Self explanatory. Going to be putting long arms on my 4-door and am looking for suggestions and explanations behind them other than "it's what I have and they're great" type stuff. If anyone has anything technical to say then go for it, please.

I'm leaning toward Rock Krawler, but am open to suggestions. The jeep will sit about 4-4.5" high and will eventually be using 14-16" travel struts or coilovers. Would rather steer clear of making my own, I've looked into that some and it wouldn't be worth it for me. Not enough resources to create a large enough price difference for the slight gain in performance I might be able to accomplish.

Aaaaaannd GO! Thanks in advance.

 

What are you looking for? More street time would demand something with more clevite bushings whereas a trail toy could go with arms that are all Johnny joints. The synergy appears to retain the function of adjustability on the vehicle. It's not really a factor once you've got the lengths dialed in. Metalcloak makes their twist n lock arms, they could be a good mix between street and trail.

Dirtman has a review written up online where he compares the various joints with their pros/ cons.

 

For now it is my daily driver, but I take it offroad almost daily as well. Adjustability on the vehicle isn't of any concern to me. Once they are on as you say, it's not an issue. Unless you don't know how to tighten jam nuts and they come loose haha.

I'd prefer to stay away from Johnny joints as they can be noisy and require more service than I would like, Metalcloak's duroflex seem nice but I have read about them not really being designed for long arms or something. Guy didn't expound upon that theory much. I'd also be worried about them flexing a lot and wearing out eventually.

The RK get me with the lifetime warranty on hard parts, solid steel large diameter stock they use, the fact I've never heard anything bad about them, but the teraflex seem pretty similar.

I guess I would like to hear some opinions on RK vs TF, but I also still want to hear about others as well. Not just as far as the joints go either. Shape, length, on road quality, etc. Are there things that make one brand very discernible over the others? Etc.

 

There are a fair amount of instances of TF arms ripping off the frame - whether or not that is design or welder error, still something to think about.

Personally, I'd go for the joint - most arms are going to be similar in build, strength, etc so the real difference is in the joints. MC doesn't make long arms, however I have their short arms and love their joints. I had TF short arms and their joints are garbage, didn't last long, constant re-greasing, and pressing in new ones was a chore. Synergy's new DDB joints seem like a good option.

JJ's or knock off's (like TF) seem like something that were a break through when they first came out, but now that manufacturing capabilities have improved and you can get a single piece design with the same (or better, with more rotation) characteristics, I don't see the benefit of having the old style - more pieces, more work, less longevity.

If I were going long arm I'd go for synergy, purely for the joints.

 

I always been a fan of Claytons long arm. The front IS a radius arm but huge and with JJ's.

 

I can say that if you are worried about wearing out bushings - RKs warranty doesn't cover them. They are covered for 1 year though. I had issues with them and after some persuading they sent me the adjustment tool for both sizes on my arms and replaced a worn out heim that was under 6 months old.

 

The issue of Teraflex's brackets was corrected about four years ago with a front redesign and rear reinforcement. So, no longer an issue. They have several long arm options with flex joints or all clevite, and with fixed length arms or adjustable. Getting great reports about their Alpine long arms, adjustable clevite.

Their lower flex joints are as good as any, the issue is with their uppers. IMHO they are too small and can't handle the weight & stresses placed on them. The front uppers are further affected by exhaust heat. I tested insulating the brackets & joints and had good results. The joints held up quite well. Moving forward, I'm currently testing their clevite joints in the front upper position. Wear issue has been eliminated and I've not noticed any trail negatives. they seem impervious to the heat in that location.

 

I am going to upgrade to a long arm in the next year and my choice is going to be the EVO Double D for one simple reason, it is the long arm kit Mel Wade uses on all his vehicles even EVO1 that he races. Nothing special for the race Jeep. The other reason is the Double D uses Johnny Joints and the arms can be adjusted on the vehicle. Additionally the rear control arm brackets are moved from the bottom of the frame to the side for more ground clearance. Lastly the Double D is a 4 link system where as Rock Krawler is a three link. I prefer redundancy. During the 2013 JKX one JKU that was running a 3 link rear had the axle mount break and ended up needing to be towed off the trail which was the Rubicon.

R/
Will

 

You can use metal cloak joints on a long arm. The fact I broke one of their early joints is why the the myth of not running on a long arm started. Their new design with the forged end works fine and I run them. I would run Johnny joints or ballistic joints over the RK joints. Johnny joints for cost and availability of replacement parts and the ballistic is a design that rock krawler basically copied in their new joint. I feel the ballistic joint has a better fit and finish. I would not run Teraflex long arms as the difference in lengths of the upper and lower links is too much an creates pinion angle issues when you flex it out. I prefer a 4 link on the rear as well and that JKU that had the rear 3 link failure was due to a poor bridge design and not the fact it was a 3 link. Over all build dictates though and depends on how much you want to get into it with a fuel cell and frame cutting. I would think you are going to have a hard time running 16" travel shocks on a bolt on long arm kit. If you want to optimize the performance of the long arm and long travel you really are better off doing a custom suspension, if you just want to brag about running a long arm and long travel shocks but don't care about how they perform then just buy a Rough Country or Rubicon express long arm and save the cash.

 

Is this the joint you are talking about ? Nice looking joint. Wouldn't say its a copy of RK's or vise versa. Looks alot different.