Questions about 4" short arm lift and 35s

As I'm doing my build for the second time I'm essentially replacing everything metalcloak with Savvy.
 
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The Savvy, Currie and Metalcloak discussion gets played out time and time again on every forum. The result is always the same. They're all good products that have helped make these amazing machines even better. There are obviously some crap products out there. However, these three don't fall into that category. When looking at SA options, picking any one of them wouldn't be a bad decision. That said, I've been eyeing the Savvy Mid Arm, but haven't reached the outer limits of my current SA setup. In the end, I'd personally pick any one of them and not feel bad about my decision.
 
nathanotis said:
Hey all. Coming back to TJs and TJ forums after some time away. Savvy is a brand I didn't know about prior to yesterday. Since then, I've learned a lot about them. It's making me rethink my entire build plan. This may not be the best thread to ask this question, but since I didn't know anything about Savvy a couple days ago, has anyone else stepped up and created great products like this that I should be considering? Or is Savvy still the best option in 2020?

(Edited for accuracy.)
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Having sifted through the options on mine over the course of many years, most roads still lead to Savvy and Currie.
 
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It's not immediately clear to me what the differences are between their products 9801h and 9891hsr. Do I understand that both would allow the upgrade to their mid arm products at any time?
 
Having had MC SA 4" lift and now 1/2 midarm 1/2 SA lift SA isn't that bad of a setup the bigger player in my experience is good shocks and steering. MC SA was really good to wheel with and didn't have a ton of body roll but the highway ride was not good. I was running the OME shocks with the MC springs. The system was under damped on the highway. You would probably be very happy with a the standard Currie SA combined with outboarding and tuned fox 2.0 RR shocks. When i outboarded the rear (still on short arms) with tuned shocks it was a HUGE improvement. I have done everything in phases as time and $ allows. It's definitely not the preferred method. I chose MC because i was new to jeep didnt know much and just wanted something that works. It did and does work, it just doesn't work as good as i wanted.
 
can anyone provide images of Savvy's 4" "short arm" lift sitting flat? I'd like to see the geometry as compared to stock. I know what a TJ with a 3" lift felt like. I can't imagine how much worse 4" would feel if the geometry on the arms isn't right.
 
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nathanotis said:
can anyone provide images of Savvy's 4" "short arm" lift sitting flat? I'd like to see the geometry as compared to stock. I know what a TJ with a 3" lift felt like. I can't imagine how much worse 4" would feel if the geometry on the arms isn't right.
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Before and after Currie 4" SA lift kit and 35's

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Which is not enough and before adding a 1" BL

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i ran the MC 3.5 SA kit for a yr ...........it was very solid in the street, no body lean/roll to speak of and it cornered like my car.

off road it felt stiff to me.

at 3.5" on SA's it felt more like stilts than suspension.
 
someguysjeep said:
i ran the MC 3.5 SA kit for a yr ...........it was very solid in the street, no body lean/roll to speak of and it cornered like my car.

off road it felt stiff to me.

at 3.5" on SA's it felt more like stilts than suspension.
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I ran MC springs on a previous TJ and had a similar experience. I swapped in a set of OME shocks and the ride was better. Ultimately I pulled the MC springs and replaced them with a new set of 3" Nth Degree springs I'd been hiding. I do have MC springs on my LJ though and am happy with them there.
 
Lilbomb said:
Ok so my axels are Dana 30/Dana 35. If i'm going to be cutting and welding for this kit then I might as well get Dana 44's front and rear and just build on those correct? I'm going to want to gear it and put lockers as well so I might as well just build some axels and start there.

Gearing suggestions? Not going to be a daily driver for commuting purposes but will be going to the store on it and just cruising around.

