As soon as the first Jeep Wrangler Unlimited rolled off the assembly line and hit the pavement, aftermarket manufacturers began designing parts to accentuate the vehicle's off-road prowess. With a wheelbase 12 inches longer than that of a standard TJ, it was obvious that builders would have some redesigning to do. The smart ones, though, simply took their best TJ parts and looked at how to make intelligent modifications that would make them work with this new rendition of the Wrangler.
Full-Traction's Unlimited kit comes with all the components necessary to transform your new, longer Wrangler into a great trail machine.
This is precisely what the engineers at Full-Traction Suspension decided to do with their popular 6-inch Long-Arm Kit. This bolt-on suspension lift uses a genuine three-link system in the rear, which pivots on a high-misalignment uniball joint. This setup completely eliminates the need for a rear track bar, which can bind and limit linear wheel travel and axle articulation. The more traditional four-link frontend is equally well-designed and has been built to maintain correct castor curve throughout the range of wheel travel. To withstand constant trail abuse, the lower arms are constructed of 2x0.250-inch-wall DOM tubing, and the plates and brackets are all made of laser-cut 1/4-inch steel.
As it turned out, R&D testing showed that the modifications required to make the kit work with the Unlimited were minimal, which was great news because this suspension worked so well. If you're looking for ways to turn your new Wrangler Unlimited into a tough trail machine that you can take over the meanest obstacles and still drive on the highway at 60 mph, take a close look at Full-Traction.
1. The new suspension cannot be installed around the stock exhaust system, so be prepared to cut it just behind the Y-pipe. You'll then have to find a muffler shop to build a custom exhaust that will wind around the suspension. | 
2. This kit uses a new track bar, frame brace, and bracket, which bolt to the cast-iron factory track-bar mount. The new adjustable track bar isn't connected to the axle until the suspension is bolted up. | 
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3 & 4. Here are the new upper control arm brackets. After cutting off the stock mounts, you must measure from a common reference point to ensure that the new arms are even from side to side. | 
5. Both the upper and lower control arms make use of the stock axle brackets. The upper arms are installed now, but the lower arms cannot be bolted in until after the side skidplate brackets are installed. | 
6. Before installing the center skidplate brackets, you must reposition the brake line using the supplied tabs. |
7. Use the side skidplate brackets as templates to mark the holes to be drilled in the framerails. | 
8. You can then slide in the steel crush sleeves supplied in the kit. | 
9. The new skidplate brackets then slide easily into place and are bolted in at 75 lb-ft of torque. |
10. Now, the new skidplate can be bolted to the support brackets. The studs from the transfer case mount aligned almost perfectly with the predrilled holes in the skidplate, which made this part of the install trouble-free. | 
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11 & 12. Moving to the rearend, remove the stock antisway bar and install the new V-link support bracket. This heavy-duty piece ties into the stock control arm bracket and frame, leaving it very well secured. The stock antisway bar is then reinstalled. |
13. Full-Traction's V-link is at the heart of this long-arm kit. This precision part uses a high-misalignment uniball joint to eliminate the need for a track bar. | 
14. The V-link installs in the differential support bracket using misalignment spacers. The mounting bolt is torqued to 15 lb-ft. | 
15. At the other end of the V-link, the arms slid easily into the brackets built inside the center skidplate. Everything lined up perfectly. At this point, the rear lower control arms were also bolted to the side skidplate brackets and then connected to the stock axle brackets. |
16. The front lower control arms also make use of the stock axle brackets and connect to the built-in bracketry in the center skidplate. | 
17. With all that done, we started wrapping up the install by slipping the new coil springs into their respective corners. | 
18. It was then just a matter of bolting up the new front track bar. Be sure that the axle is centered underneath the Jeep before you tighten everything down. |
Although no modifications are necessary for the front driveshaft, you must install a slip-yoke eliminator kit and use a rear CV-style driveshaft in order to maximize the potential of this long-arm kit (and not void the warranty). | | |