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LCG TJ Suspension Options

18K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  hurleygo3 
#1 ·
I know there are quite a few low TJ's out there. I'm in the process of planning out my build now. I've got my rear 60, hiline fenders, I've got a line on a 78-79 front ford 60, and I'm sourcing the rest of my painfully slow build as well. So what are your guys's experiences with suspension on your super low TJ's? I've done some dinking around on the vast interweb and I can find a million low rider TJ's out there, but not a whole lot about their suspensions. That might be because they're mostly off the shelf short arm kits. Thats cool and all, but I really want to hear about the guys who did things a little different.

I read up on the Rokmen LJs and those are cool, but who out there has gone a bit farther and maybe tossed their track bar in favor of a little triangulation and/or stretched the wheel base a little. What kinds of clearances or lack there of did you encounter. Any one running that FT Stealth stretch with say1.5" to 2.5" of lift? How about fitting various long arm systems? If any one has any experience under the tight confines of a low TJ and wishes to share their suspension experiences, then I'd greatly appreciate hearing them.
 
#2 ·
Whats your goal? How are going to drive it? Whats your budget? Are you looking to be different? For me I cruise and wheel the jeep on the weekends, no competitions, no desert racing so I don't need hi end parts. I don't need a flex monster or take jumps at 70mph, for me I need solid reliable Jeep I can drive to the trail wheel and drive home.
99 TJ 44/60 3 link front leafs rear 99 wheel base 39 maddogs

 
#3 ·
Yeah I did sort of ask a vague question. My rig is a DD, but will be phased out of DD duty in the future. My wife want to be able to drive around in the summer with the top off though, so its got to stay drivable. It sees any where from light to moderately hard trails, but nothing horribly extreme. Mostly trail and rock. My goal is to stay as low as possibly with a set of 38's. Probably 2" of lift. Short arms would be totally fine, but ideally I'd like to gain 4-5" of rear stretch and lose the track bar while keeping full corners. Weld on stuff is ok, but I don't want to go totally wild and build a suspension from scratch. I also don't want to have to hack out the back of the tub to gain clearance. I don't want a crazy hacked up hardcore rig. I just want something that's full bodied that is capable and a little out there, but not totally over the top.

That's why I was asking about what every on else was running and what sort of clearances people have. I know long arms are totally unnecessary at 2" of lift, but I didn't want to rule them out. I was kind of hoping some one running them would chime in. Same with the short arm stuff. I just want some perspective I guess. That way I can make a more educated decision. As far as budget goes, its pretty small. The build is slow, so money isn't as critical if that makes any sense. Its more of a save and buy things as I go deal.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I'm running 60's front and rear. The rear is 4 linked with 14in co. I had to go through the body and mount to the cage to get 6ins of up travel. The front is 3 linked with hydro asst and 14in co and 6ins of up travel. The rear I have seats so I could only go so low. I spent alot time making things fit without a body lift.

It sits at 21in to the frame with a flat belly on 40s with 20 psi.

The hardest part is fitting the steering. There are alot people claiming how low they are when they are building their rig, but it is alot hard to be low and still have rig that works.

I could go another 2in lower but I would not be able to run the fast stuff.
 

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#5 ·
i hate it when people answer my threads telling me to search but in this case there is a ridiculous amount of info you can get by searching the terms (ultimate tj thread) a lot of things are super custom and you will have to wade through a bunch of info that doesnt apply to you, thus the name ultimate thread, but you will emerge with a much better idea of how to make everything fit.

When i read that thread (about 30 times now) i always have issues finding non hydro steering set ups but the trick is to read them all. I cant tell you how many times i found my answers in a random d44 or even d30 link from that thread
 
#6 ·
Most of the truly low tj's are custom suspension

Once you understand how to build a long arm kit its very simple to build

I used a combination of brackets from poly, ballistic, ruff stuff, clayton, and home made. I run 2" saw air shocks, 16's and 14's. 2 1/4" 3/8 wall dom for lowers. 2" 1/4" for uppers. Triangulated 4 link in the rear and wishboned 3 link in the front. I am sitting at about 0-2" of suspension lift with about 3" up in front and about 5-6" up in the rear. Pcs double ended ram (full hydro), 42" iroks and will do 80 on the highway.

Jeep is very stable and impressive off road

Unlike some "taller" jeeps. My rear links do not come through the floor. I did have to cut about 2 1/2" out of the frame to clear the tie rods

Not sure if this helps but those are some of my specs
 
#7 ·
I understand the concepts behind building a link suspension, but I've never done it. Do you have any pics of your suspension out back? I'm baffled at how you got 5-6" of up travel out of the rear with that little lift and no cutting of the tub. I am interested to see how you cut the frame.
 
