I am looking to upgrade my 2 door from my 4" teraflex with flex arms to something that rides better and has more articulation and offroad manners. I have a full weight rig with full bumpers with winch/tire carrier and rocker protection. Currently running 315/75-16 and not sure if I want to go with 35s or 37s on the new setup. I do already have 4.88s gears from the previous owner with a 6MT.

I have been trying to get good answers on whether to stay short arm or go long arm and to stay with a good coil spring/shock combo or go coilover

 

Personally, I'd look at long arm and coilover as the next logical step. The tires are going to dictate that. For size, 35's are kind of the stepping off point for upgraded axles. Not sure what you're running at this point for axles, but even with the F&R D44 setup, 37's will hurt it offroad, maybe not today, but it will happen in time.

 

I am already planning to upgrade to a aftermarket front 44 housing. I do not feel the need for the cost and weight with 60s as I do not plan to go past 37s on the tire size.


I have searched and read some threads on short vs. long and none of the answers seem to get answered in terms of why one is better or worse.

 

A good long arm set up will give you better ride but there are really no good long arm kits out there, they are ok but still relies on factory axle bracketry and marginal placement of new frame mounts due to the constraints of the JK. Look into either Metal Cloak or Synergy for a couple of the best short arm kits on the market, mainly due to the type of joints they use on their links. Since you are looking at tires make sure you avoid an E rated tire for a more comfortable ride. I would not bother with coil overs unless you are doing a custom suspension and doing more then 12" of travel. With todays double and triple rate coils that are available you can get the same basic performance without the expanse and hassle of installing coil over towers or having expensive coil overs hanging out back that can be easily damaged.