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Control Arm Drop Bracket decision

ty20404

ty20404

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Raleigh/Charlotte, NC
So right now my Cherokee is sitting on about 5" net up front with short arms. I saw that Rough Country and Rocky Road both have some pretty budget priced drop brackets and was looking for some opinion and direction.

From what many of you have seen which system would you prefer/recommend? I see that Rough Country has a two piece Upper/Lower control arm mounting setup, while Rocky Road's is a fully boxed one piece. Not sure how much of a difference in stability/sturdiness each design will have, but what do you think?

Currently i have a fixed lower control arm for a 4.5" lift and Rock Krawler adjustable uppers. I still have the stock arms at home. If I went with one of these drop brackets what control arm combo would you run? I'm thinking that stock lowers and adjustable uppers would be best... What do you think?
 
I have the rough country brackets very happy with them. Running RE uppers fully collapsed and procomp fixed lowers.
calistyle007.jpg
 
cant really help but i'm going to be ordering the RC ones. (NAXJA discount) i'm running fixer RC arms and stock uppers as of now. i was told that those would work with the drop brackets, by a guy off RC web site. ( chat). i think after i get thm i'll be looking for adj uppers.
 
I wouldn't run the stock arms, they are weak and will break. You can run fixed uppers and lowers, but for proper adjustment I would run adjustable on both.

-Alex
 
stock arms aren't going to break unless you beat the sh it out of it. I have been running the RC drop brackets for over a year and have run some pretty hard trails with them. no complaints, no problems!! I have RC fixed lowers and stock uppers
 
FWIW i bent stock control arms at stock height and i dont beat my rig. if youre getting drop brackets, save a little money and get all adjustable arms.
 
Mine came with drop brackets (trailmaster?) and a bent stock lower control arm. Going to be replaced with a Clayton Hard Arm setup eventually.

~Alex
 
A little different, but I bent the stock uppers at 3-4" of lift just flexing out my jeep. The upper had just too much of an angle to match against the mounts and was the weak point.

With drop brackets, I'm sure on-road driving would be fine for stock arms. If you plan on beating on it, get some kind of fixed ones. Crown is coming out with some adjustable arms for around $200 if I remember correct. Modeled them after RE arms.
 
every jeep is different, but it sounds like you must have something wrong with your jeep to bend control arms with drop brackets at 3 or 4 inches. I sit at 5.5 and I have no bends in mine at all.
100_3942.jpg

shamokinoctober06039_edited.jpg
 
Last edited:
Semper Fi said:
every jeep is different, but it sounds like you must have something wrong with your jeep to bend control arms with drop brackets at 3 or 4 inches. I sit at 5.5 and I have no bends in mine at all.
100_3942.jpg

shamokinoctober06039_edited.jpg
Click to expand...

i would say because you have tubular lowers, its taking the majority of the stress off the stock uppers. having both stock lowers and uppers there is a greater possibilty of bending the stock lowers.
 
I did a write up on the RC drop brackets about a year ago. Do a search of Rough Country Drop Bracket and it will come up for ya. They have been great, the price is great and so is the customer service through Jason. I am actually thinking about another set for my DD once I get all the parts gathered for the lift on it.
 
I'm at 4.5" and just got a set of the rocky road outfitter brackets...

Still working of fine tuning the suspension but overall I'm happy with what they sent me. Built strong, the reinforcement bracket goes all the way back to the transmission crossmember. All in all I don't see how the product could fail the way it's built. Instalation was all bolt on, pretty easy, no drilling required. Price was right too... just over $200 delivered to my house.

I've read alot of horror stories about their customer service... I had no problems myself though. Bracket were at my door 1 week after I ordered them.

-mike
 
89xj said:
i would say because you have tubular lowers, its taking the majority of the stress off the stock uppers. having both stock lowers and uppers there is a greater possibilty of bending the stock lowers.
Click to expand...

This is my point, you don't have to have aftermarket uppers to run the drop brackets. If you do have stock uppers and you bent them, with aftermarket lowers, you have to be beating the sh it out of your rig. I'm not hard on mine but, I'm not easy either. My only problem is the low pinion 30 on the front of my rig.
 
Semper Fi said:
was it an upper or a lower? If it was an upper you were not being easy on your rig!!!
Click to expand...

Just a lower, Not even bad enough to feel while driving, but when it was up on a lift I noticed it while installing the 8.8. I must have hit a speedbump a little too fast.

~Alex
 
mgonos said:
I'm at 4.5" and just got a set of the rocky road outfitter brackets...

Still working of fine tuning the suspension but overall I'm happy with what they sent me. Built strong, the reinforcement bracket goes all the way back to the transmission crossmember. All in all I don't see how the product could fail the way it's built. Instalation was all bolt on, pretty easy, no drilling required. Price was right too... just over $200 delivered to my house.

I've read alot of horror stories about their customer service... I had no problems myself though. Bracket were at my door 1 week after I ordered them.

-mike
Click to expand...

The only downside that I can see with their kit is the braces going all the way back to the crossmember if my memory serves me right they would get in the way if you ever tried to install most brand rock sliders that is the reason Rough Country braces are shorter I could be mistaken on them but it sounds that way
 
Could be a problem for some... I don't have rock sliders (yet) so it wasn't an issue, but when the time comes it may require some fabrication to make the two work together...

The RE braces are also longer if I recall.... might be something to consider.

GRIMUS99XJ said:
The only downside that I can see with their kit is the braces going all the way back to the crossmember if my memory serves me right they would get in the way if you ever tried to install most brand rock sliders that is the reason Rough Country braces are shorter I could be mistaken on them but it sounds that way
Click to expand...
 
alex22 said:
Just a lower, Not even bad enough to feel while driving, but when it was up on a lift I noticed it while installing the 8.8. I must have hit a speedbump a little too fast.

~Alex
Click to expand...

mine was the same way. i came down off a ledge on my front tires a little hard shoving the axle back. at stock height with stock tires no less.

IMG_0001-5.jpg


IMG_0002-1.jpg
 
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