Howdy all, so I've narrowed down after months of research to deciding how I want to proceed with me never ending project on my 2014 Unlimited Rubicon. Ultimate goal is to get 37" Nitto trail grapplers with factory fenders and not have to limit up travel so much with taller bump stops. Looking at 17x9 wheels with 4.5" BS or 17x8.5s with 4.75" BS. With that being said, I've narrowed down the lift to the Synergy 4.5" lift with the high steer correction kit, will also be adding their tie rod and ball joints and reinforcing the axle with inner sleeve and C-gusssets. Now for the million dollar question, at 4.5" of lift on the 4 door, will the difference be night and day and worth the extra money to go from the stage 3 short arm ( all 8 adjustable control arms) to the stage 4 long arm kit. I'm stuck on this because I see so many brands over both short arm and long arm at 4.5" of lift and even the AEV lift at 4.5" seems to get a lot of praise just with the mounts it uses and no adjustable control arms. Little bit about the jeep/usage, will be a daily driver with the bi-monthly offroad trips at most, not looking to do anything hardcore right away but with time and more experience I'm sure that will follow. My philosophy comes down to doing it right the first time so if anyone can chime in with their experience from driving anything 4.5" or taller with short arms over long arms and if the difference is worth it or not. Or for anyone else, regrets not going right to long arms? Or regrets going to long arm and not really noticing much difference, any help or experiences or advice is much appreciated. Another question, does the long arm kit at 4.5" of lift help to reduce any wear and tear on steering/suspension parts as well over the short arm lift? Should add I already have the Fox ATS Steering stabilizer and Fox Factory Series Piggybacks with adjusters if that makes any difference where the short arm would be good enough at 4.5"s with the synergy lift. Also any recommendations on the 4.5 lift with factory fenders and the wheels I choose? Its between the 17x9 wheels with 4.5" BS or 17x8.5s with 4.75" BS, as I would like to avoid rubbing but also want to keep much of the tire from being exposed passed the fender. I truly appreciate any first hand experience from people who have debated these things themselves and welcome vendors/manufactures to chime in as well.

 

Can't help with the long arm questions, but I think that a few people around here will suggest a lower backspace to move those 37's out further, and probably more bumpstop if you are wanting to keep the stock flares. With minimal bumpstop and stuffing the tires up inside the stock flares, I would guess that you will be contacting both the frame and the flares.

 

If you care about the ride on the road, you might want to get a long arm: I have short arms and that height and it's really rough. The Mrs' long arm is much more comfy. Agree though, more backspacing. Or buy my 4.5 bs wheels so I can get more bs wheels

Edit: good choice on Synergy btw! Do it right the first time. The long arm lift will make your control arm parallel to the surface of the road again after lifting. If you go short arm, they'll be at a much steeper angle that makes the ride rough. When they're flat, it allows them to pivot on the frame mounted end where as the short arm doesn't pivot as well and (not the best way to describe it) "jams" up into the frame transferring that bump all the way up to your back.

 

You should be looking at 3.5" bs wheels. A long arm will be better IF the geometry is designed right. Just going long arm is not necessarily going to improve ride but a properly done one will and will reduce the amount of axle shift during articulation due to the flatter curve of the arc.

You comment on not wanting to run longer bumps is moot if you are doing high steer as you will need around 3" of extra bump to keep the drag link from hitting the frame unless you plan on cutting out the frame.

The long arms will have no affect on steering except for the minimizing of axle shift. If you are concerned about steering I would look into hydraulic assist. 37" tires are simply going to put more wear and tear on ball joints, TRE's, and unit bearings so just plan on more maintenance as there is little you can do to prevent this without upgrading to heavier axles.

I ran 5.5" of lift with a short arm with 37's and it was the worst riding suspension I have run to date and could be down right scary off road with the body roll at that height.

 

Longer arms will help at any lift height as well as flatter arms.

 

I am no suspension guru by any means, but i am pretty sure if you want the stock flares and 37s your gonna have to bumpstop quite a bit, no matter if you go with a 2.5" lift or 8" lift.

 

For sure - Probably like 4" bumpstops if you run 3.5" BS rims. I ran 37s for a week before cutting the fenders - they don't really stuff up inside the fender too well.

 

Ok so seems to me the minimal bump stop I will need is about 3 to 4" because of the stock fenders and using the synergy steering correction kit(flipped drag link) and 3.5" BS wheels to prevent minimal rub. Now for the sack of weighing all my options, if I went with the synergy stage 3, 3" lift, 37x12.5 Nitto TGs and flat fenders like the Nemesis Odyssey flares, would I still need 3.5" of BS on the wheels? I guess what I'm getting at is minnesota has pretty strict fenders laws regarding tires so I'm looking for the best route to keep tires covered as much as possible. Also with the 3" lift and Nemesis Odyssey Flares could I get away with less bump stop? I know I've put myself in a hard place here to where it might not be possible to have my cake and eat it also.

 

With taller/wider tires, you need to move them out to keep them from contacting the frame or other components. You can try adding a bunch of washers to the steer stops, but some people actually like to be able to turn...

 

You're going to need about 3" of bump regardless of what flares you run if you're running a drag link flip with a raised track bar bracket.