JK with Nth Degree 4" lift

[Bob_Sheaves]

SIDEBAR Information

yeah, when i first saw the kit i thought that it solved many of the probs w/ standard donut bushings or heim type joints re wear.
however talking to installers at last yrs offroad expo in pomona, they said that there were probs w/ the bushings and that nth was adressing them.
not sure if mult durometers was the fix. i hope they got it fixed as their kit seemed to be a good design.
bushings have been the weak link in RE/FullTraction/Fabtech/etc. never understood why they could not get them to last as long as OEM rubber.
maybe they finally found a good source.
i am about 1.5 yrs out of the jeep research (so my comments are dated) but thinking bout the JK if they put a hemi in it.

The issues are simple in that the original design of the suspension is an over-constrained 5 link design. What many people do not understand is that the bushings ARE a part of the overall spring rate of this suspension design, as the panhard rod over-constrains the axle and the only method of movement is through the compression of the bushings. When you lift a vehicle suck as TJ or JK, you place even greater stress on all the rubber bushings in the system, due again, to the changes in the axle position.

If you were to have infinitely stiff control arms and panhard rod, replace the rubber bushings with rigid u-joints having 2 degrees of freedom, and tried to cycle the suspension, you would find that it would only move towards jounce or rebound, to the extent of the assembly clearance between bolts and mating components (the "slop" in the joints).

This can all be corrected, but the correction effort is neither quick, nor cheap.

Best regards,

Bob Sheaves
CEO
catNET Incorporated
http://www.catnetsolutions.com

 

[LJRockstar]

I'm running a 6" Nth LA system on my LJ, I have not had any of these issues that you are talking about. I have close to 15,000 miles on the system with several really rough days on the rocks. It rides smooth as silk on the Pavement and is amazing off road. The only trouble I have run into so far is the Swaybar links that came with the kit kept popping out usually in the middle of an exit ramp or something. I remedied it by installing an ORO swayloc. There is definately cheaper ways to fix the problem but the ORO swaybar works really well.

As long as you keep everything greased it's fine.