I can't keep up anymore, there's so many sissies that can't hang.
Rubicon Express Long Arm Replacement?
- Thread starter Temecula TJ
- Start date
I can't keep up anymore, there's so many sissies that can't hang.
Comments like this get me reinterested in an outboard every time. Seems like heck of an upgrade for something that's ~ 1/3 the cost of the midarm upgrade.
I'll ask the group this, since we've been derailed anyway. Is there a precedent for keeping an outboard after an axle swap? Say I outboard now on stock axles and 35s, and later swap to wider axles and 37s (same wheelbase). What are the chances of me not having to redo the frame and all that work?
I'll take a shot here as the last person who should be commenting.
My guess is that if I wanted to upgrade to a HP RJ60, the frame notching that Blaine did in the rear would be fine as is, but the RJ60 would need lower shock mounts welded in place.
Why wouldn't you just put shock brackets at the same dimensions on the jk axle? Unless you change wheelbase why move the shock position with wider axles if allthat work is already done?
If you can accomplish the target, which axle doesn't really matter. Meaning - if you can position the lower mounts to keep the 50-ish% travel before interference - what else matters? I've only been involved in stock axles for any outboards/midarms so far - but from what I understand you should be able to work with the lower mount quite a bit to accomplish the goal.
On mine, I gained a few inches of clearance in the "window" chopping off all the hangy downy bits. That's a lot of circumference to work with to dial in the lower mounts (obviously with fewer hangy downies to hit the better).
I've yet to learn the technical aspect of outboarding. It just seems like in an area where fractions of an inch matter, a major change like an axle swap/tire upgrade would radically shift the shock position/angle.
But now it seems like repositioning the new lower shock mount properly is all that's needed. In that case, even a frame stretch (via moving the arch back) wouldn't affect the outboard.
Moving the arch backwards does not affect the outboard simply because the entire outboard is moving backwards with the axle.
Back to the OPs dilemma with worn out bushings etc on the RE long arm... couldn't one custom order Core 4x4 arms with JJs to replace the RE arms and worn out parts...or would all the brackets need redone for the JJs? (Or make your own or a different source...)
I too am very interested in outboarding. Seems like a reasonably low buck max gain upgrade... depending on shock cost and tuning and how far past opening the box and slapping parts on you go.
-Mac
I too am very interested in outboarding. Seems like a reasonably low buck max gain upgrade... depending on shock cost and tuning and how far past opening the box and slapping parts on you go.
-Mac
Well, I guess I don’t know what I don’t know. I’ll plan to move ahead with the outboard and tune after the turn of the year.
Barring any odd configuration, the brackets are a matter of width. There are no Johnny Joint specific brackets.
You can't or shouldn't swap the RE joints out to JJ. The reason is the RE front radius arms depend on bushing stiffness to keep the upper end of the axle in place and control it. If you swap to a free moving joint, then what happens is the top of the axle flops back and forth. The connection points of the small upper arm to the lower depend on the stiffness of the bushings. Without that, when the upper is loaded, the lower arm just twist or rotates around the long axis and lets the axle flop around.
But, that might be a good application for the Duroflex joint. It would at least be a good experiment to see if they have the stiffness needed to control the axle uppers. The downside is if they are too stiff which then tears off the upper control arm mount on the passenger side.
OP
I'm still here. I just have a life outside of my jeep... unlike some of you...lol
That's not very American of you.
OP
I have flex joints at both end on the rear uppers. I was able to get the bushings for the axle side of the lowers from RE.
Ok so that should leave two small MTPEG bushings for the front, four small race kits for the rear upper superflex joints and four large races for the lower arm superflex joints. Those I know I have some for you. Do you need any of the inner balls, adjusters, or washers?
OP
Awesome! Sounds right. I honestly don't know what condition the internals are in. I haven't disassembled them yet. Hell I can't even get the bolts out of a couple of them. I would assume I would need all the parts necessary to rebuild or replace them.
I also have a "vintage" RE long arm kit on my LJ, installed by the original owner in 2008 or so. While it would be cool to come across a cache of spare parts for the long arms, I am intrigued by the following comment by @mrblaine regarding a potential scenario where Metalcloak "Duroflex" joints might have a viable use.
For $1,499 (TJ) or $1,579 (LJ) one gets replacement arms, bushings, joints, etc, and will never have to source NLA (no longer available) RE replacement parts.
Maybe there is a use for Metalcloak after all. Still, it seems like Metalcloak should be a last resort.
https://metalcloak.com/tj-wrangler-re-extreme-duty-long-arm-upgrade-kit.html
https://metalcloak.com/lj-wrangler-re-long-arm-upgrade-kit.html
You will have to add $500 to that for the rear uppers they did not include in the kit.