BDS lift kit

[Root Moose]

Personally i think a radius arm setup can work well in an Overland rig... unless you plan to use all your suspension travel often.

daily driver - weekend explorer / wheeler... not the type to be hauled on a trailer obviously...

IMO, radius arms would be fine for your usage.

If you are considering a four link versus a radius arm due to the caster curve being better with the four link I think that is not a good criteria to base a decision on. While it is valid from a physics point of view the relative difference is so minor to not really be felt through the steering wheel.

Radius arms are harder on bushings and they don't have the ultimate flex that a three or four link may have but exactly how much flex do you need on an overlanding rig? Even with the radius arms you may want to add heavy bump stops and/or limiting straps.

The negative that gets thrown out about radius arms is that they unload during steep climbs. How much of an issue is this? I can't answer that for you.

FWIW, full size Broncos, coiler Land Cruisers, Land Rovers and Galendewagens have been using long arms for a long time. It's simple, strong, and "good enough" especially for an overlanding rig.

does anyone have anything to say about RubiconExpress' "Y" style long arm kits? reliability wise - on-road comfort?

Another kit I haven't seen in the buff. The only quibble I've heard about it was that the mounting to the uni-rails is "interesting" and made adding rocker rails challenging. This may be old data from when the kit first came out. Research it further.

 

[OverlandZJ]

does anyone have anything to say about RubiconExpress' "Y" style long arm kits? reliability wise - on-road comfort?

Another kit I haven't seen in the buff. The only quibble I've heard about it was that the mounting to the uni-rails is "interesting" and made adding rocker rails challenging. This may be old data from when the kit first came out. Research it further.

I run RE longarms, with a twist. When i bought them the kit was still unavailable for the XJ, so the mounting wasnt completed. I used them in conjunction with Claytons crossmember and it's working out just fine for me.

I had no issue with the crossmember and RockyRoad rockrails, but the rails were gone shortly after i quit the rocks.

FWIW, if i had it to do over again, i'd opt for Claytons kit. The Johnny joints are larger and the setup just seems to have more beef. Check out Stump's build.. he runs them and seems happy.

For the record, my RE arms have held up fine. I do think i'm about due for a JJ rebuild which is cheap and easy enough.

I think i posted before about chasing a decent onroad ride once i went above 4.5", i hated the road manners till the LA setup. Then the addition of a good front shock made all the difference in the world. Bilsteins were worth their weight in gold for me.

 

[alosix]

does anyone have anything to say about RubiconExpress' "Y" style long arm kits? reliability wise - on-road comfort?

When I was running a shop, most guys really like it on-road. I run a mix of old school tera and handmade stuff I can't comment personally.

We did use the kit on a competition TJ. We beat the crap out of that rig and never had any issues with the arms.

RE is also nice to work with and the parts to rebuild the joints are pretty cheap. I run the same bushing/joints on my LA setup that RE uses, no issues so far.

 

[fireman33]

You should really consider this kit from iron rock offroad...excellent quality and awesome service...I run theire long arm kit on my wj and they are awesome.
http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merc...en=PROD&Store_Code=IROR&Product_Code=IR-X_6LK

 

[Backwoods Rambler]

My vote is for the BDS kit since it uses 4 bushings and no hard joints that will transfer a lot of road noise and vibration on you daily drive. Although I absolutely LOVE the TnT stuff, I'm a bigger fan these days of having 4 front control arms with bushings, hence my XJ's setup with JK control arms.

I do wish that JKS Mfg offered a 4 arm long-arm kit with thier patented swivel points for my WJ. That would be the Bee's Knees!

 

[Nikson]

from all the info i've been gathering around the "world"... this is what I would like to do...

4 1/2 lift (+/-)

Would like to stick with most of the OME components, such as shocks & rear leafs.

The only fight now... is up to the front control arms.

For better onroad manners, so far most everyone says that longs arms are the way to go, since they are more "parallel" to the ground, thus softer ride overall.

Rear will be medium duty OME leafs (to compensate for the extra weight of the gear)...

OME shocks are one of the better ones (unless someone would like to suggest otherwise based on personal experience).

Now, just need to decide if a "Y-link" (RE or similar), 3-link or 4-link by Claytons or BDS would be the better choice to go with.
============================

Found a nice Ford 8.8 rear axle for $100 at a local junkyard, so it will be a good set up with my Dana30HP.

Plan is to run Eaton Elockers front/rear w/4.88s & 35 KM2s

 

[Root Moose]

FWIW, I won't run a three link on a Jeep that sees lots of on-road usage. Three link is trail ********** only thing as far as I am concerned.

The components you've settled on so far is decent stuff - can't go wrong.

My short list if I was buying a long arm set up today (alphabetical order):

BDS
Clayton
Full Traction
RE
TNT

or

RE drop brackets

or "homemade" arms (yeah, like I have that kind of time).

