Teraflex lifts?

Looking at a TJ with a 3.5" teraflex lift and 33's. Have heard the name a
lot but never any comments. Anyone have any experiance with Teraflex? How
does Tera compare to Rubicon Express?

thanks,

Carl

If it's an older Teraflex lift, there were issues with the two-piece control
arms threaded together, they were designed to twist freely on their threads
in increase flex. But as the suspension flexed the threads would wear down
and may eventually fail. Tera has redesigned their control arms with a
locknut to keep the threaded portion from twisting and now uses "johnny
joint" type ends, similar to what RE has.

I have an RE 4.5" Superflex lift and I am quite satisfied with it.

"Carl" > wrote in message
...
> Looking at a TJ with a 3.5" teraflex lift and 33's. Have heard the name a
> lot but never any comments. Anyone have any experiance with Teraflex? How
> does Tera compare to Rubicon Express?
>
> thanks,
>
> Carl
>

I've had both Tera from '99 and an RE from '03. I like the RE better but
still go with the Tera QDs. Old habits, I guess. Both ride great and
flex well, but I give the nod to RE.

tw
__________________________________________________ ___________________
2003 TJ Rubicon * 2001 XJ Sport * 1971 Bill Stroppe Baja Bronco

"There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'."

Pronunciation: 'jEp Function: noun Date: 1940

Etymology: from g. p. (G= 'Government' P= '80 inch wheelbase')
A small general-purpose motor vehicle with 80" wheelbase, 1/4-ton
capacity and four-wheel drive used by the U.S. army in World War II.
__________________________________________________ ___________________

Carl wrote:
> Looking at a TJ with a 3.5" teraflex lift and 33's. Have heard the name a
> lot but never any comments. Anyone have any experiance with Teraflex? How
> does Tera compare to Rubicon Express?
>
> thanks,
>
> Carl
>
>

This is a subject I'm very "up" on. Tera's control arms have a really
(!) crappy design. Though they rotate in the middle where they are
screwed together, they don't rotate with the right geometry so match the
axle's movements when offoad.

The tougher the trail, the more this problem shows up. My long-departed
Tera control arms finally caused my control arm brackets to be ripped
from where they were welded to the chassis and axles. Yes Tera's
control arms look great but in practice, their mid-point rotation
ability that looks great is actually their problem. This problem does
not show up on mild trails or on the street, only when the going gets tough.

Jerry
(a former Tera suspension lift lover and recommender)

Carl wrote:
> Looking at a TJ with a 3.5" teraflex lift and 33's. Have heard the name a
> lot but never any comments. Anyone have any experiance with Teraflex? How
> does Tera compare to Rubicon Express?
>
> thanks,
>
> Carl
>
>

--
Jerry Bransford
PP-ASEL N6TAY
See the Geezer Jeep at
http://members.cox.net/jerrypb/

Jerry,

Thanks for the info, from what I hear, the Tera arms are not that great.
As far as I know, the lift is only 1 year old so it should have the
re-designed control arms.

My research has shown that Tera makes a 3" and a 4" lift. The Jeep is
advertised as having a 3.5" Teraflex, I'll assume it's got the 3". If I
purchase the Jeep, eventually I will install 2" spring spacers, bringing it
to ~5" of lift. When I put the spacers on, I'll do an SYE and BPE's, and
shocks with upper eye conversion.

When that sags, I'll get the RE 4.5" kit. When I get the 4.5" kit, my
driveshafts will all ready be long enough and it should be only a day to
install the springs, arms, and track bars. I'll keep running 33's untill I
upgrade the rear axle, then I'll run 35's.

BTW, the Jeep I'm checking out is a 97 TJ, 6cyl, 5pd. AC, soft top, full
doors. 3" Teraflex with 33" SSRs, 120k miles, new brakes and oil pump. Looks
to be decently maintained and in decent condition. He's asking $5500.

Waddya think?

Carl



"Jerry Bransford" > wrote in message
news:JQM6g.41$sP1.39@fed1read07...
> This is a subject I'm very "up" on. Tera's control arms have a really (!)
> crappy design. Though they rotate in the middle where they are screwed
> together, they don't rotate with the right geometry so match the axle's
> movements when offoad.
>
> The tougher the trail, the more this problem shows up. My long-departed
> Tera control arms finally caused my control arm brackets to be ripped from
> where they were welded to the chassis and axles. Yes Tera's control arms
> look great but in practice, their mid-point rotation ability that looks
> great is actually their problem. This problem does not show up on mild
> trails or on the street, only when the going gets tough.
>
> Jerry
> (a former Tera suspension lift lover and recommender)
>
> Carl wrote:
>> Looking at a TJ with a 3.5" teraflex lift and 33's. Have heard the name a
>> lot but never any comments. Anyone have any experiance with Teraflex? How
>> does Tera compare to Rubicon Express?
>>
>> thanks,
>>
>> Carl
>
> --
> Jerry Bransford
> PP-ASEL N6TAY
> See the Geezer Jeep at
> http://members.cox.net/jerrypb/

It looks like Tera redesigned their control arms, they look more like RE's
now, www.teraflex.biz.

