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XJ IRO long arms on a 3" lift

7K views 85 replies 15 participants last post by  Thejeepnewbie 
#1 ·
Just wondering if it can be done with a 3" lift, been thinking about it it hard and have decided I wanna LA my 3" and get longer shocks and bumpstop accordingly, any help on this would be appreciated :cheers2:
 
#2 ·
Call IRO and ask them. I have been to their shop lots of times, and they are always friendly and glad to answer any questions about their parts.
 
#5 ·
Three quarters of the stuff people do on this site are pointless. It doesn't stop anyone from enjoying it or others from enjoying it and replicating it. People do stuff because they want to, normally, not because there is a particular use or benefit. No reason to be negative, jon.
 
#6 ·
Well I really don't care if you think it's pointless or not, if you read up it's not pointless at all, longer shocks give you more travel, more travel than a short arm can handle, at 3" of lift, and moving to 33s will keep the COG low and stable plus will flex like most 4.5" LA kits
 
#8 ·
Oh look I can search too... http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/low-cog-suspension-setup-tricks-tips-revised-9-24-12-a-32980/

Also if you can't read what I put, I said I wanted to keep the COG low at 3", I can already max out my short arms with my 3" lift. I don't want my jeep any taller, I'm on rocks mostly, so 3" with lots of travel will keep my jeep planted and very stable. Also I'm not really worried about fitment, I was just trying to see if there were any big issues like unibody getting in the way with the iro arms, they will work just with some bumpstopping which I'll need with 33s anyways
 
#12 ·
I've got adjustable lowers with Johnny joints and I max them out to the point they hit the shock mounts on my axle, that's with my 3" and the 3" lift shocks, surprised me that they already traveled that far so longer shocks will help but only if I can get more travel from my control arms
 

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#10 ·
If you fit the long arms under the Jeep with 3" of lift, report back and let us know. And take some measurements before and after so we can see how much travel you were actually able to gain. That way you have hard data to back it up when your done and no one can tell you it was useless.

Are you going to look into someway to mount the shocks higher? Or lower the lower mount? I imagine the long arms will be able to droop farther than your shocks. Even if you bump stop first, measure the longest shock you can run without bottoming out, you will have lots of droop with those long arms. Fitting a longer shock at full compression will allow more extension at the other end.
 
#13 ·
If you fit the long arms under the Jeep with 3" of lift, report back and let us know. And take some measurements before and after so we can see how much travel you were actually able to gain. That way you have hard data to back it up when your done and no one can tell you it was useless.

Are you going to look into someway to mount the shocks higher? Or lower the lower mount? I imagine the long arms will be able to droop farther than your shocks. Even if you bump stop first, measure the longest shock you can run without bottoming out, you will have lots of droop with those long arms. Fitting a longer shock at full compression will allow more extension at the other end.
The next 2 weeks or so I'll have the LA ordered so hopefully in the next month I can have them on and do some measurements for y'all! Thanks for everybody's input, also I'm leaving the shocks at the stock mounting points and just getting longer ones, once I get the LAs on I'll remove my shocks and see what I can do then measure from there, I'm excited, I just finished installing spartan lockers front and rear so now I'm looking to finish up my suspension and keep it low COG:2thumbsup: here's a pic of my current setup flexed out, typical 3" and short arms
 

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#11 ·
The shocks are gonna be limiting straps to make sure your 3 springs don't come loose at the top. This will leave you replacing shocks that are gonna get torn apart. Then there's the track bar which will be set to your 3" height, it won't stretch! I think you'll be in a class of your own for a long time coming. Jm2¢
 
#14 ·
I say go for it. I was going to do it with my ZJ with 3 inches on 35s. But ended up getting rid of it by the time I had a chance to do it.


Not sure why people are so negative about it. Its all about dropping the tire at low as it will go.


(at most youll have to add some bump stops. Youll have problems with the long arms hitting the floor.)
 
#15 ·
I say go for it. I was going to do it with my ZJ with 3 inches on 35s. But ended up getting rid of it by the time I had a chance to do it.

Not sure why people are so negative about it. Its all about dropping the tire at low as it will go.

(at most youll have to add some bump stops. Youll have problems with the long arms hitting the floor.)
Thanks! Idk why they are so negative either.... I personally love the idea of big tire/small lift, hell when I first got my jeep I ran 31s on no lift and loved it
 
#17 ·
I run 33's on 1.5" and DD my Jeep. Very drive able this way. And pretty capable off-road. People will always hate on other setups. I would love to see where this goes though. There is definitely potential.
 
#22 ·
I've been kicking around the idea of doing this with mine for a couple years now. 3.5" RE Superflex kit, trimmed fenders, Bushwackers, 33's. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on this cause I now have a garage that I'll be able to work in. IMO, if people don't understand the benefit of doing this, ignore them. Good luck.
 
