Control Arm and Tie Rod questions...

I am in the process of replacing most of the suspension and steering item on my 2001 XJ. It is my wife's Jeep. No lift and just driven to work, mostly highway miles...around 120K mileage...

Anyways, I was looking at the upper and lower control arms. Is it worth replacing the bushings, or just picking up new sets and installing them?

Just curious...:dunno:

As for the tie rods, should I replace the TREs or just pick up a new Tie Rod Kits from Quadratec?

WWUD?

Thanks for all the help has been providing:yelclap::yelclap:

Just replacing the bushings will cost much less, but can be a real pain without a way to press out the old bushings. I recommend just replacing the bushings and doing it yourself. If the XJ is used as a DD then stay with rubber bushings as the ride will be better.

Replace the TREs; if you are not offroading this vehicle there is no need to to go beefier. Get it aligned afterwards unless you know how to do it yourself.

if $$$ is not the issue, I'd change everything. The project goes much quicker and the chance of vibration/wobble is reduced with every new part!! With 120k on the clock, the steering and suspension joints have outlived their designed lifespan and will only get worse from here. Do it once, do it right, and get a quality alignment afterwards (highways and poor alignments don't get along very well-- just ask my last set of tires)

don't forget to check the shocks, ball joints, and hubs when you're under there!!

Thanks for the info.

I replaced the axle joints, hubs, and shocks last August. I am planning on changing the ball joints also.

I was also wondering about the coil springs, coil spring bumpers, and coil spring isolators. Do these items go bad over time? Are they easy to replace?

I went with monroe sensa trac shocks, but I am not very impressed with them. What are some more popular shocks for XJs?

Any other suggestions to smooth out and quiet down the front end?


Thanks again everyone.