"Jerry Bransford" > wrote in message
news:JQM6g.41$sP1.39@fed1read07...
> This is a subject I'm very "up" on. Tera's control arms have a really (!)
> crappy design. Though they rotate in the middle where they are screwed
> together, they don't rotate with the right geometry so match the axle's
> movements when offoad.
>
> The tougher the trail, the more this problem shows up. My long-departed
> Tera control arms finally caused my control arm brackets to be ripped from
> where they were welded to the chassis and axles. Yes Tera's control arms
> look great but in practice, their mid-point rotation ability that looks
> great is actually their problem. This problem does not show up on mild
> trails or on the street, only when the going gets tough.
>
> Jerry
> (a former Tera suspension lift lover and recommender)
>
> Carl wrote:
>> Looking at a TJ with a 3.5" teraflex lift and 33's. Have heard the name a
>> lot but never any comments. Anyone have any experiance with Teraflex? How
>> does Tera compare to Rubicon Express?
>>
>> thanks,
>>
>> Carl
>
> --
> Jerry Bransford
> PP-ASEL N6TAY
> See the Geezer Jeep at
> http://members.cox.net/jerrypb/

Well heck, that takes the fun out of bashing Tera though they have a lot
of years of reputation to undo. That new design does finally look
decent, at least the control arm ends look good.

Jerry

Matt Macchiarolo wrote:
> It looks like Tera redesigned their control arms, they look more like RE's
> now, www.teraflex.biz.
>
> "Jerry Bransford" > wrote in message
> news:JQM6g.41$sP1.39@fed1read07...
>
>>This is a subject I'm very "up" on. Tera's control arms have a really (!)
>>crappy design. Though they rotate in the middle where they are screwed
>>together, they don't rotate with the right geometry so match the axle's
>>movements when offoad.
>>
>>The tougher the trail, the more this problem shows up. My long-departed
>>Tera control arms finally caused my control arm brackets to be ripped from
>>where they were welded to the chassis and axles. Yes Tera's control arms
>>look great but in practice, their mid-point rotation ability that looks
>>great is actually their problem. This problem does not show up on mild
>>trails or on the street, only when the going gets tough.
>>
>>Jerry
>>(a former Tera suspension lift lover and recommender)
>>
>>Carl wrote:
>>
>>>Looking at a TJ with a 3.5" teraflex lift and 33's. Have heard the name a
>>>lot but never any comments. Anyone have any experiance with Teraflex? How
>>>does Tera compare to Rubicon Express?
>>>
>>>thanks,
>>>
>>>Carl
>>
>>--
>>Jerry Bransford
>>PP-ASEL N6TAY
>>See the Geezer Jeep at
>>http://members.cox.net/jerrypb/
>
>
>

--
Jerry Bransford
PP-ASEL N6TAY
See the Geezer Jeep at
http://members.cox.net/jerrypb/

I second what Jerry is saying. My control arms ripped off the frame one day...



On Fri, 05 May 2006 11:29:56 -0700, Jerry Bransford > wrote:

>>This is a subject I'm very "up" on. Tera's control arms have a really
>>(!) crappy design. Though they rotate in the middle where they are
>>screwed together, they don't rotate with the right geometry so match the
>>axle's movements when offoad.
>>
>>The tougher the trail, the more this problem shows up. My long-departed
>>Tera control arms finally caused my control arm brackets to be ripped
>>from where they were welded to the chassis and axles. Yes Tera's
>>control arms look great but in practice, their mid-point rotation
>>ability that looks great is actually their problem. This problem does
>>not show up on mild trails or on the street, only when the going gets tough.
>>
>>Jerry
>>(a former Tera suspension lift lover and recommender)
>>
>>Carl wrote:
>>> Looking at a TJ with a 3.5" teraflex lift and 33's. Have heard the name a
>>> lot but never any comments. Anyone have any experiance with Teraflex? How
>>> does Tera compare to Rubicon Express?
>>>
>>> thanks,
>>>
>>> Carl
>>>
>>>

Real Jeeps use Real frames and springs:
http://www.billhughes.com/CJ2frame.jpg Like the Real trucks:
http://www.billhughes.com/kenworthframe.jpg
God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O


jbjeep wrote:
>
> I second what Jerry is saying. My control arms ripped off the frame one day...