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WJ lca's lack of flex

R

Rod Knee

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Grand Jct., CO
Just wonderng about people's experiences with WJ lower control arms. They don't allow for any more flex than what their bushings provide which wouldn't seem like much to me. Have you run them and as a result incurred damage to your control arm mounts due to lack of flex, and if so, what was your lift and what terrain were you driving in. On the other side of the coin, who has run them under conditions that would seem to be cause for concern over their inflexibility but has not had any problems?
 
I run them, lots of street miles but only 3 full weekends of wheeling so far. I play in the rocks on 33s but open/open so I can only get myself into a limited amount of trouble. Control arm mounts are fubar'd from bashing them into rocks, not flex/lack of flex in the control arms. They flex well enough to max out my JK rubicon shocks, which isn't saying much.

Not sure I'd buy them again, because I haven't really seen any benefit, but they haven't caused any problems either. Sounds like you're looking for someone who's wheeled with them a bit more, sorry I can't give you better info than that.
 
Well, trimming the bushings to fit the XJ mounts is standard practice for this modification. With regard to my original questions listed above, lets assume this trimming has been done.

My questions were not about how to do the mod, but rather what the effects of this use are/could be.
 
No where up there did u say you trimmed them ( because u don't technically have to trim the fronts) therefor I was explaining if u didn't than it would definitely limit flex. Now since u did we can move on to something else. Check your coil buckets where the shock is mounted. Sometimes with larger diameter control arms they come in contact with that before you get you maximum droop. My finances jeep has them with 2" of lift and no flex issues what so ever. Believe it or not your rear suspension setup has a lot to do with how your front flexes.
 
Its worth noting the stock XJ control arms have more flex than the WJ arms, which is part of the cause for concern. I wasn't initially looking for comparisons per se. But if comparisons are to be made, then I think it more relevant to look at how the WJ arms perform in comparison to aftermarket control arms that flex than to cheap, inflexible ones.
 
You're not going to get good flex with stock style rubber bushings. The outer sleeve of the bushing is pressed into the arm and the inner sleeve is bonded to the rubber in the bushing. Once you bolt them in, they don't spin at all, so the only up and down movement you get in the arm is the rubber twisting in the bushing. After constant flexing, you're probably just tearing the bushing.

Honestly, because the stock XJ arms use such thin sheetmetal, you're probably getting some pretty good twisting of the arm itself more than the bushing. The WJ arms are beefy and boxed in, so they aren't going to twist at all. If the bushings don't flex, then the mounts will start to. The only reason I can see for using them is to get more tire clearance.

If you want loads of flex, you need flex bushings in your arms.
 
I'd say wj arms flex as good as any stock control arms. You can't compare them to aftermarket arms with Johnny joints or Heims, that's an entirely different ball game both in terms of design and cost. If you think they don't flex, you've never wheeled in a stock wj they flex better than stock xj's(largerly in parts to the much more flexible rear suspension).
 
I've run them for a while and just recently swapped back to XJ stuff.
The bushings, properly trimmed, will articulate just fine. The ride quality gets much softer; my XJ handles "sportier" with XJ stuff but cushier with WJ.
I swapped away from WJ stuff when, after a very mild wheeling trip (and on stock suspension, so maximizing available down travel via parallel ride height control angles) I noticed the WJ arms had scars from the stock axle bracketry making contact.
I could have clearanced everything but chose to freshen up some XJ arms with new bushings & reinforce with more steel.
If you want a 'country cadillac' sort of ride, WJ arms (upper and lower) are a good choice - but it takes some modifying to get them to work properly.
 
Guess I should add that I trimmed the coil bucket bracket to get more down travel. But that's not unheard of with aftermarket short arms either. Also, the bend is in the wrong place to help with tire clearance if you are running tires 32" or larger (ask me how I know...). Although since they're boxed in, they don't grab like the stock XJ ones do when the tire hits them...
 
Just curious, OP do you have the "football" bushing at frame side or axle side? I had mine at the axle end. Seemed to do fine. I was running them with about 2.75" of lift.
 
You know it has been five years since I did this mod and I don't remember specifically orienting the oblong bushing forward or reward, although I usually research these things so I probabaly put the football bushings reward as I just read tonite you are supposed to do. The vehicle is in a transmission shop in line to get regeared so I can't check on it tonight. But you have peeked my curiousity so I'll check on it tomorrow.
 
I put a set on a few weeks ago. I decided to to the "football" or oval shaped bushing on the axle end. When I first put the oval bushing end into the body side mount it would not even droop down due to the arm hitting the body or more specifically it was the material on the back side, around the bushing, that was hitting on the body. Turning it around made everything go into place real nicely. I still need to do the classic modification to the back side of the axle next to the shock mount. I would expect nearly as much drop as before if I can trim back enough by the shock.

I can't imagine any issues if it's not binding on the body side and not hitting the shock mount.

If anyone knows why the oval end forward would make a difference, please share your thoughts.
 
Just my .02 cents as I've looked into this a but and have a few wj here near me, first thing I've noticed, later WJ(01"+) had a slightly different style bushing, instead of being solid(early 99"-00") it had cut outs on either side. Now I don't know if that helps with flex or not but I noticed that.

Second is the foot ball shape is on the axle side so if you were to install them properly, you would want it on the axle side.

I wanted to do this for my jeep(2" lift/31" tires) but have not gotten any true good conformation if they flexed better or were just in general better
 
Demonoid369 said:
Just my .02 cents as I've looked into this a but and have a few wj here near me, first thing I've noticed, later WJ(01"+) had a slightly different style bushing, instead of being solid(early 99"-00") it had cut outs on either side. Now I don't know if that helps with flex or not but I noticed that.

Second is the foot ball shape is on the axle side so if you were to install them properly, you would want it on the axle side.

I wanted to do this for my jeep(2" lift/31" tires) but have not gotten any true good conformation if they flexed better or were just in general better
Click to expand...

They ride better than my old/factory ones. A factory bushing in a factory control arm is NOT going to be stiff enough to mess with articulation. The problem you have with the WJ arm is that it hits on the shock mount. Cut the back off the shock mount and rock on.

Also.. Zero rub on 31's with 3" coils up front. Used to sound like a ratcheting locker before.

Big Hank
 
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