Replace Upper or Lower Control Arms on 2.5 Lift ?
- Thread starter dotnetrob
- Start date
WJCO
Meme King
Do keep in mind, I wheel pretty hard. I mean, I tackle obstacles like this on a regular basis.
Draconianwinter
New member
Oh damn it man. You better change out to 60/80 Dynatracs with full coilovers and 40s.lol
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JeepJeep75
New member
Brutal!!! [emoji33]
Mike_JK_Houston_711
New member
Probably needed your new locker for that one...
JKbrick
Active Member
My Currie arms have JJ at both ends so it really doesn't matter then it sounds like. I kept the adjustment end with the big jamb nuts at the frame on front and rear lowers to keep them higher and the nuts out from behind the wheels. Thanks for the answers
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Rubber bushing side always on the axle. Also remember: rubber bushings flex too! Most conventional short arm systems can't outflex factory rubber bushings. When you start running longer shocks, ect then there is some justification to going to some sort of fancy contraption of a control arm, but trust me, a good rubber bushing will serve 99% of JK owners just fine.
Don't know what you're basing this on but when you use words like "always", you make it sound like it's some kind of rule or fact.
No, they may not be able to outflex a conventional short arm system but they won't blow out like a clevite bushing.
Not sure what lifts you've run in the past but most of the ones I've run ALL came with longer shocks. While I would agree that clevite bushings will serve most people just fine, I find that most never use their Jeeps as hard or as often as they think they do. But of course, that's just me.
Well, it's always been explained by engineers to me as the impact you're absorbing is coming from the axle, therefore you always want the "shock absorber" of the rubber bushings to be closest to the impact if possible.
You're totally right about bushings blowing out. It happens, but it's rare for the normal weekend wheeler, and good Clevite bushings are cheap and readily available. Longevity gets better or worse depending on your climate, but unless you're really pushing the limits, rubber bushings will probably serve the average Jeeper well for a long time. I'm not saying I don't advocate for a flex joint on a control arm for durability and increased performance, but it often isn't needed.
As far as shocks, I'm referring to guys chasing RTI performance, going for longer shocks than what a conventional kit might come with (say, a 12" travel front vs a 10" travel).
There are a bazillion ways to skin all of these cats, the right answer is always what's best for the individual's needs based on what they want to get out of their Jeep. [emoji869]
LOL!! Well, if it's been explained to you by engineers, it must be true. Of all the short arms I've run and or tested including Full-Traction, TeraFlex and the like that all have clevite bushings on the frame end, I can't say I felt anymore "shock absorbing" versus something like an RE, Synergy or the like that have the clevite on the axle end. Of course, this is to say nothing about arms like Currie that have Johnny Joints on both ends. But hey, I can only go off of what I have experienced as I haven't had anything explained to me by an engineer.
Clevites are cheap and readily available but if you've ever tried changing one out, you'd know that it's a serious pain in the ass to do it especially when compared to something like a Johnny Joint. MOST people I know don't have the means or the know how to change one out on their own.
I'm with you here. Like I said, I find that most never use their Jeeps as hard or as often as they think they do.
Well, I will say that you'll probably get a different answer depending on whose design you're talking about, so I suppose speaking in absolutes is my mistake because someone will always refute your point, this is the Internet after all! [emoji6]
One of the thing that we are trying to accomplish by being more present on Wayalife is to help potential customers and new JK owners untangle some of the misconceptions about owning and enjoying their Jeep. So many times people come in talking about what they want based on what the forums are saying instead of following our advice about what they need. I'd rather not have to have that "I told you so" conversation.
Speaking of simple, Wes's Jeep is the flagship, he beats the crap out of it and he's on JLink fixed arms with rubber bushings. I'd rather sell every customer with a daily driver/weekend wheeler a set of these arms and have them spend the money they saved on something else that will serve them better (gears, anyone?) instead of having them blow their was on fancy suspension bits only to hobble their Jeep by not having the funds left to do address some of the basics.
LOL!! Oh please, yes, this is the internet but nothing should stop you from making an absolute statement especially if you can back it up with something more than it was "explained by engineers" to you.
And, I think it's great that you're on here to give advice on what you think your potential customers should buy. As you may or may not know, I work hard to help point these potential customers to Trail Jeeps and would hope that you know they come in with knowledge they've gained from people like me - you know, what was said on "the forum". I'm not here to sell anyone on anything - all I can do is share what I have seen and experienced and direct them to vendors like you.
As you know, I have wheeled with Wes and I know he's not afraid to push his Jeep. I have no doubts that the JLinks you guys like to push do just fine just like factory arms do with their bonded rubber bushings. This is why I typically recommend people NOT buy ANY control arms unless they are needed for dialing in caster or setting pinion angle. This helps them to have funds to address some of the basics and to buy things that will serve them better, like gears.
cozdude
Guy with a Red 2-Door
You really can't use Wes's jeep as an example because it's so new and those arms haven't been on long enough to see enough abuse. Yea he wheels it often but in 6 months time idk if it's long enough to say that.
Now go back the Jefe and his Evo long arm with Johnny joints and that saw some abuse
WJCO
Meme King
This discussion is really a great reason why this forum is so special and unique. I really love that the members on this forum strive to keep information accurate based on experience and factual information. I know it's sure saved me money and headache as well as others. There's a lot of appealing and attractive parts out there, and we all know how easy it can be to desire to spend money on our Jeeps. Hopefully we only end up spending the money once.
notnalc68
That dude from Mississippi
Well said...and Trail Jeeps, I'm happy to see you more active, even if there may be discussions like this, sometimes.
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Sharkey
Word Ninja
:thinking: I'm still confused by this. First, I have never seen anyone talk about caster on a rear axle before. Usually the talk is about driveline angles and centering the axle in the wheel well. If you just put longer lowers on the rear, are you not making the driveline angle worse (e.g. tilting the yoke closer to the ground)?
JKbrick
Active Member
WJCO
Meme King
JKbrick
Active Member
Oh I misunderstood, I had the wrong original quote, my bad
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Sharkey
Word Ninja
No you didn't. Here was my exchange with TJ.
TJ quoted my post asking about REAR lowers and responded by talking about fixed arms for caster.
And even in the post about the pinion angle, I fail to see how putting longer rear lowers on fixes the pinion angle. Shouldn't it make it worse because the yoke will be turned further toward the ground? Now, with longer rear uppers you can straighten out the driveline angle because the yoke is twisted up and more in line with the transfer case output. I dunno, maybe I'm just all fucked up but longer REAR lowers make no sense to me without also having longer REAR uppers.
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