do raise your front track bar also and make sure you have enough bump stop.
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At 3" of lift, a drag link flip/front track bar relocation bracket will allow you to restore proper steering geometry and that will improve handling. It is important to do both at the same time.

Were you getting a full short arm KIT? Or just arms to go with springs you have? That part of your question wasn't clear to me.
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In re-reading the thread, I did see that the OP has 3" coils now. This is something that is unclear to me now as well.
 
Krystianjk said:
Really! Is that true? I've always thought long arms give better clearance :eek:
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Long arms simply correct suspension geometry when your Jeep is lifted tall enough to benefit from a correction. This is something you will feel the most ON PAVEMENT.
 
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