#8 ·
The tub is comp cut but the floor is not cut

I can't post any pics now, I am on a blackberry and on my way to go wheeling

The rear section of the frame has been removed and tubed but even before it was backhalfed sat the same with same lift and travel

Before the backhalf the hardest I ever bottomed out in the rear. The heims or tabs on the uca mount hit the crossmember that used to support the fuel tank
 
#9 ·
Just got some of what your talking about done.

Up front I ran into the the axle hitting the oil pan.

Out back the arms hit the tub, the UCA mounts on the axle hit the cross member.

On both ends the LCAs hit the frame as the axles ran out of room.

I used genright frame mounts for the LCA and UCA mounts.
 
#13 ·
Take a look at GenRight, they make a good stretch kit with full fenders. Poly has a good three link front and four link rear. If I had to due it again I would go with those two companies and save a lot of time. Due a high line hood and front fenders, 1" body,2" springs, 40s and done.
 
#14 ·
Thanks for all the information and the pics Mr. Hogg.


NRiver... What axle are you running up front and is it trussed? I was actually kind of worried about the oil pan as I've put my D30 into it enough to where the I got the ol' tick of death before. :eek:

I can imagine that with a trussed 60 up front I'd probably be hurting for room.

Do have have any pics of your suspension and clearances/clearance issues? Your Jeep looks close to what I'm shooting for, only maybe lower.


I think I need to dig up that crazy no lift Treks rig for some inspiration.
 
#15 ·
If you want to stay really low, then I would try to avoid the gen-right / poly perf. front 3 link brackets.

I am running them up front, and my original goal was to keep the bumpstops at OE height, but the lowers ended up touching the frame well before. I had to lower the bumpstops by about 2".

Here is a pic on 37's. Front is on stock 4cyl coils (has a 6cyl now) and 1-3/4" spacers. Rear is on stock coils w/ relocated upper buckets.

WB is 101-102"

 
#16 ·
The axles are stock 44s.

The front just has an diff truss, should of went full with with a TNT truss.

Yep, the gen right LCA mounts make the LCAs become the limiting factor in up travel. You could bend the arms to clear things. I looked at that. At the end of the day, the arms hit the frame as everything else starts to hit other parts. So, no big deal to me.

I tried to go lower, and could. It would be at a sacrifice in up travel. I al sitting at about a 3-4" lift height.

I will look for some more build pics of where I ran into articulation issues. But at the end of the day I think I got the most out of what it had to offer. Me and a buddy flexed it out many many times looking for more up travel. Something large always got in the way.
Up front it was the think called an engine, and farther forward and I was running into steering issues.
Out back it was the tub and cross member, just needed to cut them out to get more up travel.

Some flex and stuff shots





Your not that far away, your welcome to come take a look. I can even take it to my garage above so you can see where things contact.
 
#18 ·
The axles are stock 44s.

The front just has an diff truss, should of went full with with a TNT truss.

Yep, the gen right LCA mounts make the LCAs become the limiting factor in up travel. You could bend the arms to clear things. I looked at that. At the end of the day, the arms hit the frame as everything else starts to hit other parts. So, no big deal to me.

I tried to go lower, and could. It would be at a sacrifice in up travel. I al sitting at about a 3-4" lift height.

I will look for some more build pics of where I ran into articulation issues. But at the end of the day I think I got the most out of what it had to offer. Me and a buddy flexed it out many many times looking for more up travel. Something large always got in the way.
Up front it was the think called an engine, and farther forward and I was running into steering issues.
Out back it was the tub and cross member, just needed to cut them out to get more up travel.

Your not that far away, your welcome to come take a look. I can even take it to my garage above so you can see where things contact.
Where do you wheel? Ever go down to Elbe? I live in Oly but go to school in T town so if you want to wheel, shoot me a PM. I usually go out with a local group here but they don't run as much as I'd like.

Oh, and I don't have a winch but I'm locked on 35s and will try to hang :flipoff2:


On note of the four links - you guys aren't the only ones continually searching the UTJ thread. I go in there at least once a week to look at something or try to find a certain build with what I have in mind. I tried to get the 4 link corner up to speed but don't have a whole lot of time to sit and search for what everyone wants. If you want something added, just ask, I put in 99% of suggestions since it's supposed to be our FAQ and "TJ Bible". Oh and for an extreme low build, check out Kirby's TJ before he sold it...he redid his front frame but damn was that thing low. He even snuck in a suck down winch in there at one point!
 
#17 ·
I'd definitely take you up on that, but I'm not in your area very often. More likely than not I'll be over that way before I do a whole lot of work on my rig as my build has been and will continue to be super slow. Maybe if I am out that way I can get a hold of you and check your Jeep out. Hell, my rig is still drivable, so maybe some time we could hit Naches or something. I'm done with Rimrock for awhile though. :laughing:
 
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