socaldozer

When I get back from deployment Im going to be lifting my 12 but can't decide what to do.
I was dead set on coilovers but coilovers plus a long arm kit is pretty expensive up front so I want to do one or the other then upgrade later.
What would be more beneficial, A long arm kit ( suggestions are welcomed. Was thinking a teraflex elite kit or RK 3.5)
or just getting coilovers with the stock arms for now.
I do more desert driving than rock crawling at the moment but I do like both.

chknkatsu

I say do long arms. Proper geometry matters more than expensive coils. And doing the long arms first opens up your options a lot more as far as lifting it higher

69mach1

You're going to be limited by your "stock" control arms with great coil overs. When I increased my articulation up front I destroyed the stock upper control arm bushings in one outing. I have Currie adjustable "short arms(stock length)" and articulation is great. I have Terraflex and Bilstein 5100's, not for fast desert driving like the coil overs from EVO On another note if you do fast desert driving with either setup I would think a prorock44 or Teraflex dana 44 housing would be needed to avoid bending the housing on a hard hit(bump, dip, etc...)

2 cents from the Peanut gallery

TeraFlex

Long arms first for better suspension geometery. Combine it with SpeedBumps and Fox shocks for great high speed dessert driving.

socaldozer

Are the speed bumps hydraulic or air? was actually considering the pre runner kit but wasnt sure how it would do in the rocks as far as wheel travel goes

and also I saw there is 2 different long arm kits for 2.5 inch long arm and 3+ for the elite LCG's. what are the diffrences?

TeraFlex

SpeedBumps use a special foam inside them. When you set the SpeedBumps up, you can set the fronts to when the axle starts to hit them. The 2.5" kit use a straight rear lower arm vs. the curved arms of the 3"-6" series. I'm using 4" front SpeedBumps in the rear and front of Dozercon.

socaldozer

thanks for that info!
does anyone know a good bolt on long arm kit? I would much rather do it my self than spend 2k on labor

alanscott1

Off the top of my head I know Full traction has a bolt on long arm kit and Evo has their Double D long arm kit as well.

StrizzyChris

Dessert driving or Pre-running? If you are pre-running you seriously need to consider going LA kit for handling. To run any coilover kit on the market right now you will need at minimum a front drive shaft, a rear drive shaft(since your a 2 door) and adjustible Control arms. You can function on a short arm with adjustible end links until you are ready to later upgrade(if you have your mind set on coilovers first. If it were me, I would do the LA lift first then later upgrade to coilovers. This would reduce the amount of purchasing items twice.

If your talking rocks, then they wouldnt hinder your crawling performance. If you are pre-running, then you need to revisit above for a LA kit recomendation first.

there are many short arm which by default is a bolt on kit....and also many other LA kits like Evo and Full traction, but you can do a google seach and youll see even more brands

socaldozer

Awesome I didn't know the Evo kit was bolt on. I am just into desert driving right now and crawling when I can. I like going fast to but the jeep can't handle that right now.
You guys are very helpful and I will do some more research when I'm at home on the computer.