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lower control arms, great find at the junk yard?

Magus2727

Magus2727

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Draper, UT
Picked up a set of "explore Pro Comp Chomolly Series" front lower control arms of a XJ from the junk yard this morning. Any thing I should do before installing them on my jeep? Should I replace the bushings? They look a little worn. I am guessing an alignment is going to be needed also?

IMG_20121013_123340.jpg
 
I have those same arms, they were for a 3" lift. If you are any taller id worry about the axle location being pulled back...

That aside id say, bushings clean/paint.... did you go to pick n pull on 3300 south? If so did you spot the white xj with the factory 44 under it?
 
i used to have those. good for about a 3" lift i would say, since that's what my old pro comp lift was. they worked ok. not a ton of flex due to bushings on both ends, but wasnt horrible. do the bushings look bad? they dont look it from the pics, i wouldnt change them unless they are.
 
Yep from the pick and pull... I was not even looking for jeep parts, but this jeep was right along the entrance, it was a whit jeep I pulled it off of. Did not check the rear end. Looks like some rear under body damage, the drive shaft was all banged up. I grabbed 3" coils a few years back from the same place. Considering I am at 3" lift on stock lower arms... these should be an improvement.

The bushings look good, no slop or Anything in them but they are "eaten" on the sides and a little more brittle than you would expect from poly bushings.

IMG_20121013_133819.jpg


IMG_20121013_133804.jpg
 
Yeah agreed with vanimal, they are "ok", mine can flex a 33 out of the wheel well and unseat my +2" springs w/ 1.5" spacer.

With mine installed the arms are almost completely parallel to the ground on 3" lift, maybe 10* up, so if your arms are more vertical than that you will see a difference in down travel.

That pick n pull is the death of me when I go, waaaay too many xjs in there to pull spare parts from haha. I go in for a blinker lens and walk out with a disc brake swap and spare axle shafts almost every time, lol
 
Do the sides really mater? The bulk of the material is there and after getting tighten down in the bracket should have no side play. Also these are better than what I got (stock), and with drop brackets would support a taller lift right? I am at about 3" lift now. The most I would do would be another 2" with spacers up front, at that point I will be doing a long arm kit. So these should make everything better? I already had to make some frame "modifications" to fit my 33" tires while using the stock arms.

Edit: yea I went in looking for a rear disk brake ford focus to take home and ended up just playing around with the XJ's. Its sometimes sad to see that many in there. I thought I scored a mother load when I saw one model XJ that had the servos for cruse control, but looking inside the clock spring and controls had already been pulled.
 
id becareful with them, they will work for mild wheeling but since poly bushings dont have alot of give the stock control arm mounts will eventually get tweaked or ripped off
 
I replaced the bushings in my stock arms with poly a few years back when I was working on getting Death Wobble under control. But the stock arm will flex a lot more that these arms will. As of right now its my DD and has not see much of any wheeling since my previous DD went out of commission requiring a full engine and suspension rebuild.

I will take caution once installed. Any where to buy the bushings? I have been doing searches and can't locate just the bushings.
 
measure them and go to your local offroad place if you have one. they'll likely have the right size.
 
Id get the old ones out and take the arms to 4 wheel parts or teraflex, they probably have a universal kit in stock. Or they could at least point you in the right direction
 
Any idea what the cost might be? I think I found something online saying they might be $50 ish for each arm...that's more than I paid for both arms.

Are the bushings the same for these as the stock arms? I.e. could I move my poly bushings from my stock arms over to the "new" pro comp?

Are they 1 piece bushings that get pressed in? Or are they 2 price? The freezer trick should work on these getting them out?
 
i wouldnt even bother with the arms unless you find dirt cheap bushings.
you can find used RE short arms , uppers and lowers, all the time on craigslist and naxja for cheap.
 
So are these even better than my stock arms? Will I have better angles and smoother ride along with pushing my front axle back out in front of me? Am I going to "hurt" anything if I install them as is? And are there any ways to test the bushings before install?
 
The bushings do look a little worn... mine have been on the jeep for 3 years and don't look like that. Did you measure it and at least give teraflex or 4wheel parts a call like I suggested? I can't remember what site I looked at but I saw a 3 piece bushing kit, two rubber sides and the sleeve for $20.

Best bet is call the two places since they are local to us.

And like stated previously, my arms on a 3" lift are about 10 degrees from completely flat, if your stock arms are more angled then yes they will help a little bit.
 
the bushings really dont look that bad. they are worn on the sides. i'm guessing the jeep was wheeled, and they rubbed on the mounts. the other stuff looks good. i'd install them, and see how it drives. i used to have those arms too.
 
Well got them installed. Was not to bad of a job. I think my axle is now about 1" note forward than when I had the stock arms on. Will take a picture of the angle of the arms... got a walking dead race to run...
 
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