EVO High Clearance Long Arm Kit Issues

[moodywizard]

We have been super happy with the short arms, but to be fair, the Jeep has yet to get any time in the dirt. The short arms do require you to run limiting straps, which limit droop to about 11-12” vs the full 15”.

On my previous Jeep (‘14 JKUR), I ran the full EVO DTD setup with Lever in the rear and their long arm kit. It rode great, but worth noting is the maintenance required with Johnny joints goes up significantly when compared to the maintenance free OEM arms. Figured on this Jeep I’d try the COs while retaining more of the OEM components in an effort to have a great ride without the higher Maintenace associated with all of the non-OEM stuff (arms, steering, axles, etc.).

yeah I’m running the evo short arms now and there seems to be a lot of feedback with the Johnny joints, it’s the price to play..I’ve only had 5k miles and I’m thinking about opening up the joints to see how they are wearing. Chasing down a steering shimmy/wobble..

so you are running stock arms?

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[HackedJL]

If I were to guess, I think you are running about an inch more lift that I am.

Here is shot of the passenger side COs. Similar to you, I am running about a 1/2” more preload on the passenger side to level the Jeep.

Also for comparison, here is shot of the bump stop. At current height, I have about 4” of up travel before full bump front and rear.

On another note, only after about a month of having the setup, I changed out the sliders to the AGM sliders. The King sliders are 100% functional, but they cause quite a bit of spring noise. The AGM sliders make the COs much quieter and my OCD appreciates it!

Your bump stop looks significantly taller than mine, what length is that? Could be angle

Sweet tip on the AGM sliders, the new build is already putting me on high alerts for noises. Last thing I need is the sliders creaking to worry me

 

[ERAUGrad04]

yeah I’m running the evo short arms now and there seems to be a lot of feedback with the Johnny joints, it’s the price to play..I’ve only had 5k miles and I’m thinking about opening up the joints to see how they are wearing. Chasing down a steering shimmy/wobble..

so you are running stock arms?

Yup, stock arms except the lower fronts. Those are EVO short arms so that I can dial in the caster (running about 6*).

On the last Jeep with the EVO long arms, I got probably close to 40,000mi before I rebuilt them and they had some hard miles on them in Moab, Runicon, and Fordcye. Even when I went to rebuild them, only 2-3 joints out of the 16 total were in rough shape and actually needed to be rebuilt. If you go that route to rebuild, be sure to get the JJ tool. It will make you life soooo much easier!

 

[ERAUGrad04]

Your bump stop looks significantly taller than mine, what length is that? Could be angle

Sweet tip on the AGM sliders, the new build is already putting me on high alerts for noises. Last thing I need is the sliders creaking to worry me

They are 2” 2.0 bumps. I actually think i can thread them up a little further for a bit more up travel, but I haven’t had a chance to get it back on a lift to cycle everything.

After changing to the AGM sliders, the only noises I hear are when the slider makes contact with the timing rings or when the bump stop makes initial contact with the king bumps. That said, those noises can only be heard driving slow in places like a parking lot with the window rolled down. Overall, MUCH quieter with the new sliders.

 

[HackedJL]

They are 2” 2.0 bumps. I actually think i can thread them up a little further for a bit more up travel, but I haven’t had a chance to get it back on a lift to cycle everything.

After changing to the AGM sliders, the only noises I hear are when the slider makes contact with the timing rings or when the bump stop makes initial contact with the king bumps. That said, those noises can only be heard driving slow in places like a parking lot with the window rolled down. Overall, MUCH quieter with the new sliders.

Oh whoops I meant your strike pad extension!

 

[ERAUGrad04]

Oh whoops I meant your strike pad extension!

Just ran out and measured. They are 3” extensions.

I actually ended up with two sets of extensions, both 3” in length. The first was part of the EVO hardware and the second was a set included in the King bump box. The EVO extensions are made of a plastic composite material and the King extensions are billet aluminum.

 

[HackedJL]

Just ran out and measured. They are 3” extensions.

I actually ended up with two sets of extensions, both 3” in length. The first was part of the EVO hardware and the second was a set included in the King bump box. The EVO extensions are made of a plastic composite material and the King extensions are billet aluminum.

Yeah my Evos were 2.5" and the king's 2.75". Originally did the Evo as I didn't think I would have to go taller. Odd mine are shorter

I have some time this week to work on it with the new synergy extensions.

I picked up 10oz of BBs per tire to help balance as well. The vibrations are wild lol

 

[ERAUGrad04]

Yeah my Evos were 2.5" and the king's 2.75". Originally did the Evo as I didn't think I would have to go taller. Odd mine are shorter

I have some time this week to work on it with the new synergy extensions.

