Want to get some opinions here.
I'm going to do long arms on my ZJ some time this year. I'll be doing radius arms (yeah, yeah, I know binding). However I can't decide with I want to buy Clayton's Hard Arm upgrade or building my own.
I figure building my own I'll save maybe $800 and I can make any changes I may want.
The kit would save me time of having to spend hours grinding, cutting, welding shit up (not that I don't enjoy it but fucking with 1 bracket for hours can be a bitch).

Opinions?

HAHAHA are you really asking this guys this question? You know how they are. lol ANY WAY Building would be cheaper but buying it would be easyer and you wouldnt have to worrie if its 100% right. It would be more expensive though. just my $.02

If you can do the fab work, might as well do it yourself. It'll save you money, and you will know the ins and outs of your suspension. If you dont think you are up to building your own suspension, i would just buy a kit and be done with it. :flipoff2:

If you're staying with radius arms, just buy them. Building your own shit is a large pain in the ass and if you're not doing anything revolutionary then there's no reason to waste your time.

I highly doubt you'll save anywhere near $800, as well.

If you're staying with radius arms, just buy them. Building your own shit is a large pain in the ass and if you're not doing anything revolutionary then there's no reason to waste your time.

I highly doubt you'll save anywhere near $800, as well.

That's just a guesstimate but using Ballistic Fab's site for prices, there about $600-700 in flex joints, tube adapters/bungs, poly bushings, etc. Then I can get all the steel I need for around $300. Last thing I would need is the rear link brackets which I might be able to get made fairly cheap.

I bought a used Clayton's kit for 750 bucks :smokin:

Ya, I've been keeping my eyes open.
Did you have to buy any new brackets, joints or bushings?

Ya, I've been keeping my eyes open.
Did you have to buy any new brackets, joints or bushings?

A guy over at MC just cut apart his whole rig and sent me the brackets with what was left of the unibody attached :laughing: and included all of the arms and joints.

I have to get a buddy to plasma the brackets off for me. I also have to buy/fab a truss for the rear axle. One of the front upper control arms was also missing but for 750 bucks I'm not going to complain too much :laughing:

Yea, I'm unsure what to do.
I'm buying Matt (Overkill) about buying his arms off the Zuggy but at the same time I don't want to have to replace bushings and joints and all that shit.

Blah!

Time is money. I would just buy it and save the fab skills for the stuff you cant buy.

Time is money. I would just buy it and save the fab skills for the stuff you cant buy.

x2. Buildups can take forever. When all your buds are out wheeling you will wish you had just bought the crap and not spent so much time building it. Besides, when you build your own stuff you forget to add in the cost of a lot of little things that add up quick. You may find that it isn't that much cheaper to build it.

Yea, I'm unsure what to do.


I just fought this mental battle. I factored all the steel, the bushings, the joints, etc... everything basically. I figured it would only save me $300 ish in the long run after paying tax for buing more things locally, and the price of steel in Utah. It's not worth my time to dick with the setup and welding that much more for that money. I'd rather just get something that I've seen work, and has a lifetime promise on the lower arms. I bought from Fullsize XJ gear here (also on MC), and saved some coin (which factored into the limited savings for building). It's well worth it to me to buy the kit new, but thats just me... I'm building this time to hopefully not have to mess with shit for a while.

Just buy a prebuilt rig! Use yours as a tow rig and be done with it!