i have stripped every thread out of my rear upper control arms of my 4 in full traction kit, all my bushings are worn and should have been replaced a year ago. the rear upper control arms are welded to stay in place right now and i cant even get new 35's because it wouldnt fit the way the arms are welded right now. the 2 new upper arms are 400$ and im not that happy with the lift anyways. ive been saving up and my dad is chipping in and for x-mas im getting the rustys long arm upgrade and a set of new km2's i think its a pretty good set up and im looking forward to it. let me know what yall would do cause i still have a week or two to really make up my mind.

 

I understand what your saying. If your set on the Rusy's long arm upgrade go for it. Hell I run their short arm. Your D44s will be fine, but from what you've said you wheel hard. So definetely upgrade shafts, gussets and possibly sleeve over time.

 

You can definitely build a pair of D44's ton handle 37's. Here's what you'll want to do:

-RCV shafts up front (or at least good cromo shafts)
-Cromo shafts for the rear wheels
-Inner and outer sleeves on the front axle, or even better a full width truss. Just make VERY certain that the welder putting that truss in knows how to do it without bending your axle.
-Better quality ball joints
-Truss the rear axle (you did say that you play hard)
-Gusset the inner C's of the front axle
-Regear to 5.13's instead of 5.38's - yes the shorter gears would be nice with 37's, but the shorter gears mean a smaller pinion, which may become your weak point.

If you really have some coin to spend, you can look at the following:
-Switch over to heavier knuckles, or run the Spyntec conversion kit and 5 on 5.5 pattern wheels on the stock knuckles.
-Upgrade the front tie rod and run a hydro assist system


Most important: sit down with a calculator and determine where YOU want the weak point in your drivetrain to be. What will be the "fuse" that will break when you overload it? Here's a hint...you don't want the fuse to be your ring and pinion.

 

As the other guy said, sleeve, gusset, you'll be fine on 37's. Long arms on a JK really dont make a big enough difference to justify the cost/hassle IMO. They can be a PITA to install.

My avatar is my JK with "short" arms. Flexes very well. JK's have pretty long arms stock, I'd stay with that.

Your asking us which tire size, long arms or not, AND axle requirements?? And your supposedly buying the long arms next week you said?? Dude between your lift, axle replacements (if you do that) and new tires, your looking at like 15 grand...You need to think this out a little better.

 

I suggested RCVs as they rarely break. In researching my PR44 Dynatac said they have never had an RCV break in a PR44.

I disagree with the poster on 5.13s. This is honest difference of opinion, not one of those one is right/one is wrong. My opinion is that if you spin your tires and they grip, then you can easily break the pinion and whether it is 5.38 or 5.13 or 4.88 won't matter a lot. It will break.

 

Sweet Jeep man! How much actual lift did you gain with that RK 3.5 Kit? How is the ride quality on the road?

 

Isn't Rusty's 'long arm' kit a radius arm? You might want to look into that and make sure that is what you want. Long arm kits ride better because the forces that come through the arms are displaced further back on the frame and because the geometry angles of the arms. Also there are less geometry changes as the suspension cycles with a long arm kit. The long arm will increase travel but if you go bigger, you will need to open up your fenderwells more and install longer bumpstops in order to use it all. Or add a bodylift. That was mentioned already previously.
I would HIGHLY recommend talking with a few techs from some of the manufacturers. I spoke to one and he told me that issues with the ESP and other sensors can be magnified with long kits on JKs, this is because of increased body sway and the suspension's ability to sway.

Your axles are an issue and this is a large area of debate. A stock dana 44's only advantage over a dana 30 is its pinion size, otherwise it has the same tubes, etc. Definately do as suggested, beef it up, it is cheap insurance. Then, especially if you are planning on 37s, start a fund for parts. You may never need or you might need it. For every persom who says you blow it you will find someone who says theirs didn't. Bottomline line you can break any part if you wheel it hard enough.

Take your time, do plenty of research, a long arm kit is a big jump because of the frame cutting and welding involved. Good luck and enjoy.

 

Long arm kits DO NOT give you more travel. Longer shocks do. Long arms ride SLIGHTLY better than the stock " mid arm" set up. Jk's DON'T HAVE SHORT ARMS. Long arm kits do reduce ground clearance and break over angles. IMHO, if you crawl you will see little to no difference in performance. If you are a speed demon or drive a street queen it will make a larger difference.

 

well the upgrade is 1500 and 500 to install and tires are..... 390 a piece..... the tires are a gift and the lift is also and i will have about 800$ left. so yall are saying that if i fix my FT 4" lift and keep 35's and do some axle upgrades it would be better than keeping 35's and getting the long arm upgrade? ive made up my mind finally im sticking with 35's. the real question is, will the upgrade be worth it? to fix my FT kit i need all new bushings and new upper control arms. the arms are 400$ and idk about the bushings.

 

My bad, I left that out about the shocks...I was thinking of a complete kit where the shocks generally are matched to the other components.