Thanks again for all the help!!
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If you end up having a Dana 35 rear it may be simpler and more cost effective to grab a set of TJ rubicon 44s with lockers and 4.10s for 2500 or less and bolt them right in practically...no sense in pouring money into a 35 when a 44 would be simpler...done teh rubi 44 swap several times (found a front and rear set for $1200 here in Texas last time) and have had great success with them...something to think about...you are definitely in the right place talking to the right people for build advice ;) 4.88s are great with 35s its all subjective though...ran 4.27s in my XJ with a automatic and 37s with the 4.0 with no issues and had good power...offroad you are in low range so no difference really between 4.10 and 4.88 off road...then I had 5.38s with 37s and it was good as well but revved a bit high at 70 mph for me...now with the LJ 42RLE deep overdrive the 5.38s feel about right with 38s
 
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Lilbomb said:
Thanks for all the info. Looks like I will be building up my axles for this build.

It will probably be a few months before I start this build so in the mean time I have a tire question. The previous owner
put on what looks like a 2" body lift and 33's. It rubs a bit at full lock on the front frame but not bad. The tires are VERY bald
though and that is keeping me from driving it now. I can buy a used set of 33's for around $500 and slap them on for now but
I can get a set of new 35's for about $1000. I'd almost like to just throw the 35's on now so I don't have to wast money on 33's.
Will the Jeep handle the 35's in stock form just driving around the streets? I will do zero off road until I get the lift done if I get the
35's now.

Thoughts?

Thanks!!
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It would drive fine...seen many like this....street only though...brakes will not be ferrari quality ;O but hey its a jeep leave room to stop and do not tailgate :) then you will be able to tell the difference when you re-gear and add mods later on
 
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jjvw said:
Correct. Pay more attention to the shocks.
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BUT, BUT, BUT... PHYSICS!!! :LOL:

Ok... I'm trying to be open minded here. Please understand that you are the FIRST person who has ever said this to me, and I've been off roading and discussing jeeps on forums for almost 20 years. I understand how shocks work, but energy transfer to the frame (and then my butt) through a highly-angled short-arm makes sense to my brain... If what you say is true, I need help changing these ideas.

My experience tells me long arms that correct the suspension geometry *will* smooth the ride. I was in Moab with a friend years ago. I had a TJ, 3" short arm(Maybe even stock arms) lift, 33s, he had a TJ with a long arm Rubicon Express 4+" lift and 35s. We were both aired down for the trails. Well, all week he was bombing rocky the dirt paths between the highways and the trails. I was trying to keep up but the ride was shaking the teeth outta my mouth!! We swapped vehicles at one point and the ride in his TJ was a TOTALLY different experience. The ride was more akin to a baja truck, floating on top of the bumps, ruts and rocks. At that point I decided: LONG ARMS ARE THE WAY TO GO. I must admit I do not remember what shocks he was using.

So help me understand why shocks are the answer and "poor" short-arm suspension geometry transferring bumps to the body is not.
 
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Two completely different suspensions. You can't look at one thing and claim it is the reason for the difference.
 
X2 to what jivw said, it's not the length of the arms making that difference in the ride you described. Really. I had a 4" long-arm suspension on my previous TJ and it rode no better with its 35's than my present TJ does with its 4" Currie short arm lift with the same 35's. It's not the length of the arms, it's the shocks and the tires that make the ride difference. I wouldn't go back to my previous long-arm suspension for any reason. What was "shakin the teeth out of your mouth" was the shock absorber choice and/or the tires were simply grossly overinflated which is very common.

In fact, my Lexus driving wife (who hates my Jeep) actually complimented my present Jeep's ride (the one with the short arm suspension) during a long trip out to a wheeling weekend. The one with the Currie short-arm suspension.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
What was "shakin the teeth out of your mouth" was the shock absorber choice and/or the tires were simply grossly overinflated which is very common.
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So why are you guys the only ones with this special sauce? How come everyone (and I mean everyone) outside of this thread preaches long arms as The Way?

btw: I ran 8-12 psi off road, so it must have been the shocks. 24-26 psi on road if I recall...
 
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