Tried to make the title searchable, forgive its annoyingness.
I rolled the dice and purchased rustys long arms....
The reasons I chose rusty's are:
1. I'm cheap, and so is the kit (affordably speaking)
2. Having welded for years, I prefer the bolt in mounts, and can always weld it as well.
3. Rubber joints - I drive the jeep on long trips, and assumed it would be a quieter kit, although the joints are quiet, the threaded control arms are not, jam nuts would fix this.
The experience:
Nothing unexpected, I wouldn't say the customer service or sales was outstanding, but my experience dealing with them over a couple phone calls deffinatly wasn't a bad one. I had a few questions after ordering, all were answered.
The shipping:
Shipped fast, arrived quick, packages came in across a three day span. Packaged INCREADIBLY well, I was very impressed. It came complete except for the sandwhich plates and bolts for the crossmember mount. I called and explained I didn't receive the plates, they said they'd get them out. The delivery date is this friday, I'm assuming everything is correct and the problem is resolved.
The kit:
I chose the high clearance kit, there is a downfall to this, the kink in the arm will contact the frame rail where the old mounts were sooner than the straight arm kit, failsafe bumpstop? It also does less to protect the driveshaft from vehicle wide obstacles like a log crossings. There is no rear swaybar endlinks, they recommend removal of the bar. The arms are BEEF, the rest is solid too.
The install:
It went as expected, took a few nights and a big chunk of saturday. I had to modify my front drop trackbar mount to clear a factory bolt, instead of drilling a hole to go around the bolt, I drilled a smaller hole and rethreaded the bolt through it for an additional mounting point. Others have experienced this, and my impression from Rustys is it happens on V8s. I also had to modify my crossmember because the mounting locations are wider than the ones predrilled, others have experienced this as well, it seems to be related to the 98 model year. The instructions are fine except a little time could be saved identifying which is upper and which is lower for the rear, however once trying a mockup you can figure it out as the uppers end link is smaller. I wouldn't say it was a particularly hard, long, or bad install. I imagine any long arm install would have its own complications, in perspective ripping out your entire suspension is a fairly big project. One thing that would be nice to be listed when ordering, is the fact you cannot retain your factory muffler in its factory location.
The draglink center balljoint hits the bottom of the passenger side JKS quick disconnect. Rusty's solution is to bend the endlink mounting bracket outward 20°, I'll give that a try, last resort is welding on extended bottom brackets.
The drive:
First thing is the recommended starting lengths for the control arms were nowhere near close for pinion angles on my vehicle. My first try on adjusting the rear came out -1° which is just about perfect. The front however I'm still adjusting to get rid of vibes. There are a few rattles on rougher surfaces or big steering wheel inputs from the threaded control arms. There is NO bump steer, they did well at matching the trackbar and drag link angle.
Flex:
The rear flexes more than the front.
Conclusion:
YAY, I have long arms and 33's are in the mail!
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Rusty's rustys rusty 5.5 long arms LA
