I've been doing alot of research on everything to do with Jeeps in an attempt to make make best decision for the best overall product (my jeep)... I'm a big quality guy, and believe spending a little more now, leads to saving alot down the road... So when it comes to suspensions, it seems that a long-arm kit is superior in every way to a short arm kit and will also lead your Jeep to having a longer life.. Correct me if I'm wrong with that assumption...

That being said, I've been looking at long arm kits and seen alot of them to choose from... But in the search, I haven't seen to good comparison on all the long arms against each other... BDS, Full Traction, and RE all seem to be top notch.. What do you guys think the pros and cons of each 6" long-arm kit are when compared to each other? And what are your opinions of each one?

 

well, before you convince yourself of going long arm, there are a few things you should take into consideration. first off, depending on how tall you want to go, a long arm kit simply isn't needed on a JK. unlike the TJ before which had really short arms, the JK has much longer arms right from the factory and i can assure you that you will be very happy with the ride it offers even as high as 4"-6". how do i know? i have been doing it for about a year now and now that i am running an Off Road Evolution front coilover and rear EVO lever setup, i can tell you that my ride and flex are as good as most long arm kits today and way flexier than an RE long arm kit which practically has no flex at all. here are a few recent of shots of my JK with TeraFlex short arms and the EVO setup...







another benefit of sticking with short arms is that you don't have arms to get hung up on obstacles. also, regarding flex, i can tell you that the currie rock jock kit by itself will give you more flex than an RE long arm kit.

now, am i saying that long arm kits are bad or that you shouldn't get one? not at all. they will still provide a great ride on road and will allow the geometry of your suspension to move more correctly. however, the cost and amount of work to get one on can be cost prohibitive for some and once again, depending on how tall you want to go, what size tire you plan on running and how much you've got to spend, you might want to give a good short arm kit another look first.

to specifically address your question, i have no experience with the BDS long arm kit so i cannot comment on it with any authority. RE makes high quality product but if you're looking for a kit that'll give you good flex, they themselves will be the first to tell you that you won't find it with their kit. FT also makes great products and of all the long arm kits I have seen, it offers the most flex as can be seen in this video that we took at SEMA last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMlpUd_c_e4

another good long arm kit i would recommend is the one made by teraflex. i have seen it up close and in action and can tell you that it's a great product as well.

 

If you only plan on running 35's, I would recommend FT's ultimate 3". I am very happy with it. Just search this forum and you can find all the honest feedback you need to make your decision. The same company names keep popping up over and over.

 

i would agree 100%. if you're just planning to run 35's, do yourself a favor and just get a good quality short arm kit. trust me, you won't regret it. but, if you plan on going 37's or bigger and have the cash, a good long arm kit would be something you might want to look into

 

Wayoflife - Thank you as that was a great, very informative post... I was originally leaning towards the OME set-up because of the on-road ride quality which is important to me as we have young ones... But with the front and rear bumper set-up I want to run, I don't believe the OME would give me the room to run 35's without rubbing or looking like too much tire for the truck... SO I than started reading, and read how LA's give an amazing ride on and off road, so I started looking into those more... I came to the 4" FT LA kit and it seems that it would give me everything I'm looking for and the ability to run 37's was a big plus... Maybe even the 6" FT LA is an option... I'm looking down the road as the geometry is a big thing in my mind to keeping the Jeep running and performing optimally 5-6 years down the road without putting undue pressure on the weak-points that will break down in the future.. You know what i mean? It seems like the RE is the most expense and performs the worst, so that's out... LOL And you mentioned the Teraflex kit.. How does that compare to the FT kit in ride and quality?

 

well, being that you are only going to be running 35's, i would strongly recommend that you just stick with a good short arm kit. trust me, you will not have any problems with this setup, it will provide a great ride and will not put any additional strain on your jeep that might cause it to fail. i personally have run the FT 3" ultimate lift on my JK for over a year with 35's and think this lift height and tire size is the perfect setup for the JK. with it, there simply was nowhere i couldn't go and the ride was outstanding. if you want to see pics of this setup, be sure to click on my photo gallery link in my sig.

if there is a downside to the FT kit, it is that it will need to be greased on a regular basis. failure to do so will result in some squeaking but this is true of most components on your jeep. now, i am currently testing out a TF 4" setup my JK and what is nice about it is that it has rubber bushings at the frame mounts which do a great job of absorbing road noise and do not require any maintenance - they do not squeak. the downside to this is that they do limit flex a bit but maybe not enough to really matter.

 

I went through the search process for nearly two months. I settled on a teraflex 4" full flex kit which takes advantage of both features of short and long. I installed it myself (the first one I ever installed) it took me about 12 hours but if someone was experienced they could save 3-4 hours. The instructions are very clear. I am running 35" but could easily run 37"s. I have put about 250 miles on it since I finished it and it rides way better then stock. I like the look and was very pleased with the quality of the parts and the detail of the instructions. I can't comment on the others that you are looking at in a real world situation but I know compared to the Skyjacker and ProComp systems that are common in my area there is no comparison. Good luck and enjoy the process I did.

 

Are the main differences between the 3 and 4" kits the spring size or do they resize the control arms for that 1"?

 

for only 35's i would highly recommend the bds 3" kit. i have it on my jeep and it is a truly incredible riding lift and i have had not a slingle issue with it so far. plus the no questions asked warranty is the best i have seen so far. plus i think the kit looks great for 35's. the kit is super easy to install yourself, did mine in about 4 hours total. here are some pics of my jeep before and after

 

If you have questions about TeraFlex kits, please give me a call.