Criteria:

Types of joints used:

- replaceable
- serviceable
- type (rubber versus poly versus heims - I would never put heims on a vehicle that sees a lot of on-road usage either)
- NVH effects by joint type.
- environmental effects on joint type

Geometry:

- radius arms versus four link versus drop brackets
- suspension movement clearance at desired ride height
- how much flex is "enough"?
- wheel arc/travel in the front wheel well
- caster gain/loss arc at desired steady state ride height
- effects on anti-squat and anti-dive (relative OEM)


Install Complexity:

- required welding and cutting of OEM components
- replacement of OEM components with heavier duty or lower MTBF components (geometry can play a role here)
- opportunities to replace ancillary components at the same time with stronger/better components (e.g. belly pan, steering, Panhard, etc.)


Cost

- Bang for the buck versus actual cost
- Can items be "staged" a bit at a time?
- what other costs will be revealed when install is completed - what needs to be replaced to work with the new components properly


I'm probably forgetting some stuff.

Compare your intended usage against these different points and you'll probably end up with a shorter product list.

Or just bolt some random stuff on and make it work.



HTH

 

[gasman]

i have run the BDS 6 1/2 long arm on my 95 xj,, excellent kit, tons of flex, the first few times off road it scared the pants off me, i thought i was gonna flip, the kit took me everywhere i wanted to go , my only suggestion would be to make sure you get the upgraded track bar, and drop bracket that comes with it, it might be standard on the kit now, i had issues with the first trac bar , the bushing wore out after 2 yrs , shortly after i replaced the bushing my trac bar snapped , luckily i was on the street and there was no traffic, , BDS replaced the trac bar under warranty but i paid the differance to upgrade, with the 6.5 you will need a sye and drive shaft, and you e brake cables will be too short , 2 passenger side cables from a 92 or up ( tj i think ) were a perfect fit.

 

[Nikson]

i have run the BDS 6 1/2 long arm on my 95 xj,, excellent kit, tons of flex, the first few times off road it scared the pants off me, i thought i was gonna flip, the kit took me everywhere i wanted to go , my only suggestion would be to make sure you get the upgraded track bar, and drop bracket that comes with it, it might be standard on the kit now, i had issues with the first trac bar , the bushing wore out after 2 yrs , shortly after i replaced the bushing my trac bar snapped , luckily i was on the street and there was no traffic, , BDS replaced the trac bar under warranty but i paid the differance to upgrade, with the 6.5 you will need a sye and drive shaft, and you e brake cables will be too short , 2 passenger side cables from a 92 or up ( tj i think ) were a perfect fit.

what size tires do you run?

what type of driving you mostly do? (offroad & trails or daily driver & lots of highway?)

 

[Nikson]

ONE GREAT LIST
HTH

Definitely there is somethings to consider... taking into consideration of what type of customer service one hopes to receive, would be another deciding point on the choice of lift...

 

[alosix]

The other thing you're going to want to check is if you can get the LA parts without getting the whole kit.

Full Traction in the past really wouldn't do that.
BDS : I don't see any separate parts listings for an 'upgrade kit'.

RE, RK, and Clayton will do this though. I think TNT as well.

Jason

 

[Root Moose]

Yeah, this is correct. AFAIK, BDS and Full Traction will not separate parts. TNT sells pretty much everything à la carte. I'm not sure if some of the JeepSpeed VARs like Currie or T & J have a different relationship that allows individual parts ordering. You will end up paying for it if they do.

Warranty concerns is a good point. I've never really worried about warranty on these types of things myself. If it passes inspection upon opening the box its good IMO. Past that I don't expect much and would fix things myself just because of the timeliness aspect. I'm in a different country so it tends to be simpler to just deal with things locally.

 

[OttawaXJ]

i have run the BDS 6 1/2 long arm on my 95 xj,, excellent kit, tons of flex, the first few times off road it scared the pants off me, i thought i was gonna flip, the kit took me everywhere i wanted to go , my only suggestion would be to make sure you get the upgraded track bar, and drop bracket that comes with it, it might be standard on the kit now, i had issues with the first trac bar , the bushing wore out after 2 yrs , shortly after i replaced the bushing my trac bar snapped , luckily i was on the street and there was no traffic, , BDS replaced the trac bar under warranty but i paid the differance to upgrade, with the 6.5 you will need a sye and drive shaft, and you e brake cables will be too short , 2 passenger side cables from a 92 or up ( tj i think ) were a perfect fit.

Is that second picture from B&D in brockville? Looks like the hill top on that trail.

 

[Nikson]

The other thing you're going to want to check is if you can get the LA parts without getting the whole kit.

Full Traction in the past really wouldn't do that.
BDS : I don't see any separate parts listings for an 'upgrade kit'.

RE, RK, and Clayton will do this though. I think TNT as well.

Jason

That is the main point of the whole deal...

Since I am trying to set the lift up from different components, its important that I dont end up buying things I dont need.

Bilstein shocks VS OME yellows???

Anyone can comment on that?

 

[alosix]

My gut says that if you're going with OME springs I'd go with the OME shocks.

I liked my bilstien 5100s before I killed them. Really like my QA1s, but that's probably overkill.