Control Arm Question

1996 Cherokee 4x4 4.0 Auto Stock. Sorry, I searched, but I have some possible variables here that may have caused the problem

Looked at several different lifts, decided I didnt want to go crazy after reading and reading and reading on this forum.

Found a guy selling a full leaf pack and springs from rough country. 3 inch Lift I picked up for $100. It was just sway bar, springs and leafs.

After much cussing, bleeding, sweating and beer, I have it 99% installed. However, unless I missed it from weeks of reading I thought with a 3 inch lift I could use stock control arms. They are about an inch off now. I have the jeep on jack stands and the axle supported by a jack. Move up, wont fit. Move down wont fit.

So one of two things 1) the guy wasnt honest and it is a miss match pack and the springs are longer than three inches lift (which seems unlikely as they were of similar wear etc) or 2) I missed that I will need to buy arms or something. I measured before lift and back end came up 2 3/4 inches.

So please help, what is the cheapest option to fix this. I only spent $100 on the lift and dont want to ebay adjustable arms for $190.00

Is there a simple fix I can do here or bite the bullet. Thanks in advance for all your help as it has been invaluable thus far.

Do you have to disconnected the control arms just to put new coils in?

Can you ratchet-strap the axle backward to get the control arms on?

IMO you can run stock control arms with only three inches of lift. Its gonna be a harsh ride, and your pinion angle is gonna be off. You may experience some driveline vibration.

It would be worth it and make your ride alot better if you spent that money on some adjustable arms. that way you can dial in the pinion angle as well to alleviate any vibrations you experience.

With that much more lift you will need to install a longer travel set of shocks, both front and rear as well, other wise you are gonna over extend them, and break your shock mounts, especially the cross bar pins in the rear. Also with more lift you gain more flex and better articulation, but with out upgrading the shocks you will still be limited to your stick articulation.

There are alot of things you gotta do when you lift a vehicle, its not just throwing new springs on, you gotta take into account every other aspect of your suspension too. It will save you big head aches down the road later on.

And one more thing, you will need to have your Jeeps alignment done too, when you change the ride height it changes the geometry of your steering linkage.

"Do you have to disconnected the control arms just to put new coils in?

Can you ratchet-strap the axle backward to get the control arms on?"

I had to, no way they were going in without it. I had to compress the springs as well to get them in... RE the ratchet strap, thats what I was wondering?

I intended to get an alignment done also with the tires and I considered that I will need new shock more than likely.

So I guess the question is, can i pull the axle back or am I looking at new control arms?

You CAN, but like XTurboJ said, it's gonna be a rougher ride and your pinion angle may be off. I'd check the classifieds/for sale sections on here and see if anyone is trying to offload a set, then bite the bullet and buy em full price if you have to - look at it this way, you paid 100 for the whole rest of the set, if you had to buy just the springs you'd probably be looking at around $350+. You're still saving money, just not quite as much!

I found that doing the front coils one side at a time and using the normal OEM bottle jack between the frame rail and the top of the axle tube worked fine for me. Compress the springs with a set of rented strut compressors and some vice grips for safety, pump the axle down a bit, wrestle the spring in over the bumpstop post and onto the coil perch, let the compressor down, and it's easy sailing from there.

EDIT: also feel your pain on the "cussing, bleeding, sweating, and beer" bit, been there! wish I had a garage and a lift.

Support the frame on tall jackstands and take the tires/wheels off. Drop the axle one side at a time by jacking up the other end, you should be able to get the coils up in there without a spring compressor. I was able to do this with 6.5" coils, 3" ones should be a snap.

Springs are already in. It was a b#### to get in. Had to compress them, no other way. Maybe I bought a ten inch lift on the front? At least it will look like its jumping all of the time:spin1:

So it sounds like the right way to do it is to go with new control arms.... Argh!!!! Guess it will sit on stands for a few days while I hunt prices...

I assume I have to get adjustable ones yes? I saw a list of lengths per lift, but as I am unsure of the lift, going with adjustable ones may be the only way to go.

