Which Savvy mid-arm kit should I purchase?

[Sj's TJ]

Thanks for the responses. I'm no where near the point of needing a mid-arm, but was curious since a rear stretch was a future consideration as well.

 

[jjvw]

Once I have the position for the shock towers, I will make a fixture to simulate a 12" shock, mark where the towers go then just pull the body. My welding sucks bad enough that I can use the tractor to roll the frame around to where I need it and Tom Woods driveshafts is a mile from my house so it will be short work for getting it done once I get started. TIm

You may have a better time fitting the towers with the body in place. At least having them tacked to the frame. A bit of denting to the wheel wells is often needed.

 

[jjvw]

If you can afford it, do the Savvy Mid-Arm now. You can run it with the stock shock locations but it limits travel.

Outboarding shocks allow you to run longer shocks which gives you more travel. The secondary advantage is having the shocks out at the end where they do their best work. Outboarding is good for short or mid-arm but not a requirement for either.

The advantage of the Mid-Arm is the geometry. It was designed with the 4" springs and 35" tires at the stock LJ wheelbase. Its on this platform where the Mid-Arm really shines. I've been told that the TJ doesn't take advantage like the LJ and believe that to be more related to wheelbase.

The Mid-Arm's "push angle" and "joint separation" is the geometry that makes it sing. The rear triangulation and the front 3-point suspension allows it to flex. Tire traction works better when the tire is on the ground.

I have Savvy Mid-Arm #001 as they used my Jeep to prototype the kit. It is based on Blaine's one-off (my words) suspension he was making for people using this-and-that components from different manufacturers. I was in line for one of those when they decided to finally make the Savvy Kit and used my Jeep to do it. Blaine did all the work, including the outboard rear shocks, taller front towers, rotating spring perches, etc, which is NOT part of the Mid-Arm kit. I already had Savvy's skids, lifts, steering, etc. Blaine added hydro assist later as well.

As others have said, and you are trying to do this on some sort of a budget, get the Savvy 4" short arm kit. You will use the same springs later and can sell the arms to offset your $$. Remember, with the Mid-Arm there is a lot of cutting and welding! There is no easy way back. The short arm works really really well. Yes the Mid-Arm is better, but don't half ass it! Do it right the first time!

To add, my Savvy mid arm was one of the first to publicly go on sale on day one and the very first in Colorado. I have been daily driving it since January 2017. If there is anyone else in the country to have more miles on one, I would be surprised. It is practically invisible on the road. If there is one thing the mid arm has taught me, it is the importance of the supporting mods like sway bars, outboarded shocks, and the value of a great tune, along with the overall fitting together of the the entire suspension to make everything work in harmony.

While I freely admit that I built my Jeep backwards over the last 4 years, I likely would not have ended up with a very capable rock crawler that can also handle 75+mph with two fingers and confidently tear through corners at high speed. A vehicle like this is highly unusual and it is tremendously fun to drive. This isn't so much the mid arm, but the total combination of everything working together.

If building a Jeep is an education, building one to the level of what the Savvy kit is capable could be a master's class. I wouldn't do mine any other way.