Tough call. I have a friend that put in the Full Traction kit in his TJ and swears by it. Looks like a nice kit and well designed but the R.E. kit has been more than proven. This might be a more interesting question with more answers after a year or two ya know?

 

...
Is Rubicon Express planning on improving their long arm kit?...

I doubt RE is going to improve on anything. They have known issues on their LA kit, that they refuse to fix. (Like bolt holes that are not big enough for the bolts they provide.) They know about these problems, but ship them every day with the same shit. :mad3:

That being said, other than relatively small problems in the initial install, the lift works great. Just don't think RE is improving anything, when they ship shit that they know is fawked up.
:flipoff2:

 

What vehicle lift are you asking about? TJ, XJ? I can vouch for the XJ long arm lift. I got one of the first batch runs earlier this year, and I really like it. It rides better than both of my other two stock XJ's on the street, and works really well on the trail. I've run Fordyce, the Rubicon twice and partially on the clean-up, and been to Hollister Hills a ton of times. The components are top-notch and the welding is really nice. Fit and finish was suprisingly accurate and consistent. My only complaints are:
1) No matter how hard I tried, the track bar mounting bracket that attaches to the frame would not stay tight. I tried different bolts, tightening it in different sequences, etc. I finally just welded it and haven't had a problem since.
2) The lock nuts that they provide with the kit are garbage. RE uses the same ones, and they just bugger up the threads too much if you need to back them out to realign or adjust something. I switched most of them out with nylock nuts before installation and was happy that I did later - especially on the u-bolts.
3) The instructions suck. If you're not mechanically minded or know how the suspension works-forget it. I didn't have any trouble installing it, but there were times when I wished they went into further detail-especially on the arm length adjustments when the install was complete.

Overall it's a great kit. I've see photos of RE's new long arm kit for the XJ's and it doesn't look like it will come close to FT's. BUT, that's my opinion based off of pictures, it might change if I see it out on the trail.

Here's a good underside shot:

The arms make decent rock sliders too:

This is my DD also. I'm suprised at how smooth it is on the street.

 

i guess i should have said that i was talking about the TJ kit. From what i hear the quality of the kit is much higher. The welds are better and it just seems to be made out of better materials.

Of course, there is the off set in the differences in prices. I usually see the RE kit for under $2,000 where as the cheapest i've seen the FT kit is somewhere around $2,295

The install of the RE kit requires a good welding, whereas the FT kit is bolt on BUT requires a completely new ehaust set up.

The RE problems have all been well documented throughtout all the years, what problems are people running into with the FT kit?

What was a typical install time with the FT kit?
I would need to know so i didn't tie up a bay at the shop for too long.

thanks.

btw, the XJ kit looks good too!

 

We are installing them in about 2 days. We work on them over two days and make sure evrything is dialed in on day 2. The first one took a lot longer. We quit trying to drill holes in the frame to mount the cross member and just weld them in now.

Mark S

 

i guess i should have said that i was talking about the TJ kit. From what i hear the quality of the kit is much higher. The welds are better and it just seems to be made out of better materials.

Of course, there is the off set in the differences in prices. I usually see the RE kit for under $2,000 where as the cheapest i've seen the FT kit is somewhere around $2,295

The install of the RE kit requires a good welding, whereas the FT kit is bolt on BUT requires a completely new ehaust set up.

The RE problems have all been well documented throughtout all the years, what problems are people running into with the FT kit?

What was a typical install time with the FT kit?
I would need to know so i didn't tie up a bay at the shop for too long.

thanks.

btw, the XJ kit looks good too!

RE doesn't require welding.

Ask this at JU
:flipoff2:

 

26. No one here cares if Rubicon Express's control arms are better than Teraflex's... make your own damn it!

in this case, fulltraction... :shaking:

 

How hard are you going to wheel it? A friend of mine has had some serious problems with his full traction kit, but he wheels that thing like he stole it.