I picked up 10oz of BBs per tire to help balance as well. The vibrations are wild lol

Definitely strange. Now you make me want to go back out and measure again! I’ll have to dig out the EVO extensions and measure them for comparison.

What size are those Treps? I’ve heard they can be really challenging to balance. That said, I’ve seen them in the rocks and they hook up really well.

 

[HackedJL]

Definitely strange. Now you make me want to go back out and measure again! I’ll have to dig out the EVO extensions and measure them for comparison.

What size are those Treps? I’ve heard they can be really challenging to balance. That said, I’ve seen them in the rocks and they hook up really well.

They are the 37 x 12.5 x 17, these tires are literally tractor tires. The sidewalls are very stiff making small bumps painful. I had to run them to 15 psi to make the drive bearable on a regular fire road. Next outing I'm going to try and switch down to 10 Psi and see how it rides

Here's some pics of it out on it's first dirt drive. It's definitely a lot more brutal to drive than my Tacoma on king's and I thought that was a rough ride. On the slow stuff it shined, who knew.. plenty of tuning to do from here

 

[scrape]

Looks good Hacked. I ran my treps at 5psi. They do a lot better after they are broken in. I put 20-30 trail miles on mine at like 3psi and they were a lot more compliant after that.

 

[Moto_21]

They are the 37 x 12.5 x 17, these tires are literally tractor tires. The sidewalls are very stiff making small bumps painful. I had to run them to 15 psi to make the drive bearable on a regular fire road. Next outing I'm going to try and switch down to 10 Psi and see how it rides

Here's some pics of it out on it's first dirt drive. It's definitely a lot more brutal to drive than my Tacoma on king's and I thought that was a rough ride. On the slow stuff it shined, who knew.. plenty of tuning to do from here

That second from the bottom pic is impressive as hell

 

[moodywizard]

@HackedJL That canyon looks familiar, cleghorn?

 

[Moto_21]

They are the 37 x 12.5 x 17, these tires are literally tractor tires. The sidewalls are very stiff making small bumps painful. I had to run them to 15 psi to make the drive bearable on a regular fire road. Next outing I'm going to try and switch down to 10 Psi and see how it rides

Here's some pics of it out on it's first dirt drive. It's definitely a lot more brutal to drive than my Tacoma on king's and I thought that was a rough ride. On the slow stuff it shined, who knew.. plenty of tuning to do from here

After all done, how much threads do you have showing from top of shock to top of preload collar? Specifically on passenger side? Im trying to maintain close to 6” of up travel as i can but it seems like its going to put me at over 3” on the collar. Back springs im already switching out to 250 lowers but damn king is closed. Fronts im thinking about 300 lowers.

Also side note, i went from top of upper spring, a little over 4” down to the bottom of the lower crossover ring, made the ride significantly softer, and the top coils still have a little room from binding. Maybe some coilover gurus will chime in and tell me thats wrong but who knows, works for me.

 

[HackedJL]

Looks good Hacked. I ran my treps at 5psi. They do a lot better after they are broken in. I put 20-30 trail miles on mine at like 3psi and they were a lot more compliant after that.

This was the greatest advise ever LOL the Jeep is running buttery smooth now. As soon as i hit the trail i just dump out air down to 5-8psi and it drives MUCH better on and offroad. The drive home is so smooth, but after a few days sitting in garage its back to normal rough ride.

@HackedJL That canyon looks familiar, cleghorn?

Yeah! Cleghorn and Pilotrock are my go to local trails to mess around on. Quick, easy, and some challenging lines.

After all done, how much threads do you have showing from top of shock to top of preload collar? Specifically on passenger side? Im trying to maintain close to 6” of up travel as i can but it seems like its going to put me at over 3” on the collar. Back springs im already switching out to 250 lowers but damn king is closed. Fronts im thinking about 300 lowers.

Also side note, i went from top of upper spring, a little over 4” down to the bottom of the lower crossover ring, made the ride significantly softer, and the top coils still have a little room from binding. Maybe some coilover gurus will chime in and tell me thats wrong but who knows, works for me.

Im at 3" Pre load on Passanger side, 2.75" on Driver side. I have the bumpers getting installed right now and putting the spare tire carrier on as well so my ride height may change. I went super low profile tho so It could be lighter than stock LOL

Heres a few more pics from the last few runs of testing

 

[HackedJL]

Argh the Evo Trackbar bushing is already shot on the front. Such a disspointment but at this point I can't do anything but laugh. Less than 800 miles on it

Not sure how I used it wrong but not gonna bother asking EVO.

What's everyone else out there running?

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