Who uses Clayton Off-Road?

For what purpose?

Currie still has the longest free length and doesnt require massive amounts of bumpstop. If I am not mistaken Clayton, like MC, favors downtravel.
 
Springs won't make their long arm any better.

I get that. I’m debating Fabricating my own arms vs off the shelf. So…I need to figure out what coils to use since I don’t wheel this LJ enough to justify coil overs. Bought new in 2006. Just flipped 31k miles. Garage kept.
 
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I get that. I’m debating Fabricating my own arms vs off the shelf. So…I need to figure out what coils to use since I don’t wheel this LJ enough to justify coil overs. Bought new in 2006. Just flipped 31k miles. Garage kept.

Springs just lift the rig to a ride height. Figure out your tire size, lift height, sprung weight, and get to analyzing springs that will lift it where you need it.
 
I’ve got a TJR with a long arm kit.

I’ve got a TJR with a Clayton short arm kit.

I have had 3 other lifted, short arm TJ’s.

I have driven up, through over or around about everything I can find.

I have driven over 75,000 road miles in 4 years in them.

So, what do I think?

First, the long arm “lesser arc theory“ is a joke. Sure, looks good in theory- but axles really don’t move enough at highway speed for that to begin to matter.

At trail speed, even if they move that much, the arc swing of the axle is irrelevant to comfort or anything else going over babyhead rocks.

Technically- and I’m talking about the hard core rock guys that wheel stuff most of us can’t make it 25 feet in - they aren’t going to touch them. They hang up and can actually negate the critical geometry the rig needs to work.

So why do they exist? Because we live in a world where people that are supposed to know often don’t, all the way up to the manufacturing level. And jeep owners are often suckers for anything they looks unique they can stand around and brag about...and long arms really fit the bill for that.

So what matters?

Good connections under the vehicle, geometry, proper cycling and clearances, caster, toe and the ability for things to move without stressing the mounts matter a lot.

I have my long arm kitted 03 in my shop with the rear axle on the floor- jeep has 75,000 miles and bad lift design was part of what happened.
 
Who uses Clayton?

I was looking at Clayton LA kit awhile back. Had a Jeep shop here that was recommending them for me. Claytons control arms are square, gives them a different look. From what I understand they are a quality product. Ended up selling that Jeep and buying one built closer to how I wanted it. Group is not big on long arms. I have them and they have gotten me everywhere I want to go.
 
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I currently run Claytons long arm kit and have nothing bad to say about it. I also ran the same exact kit almost 10 years ago on a different Jeep that had coilovers and tons on it, and I loved it on that Jeep. Remember that it's a weld on kit, not a bolt on kit, so getting a quality fabricator who knows what they're doing is going to be important in getting it installed and working correctly.

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I was looking at Clayton LA kit awhile back. Had a Jeep shop here that was recommending them for me. Claytons control arms are square, gives them a different look. From what I understand they are a quality product. Ended up selling that Jeep and buying one built closer to how I wanted it. Group is not big on long arms. I have them and they have gotten me everywhere I want to go.

So what is the long arm doing for you that a properly set up short arm won’t?

Ride quality and travel. Currently running RE. Not thrilled. I was not intending on this thread to go nuts as it was more of a comment on another thread that popped up on a Google search as I was pondering. It is an LJ and I'm sure there are 10 threads on long vs. short. I can weld and fab. so that is not a concern for those who ask. Just looking at changing things up a little without going crazy. I have a tummy tuck so not really interested in changing belly. So other than fabricating everything from scratch...thought Clayton looked good to piece meal what I wanted.
BTW...can not figure out how to "like" a comment on here so those know I have read there post?
 
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Is that the only reason (something in general that doesn't interfere with a tuck), or are you wanting long arms that don't interfere with a tuck?

Do not want to invest in a new belly. Most of the long arm belly set ups do not have the ground clearance a tummy tuck does.
 
Ride quality and travel.

I have a short arm currently, 12" rear and 11" front. Try again as to the goal, since travel isn't an issue and ride quality is a shock issue, not an arm issue.

That's not so say a short arm doesn't have flaws, but the long arm isn't the answer unless you like a light front end.
 
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I don’t like Clayton’s fixed rear shock outboard set-up, I’d look at using Poly Towers and fit to your shock. Also wish they used JJs at both ends of the CAs
 
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Ride quality and travel. Currently running RE. Not thrilled. I was not intending on this thread to go nuts as it was more of a comment on another thread that popped up on a Google search as I was pondering. It is an LJ and I'm sure there are 10 threads on long vs. short. I can weld and fab. so that is not a concern for those who ask. Just looking at changing things up a little without going crazy. I have a tummy tuck so not really interested in changing belly. So other than fabricating everything from scratch...thought Clayton looked good to piece meal what I wanted.
BTW...can not figure out how to "like" a comment on here so those know I have read there post?

We are building 11/12" shock travels front/rear on short arms. The arm length has nothing to do with how much or how little we can do. And the ride quality has everything to do with the shocks and not the arm length.
 
Ride quality and travel. Currently running RE. Not thrilled. I was not intending on this thread to go nuts as it was more of a comment on another thread that popped up on a Google search as I was pondering. It is an LJ and I'm sure there are 10 threads on long vs. short. I can weld and fab. so that is not a concern for those who ask. Just looking at changing things up a little without going crazy. I have a tummy tuck so not really interested in changing belly. So other than fabricating everything from scratch...thought Clayton looked good to piece meal what I wanted.
BTW...can not figure out how to "like" a comment on here so those know I have read there post?

I built by setup with TMR frame brackets front and rear. I made a custom upper mount on the front 3 link to match the geo of the Savvy mid-arm. The quality of the TMR brackets is very good and went together easy enough. I already had a rear truss, but it's a universal Dana 44 from Barnes. My CAs were custom aluminum links with JJs from Currie since I also stretched the rear 5". My build thread goes over what I did. Let me know if you have any questions, I'll happy to answer.