Last question. People have said to ratchet the axle back. To get this to line up I would have to pull the axle TOWARDS the front. So are the answers still the same? Tubo, did you put in new control arms?

You can do the alignment easily yourself. All the details are easily searched. Without longer lower control arms, you can't get the caster right. =death wobble!

dude, i ran 4.5" for a long, long time on stock upper and lower control arms. i didn't notice much change from stock at all, aside from death wobble, which was caused by a worn out tracbar. i think you'll be ok. i just don't understand why the control arms had to come off! i didn't hafta take mine off... are you using the spring compressors that go on the sides of the springs? make sure everything but the control arms is unhooked and rock n' roll!

From what I read, you are simply having a hard time getting the control arms hooked up, right? This is extremely common. I'm spoiled and have a portapower ram setup. Get a ratchet strap and go from the axle back to somewhere solid, then crank the arm into alignment. Yes it will look too high until you drive it around the block or over a couple of minor bumps and things settle. Don't worry for now, just get it bolted together and on the ground.

ive measured cheapo junkyard impulse buy procomp lca's for a 3' lift, and they were the exactly length of stock arms... and plenty of people have run stuff thats WAAAY more ghetto and been fine... just worry about shocks, they wont last long as a limit strap.

as far as installing coils, i think 90% of this forum would say their first time installing coils was a bitch.... it gets easier w/ practice, the more stuff you disconnect the easier it will be.

Thanks everyone. I got em in. Put on the ground. Test ran it and seems to be fine. The ratchet strap was the ticket!!

Why was I having problems gettin the springs in? Why did I take off control arms? Turns out that I guess Im a pansy!!!!!

Yeah had to use the outside spring compressors and even with that couldnt get them in withought taking off the control arms for clearance. Seems to be fine at speed and ride. Will see. Got two and a half inches front and back. Will be going to get new tires in next few days and I will post before and afters.

Again, thanks to everyone. The help has been FANTASTIC.

Honestly, all things considered you have bigger things to worry about than your LCAs. When i first bought my current XJ it had 6+ inches of lift with stock LCAs. With only 2.5 inches of actual lift, you're fine with your stock arms. You can get adjustment plates to change your pinion angle from any junkyard. You can look at your LCA mounts on the body side and see how they can be added and removed.

First priority for me would be to make sure to get it properly aligned by a shop you trust, and have them print out a before and after alignment reports. A good shop with the computer aided alignment will be able to give you those reports. Really you shouldnt use any other shop to do it for you. They can check your camber, caster, front track, rear track, and toe. They can tell you how far out of alignment your Jeep is. It can also tell you what you have to do to get your jeep back to spec. Whether that be get an adjustable track bar, adjustable arms etc... They'll put your jeep as close to spec as they can with the equipment that it has.

The things i would put to second priority are correct length shocks. With the additional ride height you are going to over extend your shocks alot more, and along with that they're going to bottom out more too. Your shocks will wear out, and as a result your ride quality will suffer more from that than anything else. And on top of that, it may cause abnormal wear to your new tires you plan on, such as cupping. So with that in mind, New shocks are a must. Some places give special deals on sets of 4 shocks, and alot of good companies will know the correct length to give you based on the amount of lift you have. that would be the easiest way to go.

My third priority would be bumpstops, to keep your new shocks that are the correct length from bottoming out. New bumpstops aren't terribly expensive.

Like i said earlier, ther are many things you need to look at, these are the things that i would address first. I believe that most others would agree.

-Jake

xcm said:

ive measured...procomp lca's for a 3' lift, and they were the exactly length of stock arms

Click to expand...

With regards to this, alot of after market LCAs have a bend put into them so that they come of the axle at a more level angle. The more level your control arms are at a static ride height(no flexing just sitting on level ground) the better your vehicle will ride.

So while the ProComp LCAs may have been the same length i'm willing to bet that they had a bend in them. If you do a search about Suspension geometry and control arms, or look into Rubicon Express' Control Arm Drop Brackets (you don't need them, but it doesnt hurt to learn), you can read into the science behind control arms and lengths and what not.