The Upper Control Arm Changeout

xcm · Oct 14, 2007

SO i found a cheap set of fixed RE upper control arms, and during the changeout we ran into trouble getting the 2nd arm connected.... the passenger side axle mount needs to get tugged backward.... we tried flexing it, etc... thats how the 1st arm went on

the mj is running a re 3.5¨ sf2, and i beleive the upper is from a 4.5¨ kit....

can anyone recommend a solution? its not as simple as i thought it would be....

GI-John · Oct 14, 2007

I used a come-along to pull it into alignment when I did mine. It worked like a charm.

Hope this helps,

John

F9K9 · Oct 14, 2007

GI-John said:
I used a come-along to pull it into alignment when I did mine. It worked like a charm.

Hope this helps,

John

trailbound xj · Oct 14, 2007

I used a floor jack , lifted the tire off the ground , had my buddy help push the front axle back while I pulled down on the front driveshaft at the ujoint to rotate the axle and it went together fine.

johnnyc · Oct 14, 2007

I always use a pipe wrench around the axle tube and a floor jack under the handle of the wrench. This way, the axle will lift and rotate at the same time.

Ricochet · Oct 14, 2007

I just did this yesterday. After playing around with jacks and jack stands for a while, I just hooked up some rachet straps and pulled it back. Worked like a charm.

trailbound xj · Oct 14, 2007

trailbound xj said:
I used a floor jack , lifted the tire off the ground , had my buddy help push the front axle back while I pulled down on the front driveshaft at the ujoint to rotate the axle and it went together fine.

forgot to add that I was using the rockrails as a jacking point .

xcm · Oct 16, 2007

i wanted to thank everyone for their responses.....
THE WORKING SOLUTION WAS......
::drumroll::

2 pipe wrenches, and a jack
i actually had a pipe wrench out there day1.... yet somehow i didnt think about using the jack....

it went easy as cake till i broke wrench #1 (a 35 year old aluminum craftsman)

we went with a rigid for round 2... cant beat a lifetime warranty
thanks again

johnnyc · Oct 16, 2007

Cool. What do I win?

Yeah, I should've mentioned not to use an aluminum pipe wrench. I've seen them bend. I bought a big pipe wrench from Harbor Freight for the sole purpose of control arm installs.

IslanderOffRoad · Oct 16, 2007

put the jeep back on the ground, roll it forward or backward depending on what way the axle needs to move.

Kejtar · Oct 16, 2007

IslanderOffRoad said:
put the jeep back on the ground, roll it forward or backward depending on what way the axle needs to move.

that's what I do: put a wheel chuck underneath the wheel and then move forward or backwards as needed

The Upper Control Arm Changeout

xcm

NAXJA Forum User

GI-John

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F9K9

Semper Fi

trailbound xj

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johnnyc

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Ricochet

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trailbound xj

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xcm

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johnnyc

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IslanderOffRoad

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Kejtar

PostMaster General

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