 

Full Traction kit is much better.

The RE kit uses a radius arm style suspension which cannot compare to the 4-link features on the FT kit. By using proper geometry on the front suspension FT was able to make a proper caster curve. This makes the vehicle drive much better. Also the rear of the FT kit is triangulates while the RE kit keeps the trac bar. This makes for better stability and increase wheel travel.

 

How hard are you going to wheel it? A friend of mine has had some serious problems with his full traction kit, but he wheels that thing like he stole it.

Serious, as...?

 

I'm getting close to doing a lift on my POS so find this thread of great interest. I've actually narrowed my choices down between Rubicon Express and Full Traction but also have been waiting to hear some opinions. I do know of one person on another board that wheels with the FT setup and swears by it. It seems to me there is some good engineering reasons for the triangulated rear but what about wear on the high mis-alignment uni-ball joint? Anyone know how well this will hold up? At least it's rebuildable. So far, there's been a lot of second-hand opinions...anyone actually run this setup?

-Phil, the Newbie-fawker.

 

any interest in a group buy? i do printing for full traction and might be able to put something together.

 

Hey Capt Nemo,nice pic!!!Here is a nice underside shot of a Clayton Long Arm set up.

 

Just go here and don't look back!

http://claytonoffroad.com/

Shay

 

Full Traction hands down.........

 

I'm running the TJ FT kit. The only problem I've run into is bending 2 of the tri-link brackets where the rear upper wishbone mounts to. It has since been redesigned with some reinforcing brackets. I ended up just welding a truss to my rear axle for the tri-link, works fine. The high misalignment uniball is working well after a year and a half as well. As you can see, the ass drops out pretty good in the rear.

Dork in the box on the Rubicon

 

Guys around here swear by the http://claytonoffroad.com/ one. They claim it makes the RE kit look like tinker-toy stuff.

-RJ

 

Clayton and don't look back, only "bolt-on" kit i've seen in competition, you tell me.
Nic-

 

Another vote for Clayton. yes, it requires welding, but it's the stoutest kit out there!

 

Clayton and don't look back, only "bolt-on" kit i've seen in competition, you tell me.
Nic-

Weeeell, I've heard several votes for the Clayton kit. Not very fimiliar with the kit itself. Can you back up the claim with some reasons?

 

I'm running the TJ FT kit. The only problem I've run into is bending 2 of the tri-link brackets where the rear upper wishbone mounts to. It has since been redesigned with some reinforcing brackets. I ended up just welding a truss to my rear axle for the tri-link, works fine. The high misalignment uniball is working well after a year and a half as well. As you can see, the ass drops out pretty good in the rear.

Dork in the box on the Rubicon

We had the same issue with the rear tri-link bracket. All we did was call Randy at Full-Traction and the new upgraded bracket was on its way. Try calling RE and have it shipped the same day you called....muchless the same week. My Votes for FULL TRACTION.

 

Another vote for Clayton's TJ kit. I've had it for about a year now and it's nice stuff. Extremely beefy and quick and easy install. I've wheeled with it probably a dozen times and have never had a single issue whatsoever. If you are wanting to buy a "kit" then there is no competition in my opinion. But, whatever... it's just my opinion.

 

Good input so far. ..

Anyone running the polyperformance front coilover kit with
either the Full Traction or the Clayton kit?

Went to the Clayton web site and their friggin' font size is so small i can't hardly read the descriptions of the kits.

Front what i've gathered, they don't come with springs?
Did i see that they have a coilover kit available?

 

hey Larry (TRD) (or anyone else), please enlighten us as to what the "correct" caster curve is for a straight axle for it's whole suspension cycle. Full Traction claims they have this, but I'd like to know what they consider "correct". I'm not doubting them, and I don't really expect a freaking graph from their engineers, but I'm honestly curious.

 

toys by troy

What do you guys know about the toys by troy kit? Is anyone running it? www.toysbytroy.com