[Vacant Stare]

I've been looking at the various long arm kits available for LJs for a while now, and I noticed that most of the kits out there are just versions of the same lift for TJs, with the rear arms lengthened. The most likely reason I can think of as to why this is the case is that most long arm lifts use a new crossmember as the mounting point for the arms.

The Clayton kit is an exception to this, since they weld the control arm brackets to the frame, and don't use the crossmember as a mounting point.

Is this a 'better' way to do it? The rear arms on the RE LJ long arm, for example, are reeeaaally long. Can a control arm be too long?

[ziaholic]

Not sure if I can answer the "how long is too long" question ... but ...

My buddy and I both put RE LA tri-link kits on our Jeeps (his = TJ, mine = LJ) and our rear arms are the same length.

His rears connected to brackets on his crossmember, while my rears connected to some extra brackets that mounted farther back on the frame.

[Vacant Stare]

That's interesting...

I've only seen the RE long arm for the LJ- I had one that I never installed and ended up selling. This wasn't a tri-link rear kit, but I do remember the instructions had a starting length of 32 5/8" for the lower rear control arms on the TJ, and 42 5/8" for the LJ. The rear control arms also have different part numbers for the TJ and LJ kits.

Are the kits you're familiar with tri-links?

[jeepteejay]

A longer CA will obviously more susceptible to bending unless the cross-sectional dimensions of the material used are increased.

[ziaholic]

Color me corrected ... ... I just browsed the RE website, with 2 browsers, and compared the parts lists for the TJ and LJ LA kits side by side ...

Both the upper and lower rear CA's on the "regular" kit are "extended" for the LJ

For the Tri-link, the uppers are the same, but the lowers are "extended" for the LJ.

My statement about equal lengths (above) only applies to the rear uppers ... and only for the Tri-Link kit. (yes, my only first-hand experience is w/ the Tri-Link kit ... and apparently it's not as good as I had thought!)

Sry ... back to topic ...

I've wheeled my LJ, with the long-arse long arms, over some pretty big stuff, with scratches all around their undersides, and they have no signs of giving ... I can't imagine the sort of hit that they'd need to take that would harm them (aside from cosmetically)

How long is too long? ... for a given tube diameter ... I'd wager that Too Long is somewhere longer then mine ... and probably by a good amount.

If you're running in the Baja 1000, and are worried about slamming a rear CA into a rock at over 50 MPH, then yes, the math would show that the longer arms are a little more bendable ... just due to the length and leverage ... but for normal crawling and/or trail rides, I'd bet that it's a wash.

I'll shut up now and let some smarter people talk ...