#23 ·
Alright so now I'm in the process of ordering longer shocks, should I wait till I get the long arms installed and disconnect the shocks and measure how much travel I have? Cause I don't mind the coil dropping a good few inches but also don't want it falling out either lol
 
#24 ·
Thejeepnewbie said:
Alright so now I'm in the process of ordering longer shocks, should I wait till I get the long arms installed and disconnect the shocks and measure how much travel I have? Cause I don't mind the coil dropping a good few inches but also don't want it falling out either lol
If it were me I would wait and measure. Unless you really like spending money twice there's no reason not to wait and me sure. Since you are doing something that isn't well documented I don't think there's much you can go off of.
 
#25 ·
I ran T&T Customs y-link long arms on my XJ when it was sitting at 4" true lift height, turning 35s. The only thing that speaks against long- arming using the available bolt-on kits in general is one simple thing: radius arm long arms don't behave as well as a true 3-link or 4-link.That being said, radius arm long arms beat the hell out of short arm lift at as low as 3" lift height - unless you modify LCA and UCA brackets on the axle.


My solution on the ZJ was that I raised the LCA and UCA mounts on the axles by 3" (at the same time moved them back accordingly), thus maintaining original 4- link geometry using DIY adjustable short arms built with Metalcloak duroflex joints. The result? Amazing. Ride quality is the same as stock - if not better - and I can go through head- sized boulder sections on the trails @ 20-30mph :thumbsup: Compared to the brackets being at their original location and CAs at an angle, the difference is huge. Considering I'm using the same shocks, the difference came from just the angle of the CAs.


People saying it's pointless to long-arm (or modify CA brackets) @ 3" or even up at 4.5" of lift: sorry, but you don't have a clue.
When you lift a XJ, ZJ or TJ, things get messy very quickly. You can't fight physics/ geometry, and at as low as 3" of lift height the front axle suspension geometry is already messed up pretty badly. It goes even worse from there on. If you were to check what happens to the 4-link geometry at 3" or 4" of lift height, you'd be surprised.
 
#32 ·
So I spent all weekend workin on this and all I have left is the bump stops, but I got it all put together and driving, I didn't get many pictures of the install but I definitely think this was well worth the expense just bc of the ride quality improvement and the flex has changed drastically! The install was pretty straight forward but it did push the front axle forward about an inch or so since the lift was so small, the upper control arms were a pain to get off and ended up having to cut the bolts off and part of my glove and finger haha but if you're thinking about doing this, idk about anything other than the IRO long arms but you will have to move some exhaust around since the passengers arm over laps the exhaust by about a half inch or more and all the stock mounts have to come off, so if you don't feel comfortable cutting things off and making your jeep a permanent long arm jeep I wouldn't try this, you take a chance of cutting them off and the long arms causing an issue and you won't be able to bolt the stock stuff back up! Any questions feel free to ask!
 

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#36 ·
Alright so I've got two sets of shocks sitting around for this build, got them bc they were cheap and will help give me an idea about what imma like better with these long arms, I've got 2 sets of rustys Rx100s one is for a 4.5" lift and the other is for a 6" lift, I ran the 4.5" lift shocks in the before and after picture above, the 6" shocks I just put on tonight and will show tomorrow what it'll really do! They limit up travel very nicely, especially since I plan on running bigger tires, they will stop the axle at a very good point so I'm not running everything I can lol I'm new to the forums and I'm only 19 so I'm trying my nest to keep updating this post
 
#37 ·
You should not be using your shocks as bumpstops. And no way you should be running shocks built for a 6" lift on a 3" lift unless you have moved the mounting points quite a bit. Get some hockey pucks to extend your bumpstops and save your shocks. Check out Bilstein short body shocks if you want to keep any sort of uptravel, or just raise the lower mounting point of a set of 3" lift shocks. If you want to save money, find some JK Rubicon shocks, which should be longer than your stockers.

I don't really see the point of running longarms with a 3" lift and 31's. Maybe a custom 3/4 link, but not the IRO half radius kit. Or maybe if you were stuffing 35's in there and needed a lot of travel, but you can't be going through anything super tough with that little clearance. But since you already did it, which is fine, just get a decent shock in the correct length.
 
#39 ·
After running a 3" lift and 32's for a while, I learned that I needed a lot more ground clearance in the pointy east coast rocks. Went to a 4.5" lift, then needed more axle clearance, so I went to 35" tires. Cut a lot of fender, bumpstopped, and I thought it was a perfect setup. Still very low COG and stable, but plenty of clearance on the trails. I feel you will be very limited by your belly clearance and uptravel. Keeping the big tires out of your fenders means bumpstopping for very little uptravel, which means leaning the jeep over a lot more.


As far as the tires go, my advice is to upgrade everything you possibly can before going to 35s. I'm talking beefy steering, new unit bearings, better brakes pads and rotors, fix your drums or upgrade to rear disc brakes, and definitely gears/lockers/shafts. Upgrade anything you can to prevent trail breakage and repairs. Some guys will wing it and don't mind fixing stuff on the trails. I hated it, just a waste of time when I could be wheeling.


Gears for 35s should be 4.56 or 4.88. Get a good installer and a full case locker and beefy diff cover on the front will keep your gears intact. Aftermarket shafts and good u-joints on the front are almost a must. I ran an ARB and RCV's in the front axle for full beef. Still broke the ring gear from a bad install.
 
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