Lower Control Arm Dilemma

[westvalleyxj]

Go with Ironman's. He uses Johnny joints and they are far superior.

I swapped out RC's problematic joints for Currie joints, despite RC going the extra mile to solve the bushing issue. It's nice to be able to drive the jeep clunk-free for once.

Or if the arms are too good to pass up, get em, run em till the joints die, and then spend $90 on a pair of johnny joints to replace the flex joints. Currie offers direct replacement joints.

Did the same thing and I am very pleased so far.

 

[DeftwillP]

Andy will make straight control arms if you call him and ask.

 

[muddeprived]

do you know if it's possible to just swap the bushings and not the whole joint? Or does currie's design differ from RCs more than just the bushing quality?

They are different and can't be swapped. I kinda prefer having currie's joint housing because it's one piece, while RC's is welded together. Always that possibility of the welds failing.

One thing I do know is that currie uses a slightly larger bolt for the upper johnny joints so drilling out the stock 10mm bolt hole will be required. Bigger bolt is a plus though.

 

[american_zero]

I'm currently shopping lower adjustables for my 3". This is 99% daily driver duties so ride is very important. FWIW - I think I have narrowed my search to IRO or JKS. They both use stock rubber bushings. JKS are very nice, but also pretty expensive, otherwise I would just get them. IRO stuff seems to have a good rep and the price is right.

 

[muddypunk]

RC is poop because they dont keep bushings around for very long I have 2 different sets of RC LCA's and Rc cant get me bushing's for either. 1 pair is 6 years old and the 2 years old and they dont have poly or rubber I cant belive it I like the springs and such but the control arms are F N G imo hope that helps

 

[Hoooper]

you can get the bushings from elsewhere. just sayin

 

[muddeprived]

RC is poop because they dont keep bushings around for very long I have 2 different sets of RC LCA's and Rc cant get me bushing's for either. 1 pair is 6 years old and the 2 years old and they dont have poly or rubber I cant belive it I like the springs and such but the control arms are F N G imo hope that helps

which versions of the arms do you have? I'm guessing the 6 year old ones are the swivel type that they did away with? What about the other arms?

 

[XGarfX]

I have fabtech lower arms which have johnny joints at both ends...... 4 years later and barely being greased they are tight as can be. They ride amazing on road, better then my friends long armed xj and he has just a bit more lift. They were meant for 4 inches of lift but I bumped it up another inch and they still handle amazing and have no issues with anything on them wearing out. Get somethign with johny joints at both ends end of story. When your going long arms (like me right now) you sell off your arms for as much as you can, a johny jointed control arm is worth more then some RC crap flex jointed LCA. The rc long arm thread just proves how shitty those joints are, why take the risk after seeing it on every thread about them?

 

[David_Bricker]

I put on Rokmen Upper and Lower adjustable arms with Johnny Joints on all ends except the axle side upper. I also put on RC drop brackets at the same time. The ride improvement was nothing short of amazing, and the flex is vastly improved.

The Rokmen arms are quite beefy, good instructions, and went in with no problem. I also went up a bolt size (metric to SAE) since the Johnny Joint allowed for it.

You can always sell a high quality arm when you go to the long arm kit.

David Bricker / SYR

 

[dukie564]

update - look what I picked up a few months ago off craigslist for $90 with springs, driven 1/2 way to me

Clayton.....:gee: (freshly rebuilt and painted)

 

[spencer elliott]

im in a similar situation... lifted 3", but plan on going to 4-4.5" later. problem is that I need LCAs soon. all while planning on long arms when I get to the 4-4.5" lift.

does it make sense to get the long arm setup now while on 3"? so that its out of the way. or would it be best to get reg LCAs while on 3", and then have to sell them and get the long arms later?

money not being an issue here. i would prefer to just get the long arms now. and not have to buy a set now, sell them and buy another set later.

how will long arms affect a 3" lift?

 

[dukie564]

you cannot run any commercial long arms at 3" of lift. There's not enough clearance to the uniframe. A midarm setup would work but you would have to make it yourself.

 

[Ben824]

im in a similar situation... lifted 3", but plan on going to 4-4.5" later. problem is that I need LCAs soon. all while planning on long arms when I get to the 4-4.5" lift.

does it make sense to get the long arm setup now while on 3"? so that its out of the way. or would it be best to get reg LCAs while on 3", and then have to sell them and get the long arms later?

money not being an issue here. i would prefer to just get the long arms now. and not have to buy a set now, sell them and buy another set later.

how will long arms affect a 3" lift?

Depending on what 3" lift kit you are running and how old it is and how much it has sagged you could possibly run a long arm set up but that also depends on which one. There is a member on here that had the 3.5" RE kit and installed the RC long arm upgrade and it cleared fine. The arms of the kit could make contact with the "frame rails" but that would be mostly when off roading so for everyday highway driving you should be fine. One other thing to consider is if you plan to do frame stiffeners (which you should) it would be much easier to do before the long arm kit than after. The arms of the the long arm kits usually mount to a new transmission cross member which would need to be removed if installing frame stiffeners and since the arms locate the front suspension you would basically need to disassemble part of the front suspension. Point is it would be a major pain in the a$$.

But here is my opinion for you. If you have the money to get the long arms now then go ahead and get the kit and wait to install it once you get some frame stiffeners installed. Then when the time comes to bump up the suspension all you gotta do is swap in the springs and shocks or however you plan to get your lift height up. That's just my .02 cents.

 

[muddeprived]

Doesn't Treks advertise their kit as 3.5"? Just add another isolator and voila, 3.5". Go long arms NOW rather than getting shorties then going longies. It's just a waste of time and $$.

 

[jscusmcvet]

FWIW, I had Currie LCA's on my 2003 TJ Rubicon. It was the only modification I made where my wife said it actually made the ride better than stock. From my perspective the johnny joints were easy to maintain, durable, provoded a good on road ride and flexed like mad off road.

John

 

[viperbluelx]

Johnny Joints ride great, anyone who says they didn't are just spreading internet rumors.

 

[spencer elliott]

But here is my opinion for you. If you have the money to get the long arms now then go ahead and get the kit and wait to install it once you get some frame stiffeners installed. Then when the time comes to bump up the suspension all you gotta do is swap in the springs and shocks or however you plan to get your lift height up. That's just my .02 cents.

I was def going to do frame stiffeners before long arms. I just wanted to make sure that the long arms would be ok at 3". im going to be running 2" Rustys coils w/ ACOS so adjustment shouldnt be a problem.

Doesn't Treks advertise their kit as 3.5"? Just add another isolator and voila, 3.5". Go long arms NOW rather than getting shorties then going longies. It's just a waste of time and $$.

I was planning on going with Serious long arms. if I need another .5" then ill adjust the ACOS.