Long Arm or Drop Box

[jccatt]

Ok Jeepers lets here your pro's and cons for either a long arm kit or drop boxes.


I'm in the drop box camp to keep the arms level the same as the stock set up.

[OrangeXJ]

I have long arms and love them

[jccatt]

Cool Greg. Its good to here other peoples experience, usually I change my mind then :D

[OrangeXJ]

I have a 4.5 LA lift and my son has a 7 LA lift they both ride much smother than stock

[JeepinOutfitters]

My XJ is running about 5" of lift with drop brackets, and my wife's TJ had a 4.5" long-arm kit on it.

The biggest pro for drop brackets is price. If you've already got a suspension lift with aftermarket control arms you can reuse the arms with drop brackets, or if you're starting from stock and aren't planning on doing a lot of off-roading you can keep the stock control arms with drop brackets. If you're planning on doing a lot of wheeling, particularly in areas that will flex the suspension a lot, I'd recommend aftermarket flex arms either way so at that point drop brackets start to loose some of their cost advantage.

Probably the biggest down side is the loss in ground clearance under the control arm mounts, but that may or may not be a huge issue. With ~5" of lift and 35s, I've had very little issues with clearance under the drop brackets. It's pretty rare that I hit them on anything, and so far they've never actually hung me up. The control arms have gotten scraped up quite a bit though, and my driver's side arm is actually slightly bent from landing on a ledge.

Depending on the kit, long-arms can have much greater ground clearance. They'll also work better with taller lifts (<6"). They cost a lot more though, and are more involved to install. Most long-arm kits are also not reversible since most require cutting off the factory lower control arm mounts. Some long-arm kits (T&T Customs, Rough Country) also come with high clearance belly pans, gaining you even more ground clearance over the stock parts. The flip side is that you usually have to drop the belly pan, and hence the whole front suspension, if you need to drop the t'case or transmission. I doubt many guys are having to remove t'cases or transmissions all that often so IMHO that's not a deal breaker (it might be for some people though).

Some long arm kits use stand-alone arm mounts that set the arms below the frame rails. Designs like this are usually less expensive since they don't use full belly pans, but you don't get nearly as much ground clearance gains, and in come cases you actually loose ground clearance at the crossmember. These kits would be fine if you're doing wheeling that doesn't necessarily need a lot of clearance, like desert stuff and prerunning (or just building a cool street Jeep).

As far as ride goes, for the same height, springs, and shocks, I doubt you'd be able to tell any difference between drop brackets and long arms, unless you were doing a really tall lift, like over 6".

[Marsbar]

Yeah James, I'm glad you have asked this question. I'm thinking of Drop Boxes coz if I get hit by the Fun Police it would be easier to convert back to stock.

Now my question is, which of the drop boxes is better or isn't really any difference between the brands and is one brand easier to fit than the others.

I'm running 4.5" lift in the front & wont ever go any bigger. Price has steered me towards drop boxes as not only the purchase price good but freight is a killer to AUSSIE for a long arm kit

[JeepinOutfitters]

Yeah James, I'm glad you have asked this question. I'm thinking of Drop Boxes coz if I get hit by the Fun Police it would be easier to convert back to stock.

Now my question is, which of the drop boxes is better or isn't really any difference between the brands and is one brand easier to fit than the others.

I'm running 4.5" lift in the front & wont ever go any bigger. Price has steered me towards drop boxes as not only the purchase price good but freight is a killer to AUSSIE for a long arm kit

Comparing Rubicon Express and Rough COuntry, Rubicon's drop bracket kit is stronger due to their stronger braces. I haven't heard of any failures with the Rough Country kit though, and it is quite a bit less expensive than RE's, and slightly easier to install.

From everything I've read, the outback is notoriously hard on vehicles, so I'd probably recommend going with RE in your case.

[Mudderoy]

Andy's long arms was the way to go for me!

Recently when Jason put the RC drops on sale I thought about it and figured I'd go with the easier installation drops for now and then get the long arms later.

Really I've just done and have so many things to do on my Jeep I just don't want another big project of putting on the long arms. My God those things are sexy though, and painted red.... well you guys understand.

I'll be able to report on the RC drops here soon. Just gotta get them installed.

[Carves]

Ok Jeepers lets here your pro's and cons for either a long arm kit or drop boxes.


I'm in the drop box camp to keep the arms level the same as the stock set up.


If I was interested in anything over a 2" lift ... Id be factoring in dropbox costs on top of the suspension & driveline bits.

The, back the front, trailing arm suspension, that jeep uses on the front axles, is IMHO .... dependant on fairly horizontal control arms to achieve, best driving performance, minimal wear & tear on the bushes, and reduced transmission/shock, of bangs and bumps to the tinfoil mounts, spot welds ... and the seat of the pants ;) :D

Its not a faulty design as such .... In fact I like it for its ability to allow a solid axle in a vehicle - that otherwise wouldnt meet nanny state crumple rate requirements if it had front leaf springs.

....... but push, the end of a broom handle across a piece of corrugated roofing iron, quickly - at various different angles .... and you'll get an idea of what the control arm mounts and bushes are dealing with ... due to increased angles from to lifts without dropboxes or long arms.

For many short trippers / weekend warriors, its not such an issue .... but if you're doing bigger miles, and speeds .... on our crappy roads, outside of the capital cities down here .... Its worthwhile understanding/appreciating the angles and dangles of the control arm / live axle setup ... especially as the lift heights get bigger.

The only downfall I can see for the dropboxes is that there is a perceived clearance issue ..... which may pan out to be true for some people getting hooked up on ledges or rocks.


I think SteveF on the aussie forum, gave a fair rundown on dropbox benefits in various local situations, to his after he fitted them ... and not sure but I think junglejuice may have em as well ??

[Marsbar]

If I was interested in anything over a 2" lift ... Id be factoring in dropbox costs on top of the suspension & driveline bits.

I think SteveF on the aussie forum, gave a fair rundown on dropbox benefits in various local situations, to his after he fitted them ... and not sure but I think junglejuice may have em as well ??

Yeah I think if I was running 35's like SteveF, it would be a no brainer that long arms would be going in before the tyres....Yeah I just txt Juice & he has adjustable front arms to correct his front-end(drive it straight up the road)problems in his XJ because his wife uses it as a daily driver & they do heaps of Touring/Hi-way driving + JJ is only running about 1" lift atm....

My Truck only gets used for trail/rock climbing work but I'm thinking of doing Camp Coffs & Blue Mountains Jambo next year + the XJ drives like a pig(prob coz its a Trail Pig) so those long drives down from QLD will drive me nuts....:bang:

I've calculated with Drop Boxes & my shock bottom mounts extended I'll get another 2" drop......I've planned to go up to 285/75-16's before the Jambo trip so tyre wear is also a worry.

Thanks for the heads up, so I'll check out Steve's report on AJOR:thumbsup:

Cheers,

AL