I just ordered the Zone 3 inch with their Nitro shocks... I'm not sure how much better the Nitros are but I liked them because they are black... anyway I am gearing up for a 4 day wheelin trip with the club and had a budget of about $2800 to upgrade the rig.

Yes I have read the FAQs on lifts and spoke to other club members and local shops, but I'm getting mixed opinions on the whole control arm/drive shaft situation.

After tires, gears, diff cover, lift, track bar, winch, and skid pans I'm down to about $500... I am debating between rock sliders or maybe control arms... no, I cannot buy all 8 arms right now, but maybe lower front and or upper rear...

I went with a low budget lift due to other expenses and within a year I'll be upgrading to a long arm kit and don't want to waste money on CAs right now.. or should I?

So the question remains... *2 door manual 3 inch lift, 35s* Control arms or rock sliders???

and yes, I wheel regularly, believe it or not Florida has all kinds of rocks to play on...

Thank for the input.

 

I'd put the lift on, drive it and see if you even need any CA's, if your ok with the handling, then dont get em.

 

This should answer the question. You may need control arms. You WILL need rails.

 

Rails a must. Ca might not be. I don't have them but I do have rails

 

Since your on a budget, I would go with AEV control arm brackets($99.00) http://www.quadratec.com/products/16502_4300.htm I put them on my rig with a 4 inch lift and they do what they are meant to do. The only down side is they drop your front lower control arm bracket about 2 inches.

 

If you are going to upgrade soon then don't worry about it. Since you have the money for a long arm I'm sure you will be replacing the rear driveshaft then any way. Your DS is not going to instantly explode in the next 10K miles. Do a search and lots of people run the stock drive shafts at 3in lift with no problems. That said do not expect the stock DS to last the life of the jeep at that much of an angle. Sounds like you need rock sliders more.