Control arm clunk-thinking of a different manufacturer

I currently have bds adjustable arms in my 89 xj on 6" with flex joints.I have had some problems with them,like the threads seizing, so now they are all fixed, and not by choice. I end up having to rebuild the frame side end of them every 8 or so months, they just start clunkin and I get the front axle rotating when braking and letting off. The bds joint uses urethane races and the preload is not adjustable, I think they wear out fast because of this. What do you Naxja experts recommend?
- Keep replacing the joints when they wear out? (8-10 months)
- Install a superior adjustable arm with better joints? (insert your tried and tested recommendation here)
- some sort of heavy duty upgrade?

I run RC's adj LCAs and love em. They gotta be kept greased or they'll start to chatter, but they've got heim style joints and have great on-road mannerisms. I don't know if you're running drop brackets or not (with 6" of lift, I hope you are) but a long arm kit would be a great upgrade. I don't know what you're looking to spend, but I would go with a reputable company as opposed to building your own unless you have some good fab skills. If you did build them, you'd know the integrity of your parts. But I'm sure others will agree when I say there are some companies out there that make a great product and you don't have to do any insane measuring/work.

XJosh95 said:

I run RC's adj LCAs and love em. They gotta be kept greased or they'll start to chatter, but they've got heim style joints and have great on-road mannerisms. I don't know if you're running drop brackets or not (with 6" of lift, I hope you are) but a long arm kit would be a great upgrade. I don't know what you're looking to spend, but I would go with a reputable company as opposed to building your own unless you have some good fab skills. If you did build them, you'd know the integrity of your parts. But I'm sure others will agree when I say there are some companies out there that make a great product and you don't have to do any insane measuring/work.

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Long arm isnt quite in the budget yet, Its a short arm kit with drop brackets and flexes very well. How lonfg have you been running the rough country arms?

flexey:

I put them on last December IIRC. I haven't had too much wheeling on them with a myraid of engine problems in the months surrounding the upgrade. What trail-riding they have seen, it was a world of difference over the stockers I had on before. Keep in mind I'm only running a budget boost...the lift and arms were put on right around the same time so I went from wheeling a stocker to how it sits now and even that blew my mind. I'm still connected in the front so my flex is pretty limited, but there was a noticable difference in flex just from those arms. And Jeffery is very good to deal with at RC.

What about control arms w/o the flex joints? Ever check out these from JKS?

http://store.jksmfg.com/merchant2/m...MS&Store_Code=JKS01&Category_Code=Coil_Spring

Although I have no personal experience with them, the concept of the rotating arm has really got me interested. The rubber bushings would give a nice quite/smooth ride while not getting trashed due to flex.

Cost for uppers and lowers is comparable to some long arm kits though.

Sounds like you could benefit from arms like these as long as they fit your lift (says 0-6" and you said your at 6").

What do you think?

How much would you be looking to spend?

I'm very happy with my RK 3 link upgrade and got it for $700.
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Krawler-Upgrade-1990-01-Cherokee/dp/B003EM8Y86

Amazon has it for $748

MG2000XJ said:

What about control arms w/o the flex joints? Ever check out these from JKS?

Although I have no personal experience with them, the concept of the rotating arm has really got me interested. The rubber bushings would give a nice quite/smooth ride while not getting trashed due to flex.

Cost for uppers and lowers is comparable to some long arm kits though.

Sounds like you could benefit from arms like these as long as they fit your lift (says 0-6" and you said your at 6").

What do you think?

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hMMMM, You have me completely interested, anyone run these? they would in fact be better than flex joint no? stonger and cannot be damaged by overflex! and have real bushings on either side!

Have you checked out Andy's arms? He makes his with currie johnny joints and a neat flexible poly-type bushing that flexes more than traditional bushings.

http://www.ironman4x4fab.com/XJ_Inventory.html

He makes some really beefy stuff. Ask him to make you indestructible arms with some of the strongest flex joints and he will.

One thing you should always do with threaded arms that use a jam nut is pour a shi$load of anti-size on the threads and inside the tube. Anti-seize will prevent the threads from seizing up. I started using this stuff back when I had my TJ cuz the Nth arms kept seizing. Once I put this stuff on the threads it was so easy to adjust. i could adjust it with just one hand. My long arms spin just by turning them with a finger. The silver stuff rocks.

Speaking of bad flex joints, my RC flex joints pooped out twice already. I have the long arms and the uppers went recently and I just discovered the lower big flex joints (probably the same flex joint used on their short arms) had alot of play in them.

bcmaxx said:

hMMMM, You have me completely interested, anyone run these? they would in fact be better than flex joint no? stonger and cannot be damaged by overflex! and have real bushings on either side!

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The reason the better manufacturers use some kind of flex joint is because the arms move 3 dimensionally. Arms that are sold to "twist" can't do that and working the threads tends to cause pre-mature wear(and noise).

RCP Phx said:

The reason the better manufacturers use some kind of flex joint is because the arms move 3 dimensionally. Arms that are sold to "twist" can't do that and working the threads tends to cause pre-mature wear(and noise).

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Yeah this is probably why RC did away with their old swivel style arms. All i ever heard about em was clunking threads.