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Have a 3” lift and dropped lower control arm bracket with WJ lowers. Almost maxed out on shims and still only about 3* + caster. Thinking about re-drilling the front upper arms to loose about ½ to 5/8 inch length. The geometry and installed shims are indicating about 1* for each 1/8 inch forward on the lowers or backwards on the uppers.. Thus ½ inch should gain 4* + caster for a total of 7*+. Looks like there is room in the control arm end.
Anyone ever try this? Thanks.
Assuming you weld up the holes properly (in sheetmetal, going to be interesting) it should work, but I would worry about making the arms shorter since really both sets of arms should be longer due to the increased angle, making the arms shorter will pull them back further toward the rear of the fenders.
Thinking about some thin washers welded on the sides for the new holes and longer bolts if needed.
Fender comment is interesting but only plan on going to 31" rubber so don't think I will have a clearance problem.
If you weld the holes up and use welded washers at the new hole site I bet you would be fine from the arm strength standpoint. It may create other problems though like driveshaft collapse or possibly steering/tracbar issues. Its worth a shot though.
The RC drop brackets actually have plenty of hole/slot left to get more adjustment. Looks like ½ inch + or so, about what I need. The problem is the “clamp” bolts (1/2 inch nuts) are too short to get much more then 1/8 inch more shim adjustment on the lowers. With the support brackets at the rear you loose another 1/8 inch or so of adjustment length on these bolts.
Thought about taking out the inner “cups” and welding on some longer bolts, but that seemed like more work then just shortening the effective length of the uppers. Maybe a tossup in the end and I might take another look at the lower mode before starting.
Thought about taking out the inner “cups” and welding on some longer bolts, but that seemed like more work then just shortening the effective length of the uppers.
I put in some longer bolts because a I broke a couple off. I cut off the old bolts and drilled out the hole and welded in some 50mm bolts. Once I get it all dialed in, I will trim them down to the right length.
Hmm. Longer bolts is starting a look to be a better solution. Would also be easier to return to stock if I every pull the lift. Hmmmm.
Re: the WJ lower arms, it was pretty simple the way I did it. Just cut off the tubes with a hacksaw till they were almost the same width as the stock XJ arms, then finished off with a grinder to true them up. Just a little grinder at a time along with some squirts of water to keep everything cool and not cook the rubber bushing. I left a tight interference fit - goes in tight and it doesn’t appear the arm itself binds on the cup.
Well, after a second look at extending the cup bolts, that was discarded. I could only get about 2* more
on driver’s side after extending the bolts and that would be maxed out.
So, back to first option. I ended up with a total of 5.6*+ caster after a recheck at the alignment shop and still have adjustment for a couple of degrees more + on the bottom cup by adding shims. Drives much better so will leave it alone for now.
Here is what I did:
Found some 5/16 fender washers with a ~ 1 ¼” OD. Marked up the first control arm and found that locating the washer ~ 7/8” back from the front of the arm and flush with the bottom would give the intended location of ~1/2” back and a smidge down for increased upper clearance, though there appeared plenty of room. Washer was welded, including welding up the original hole. 5/16” hole was used to center the drill to enlarge to near original hole size. All four sides of the UCAs were easy to duplicate by locating the washers with a square set to 7/8” and the arms re-installed with out trouble.
I am sure there is more adjustment available by moving the hole back further, but this amount worked for me.
Couple of photos attached but no comments on the welding. Old guys don’t see so good up close.
I don't recommend modifying the stock upper control arms. They are too weak for any kind of real wheeling. It would be kinda like upgrading a D35, it's just not worth the effort.
Well thanks for the comments. For my needs I think this is an ok mod. My interest was in a mild lift to get a bit more clearance for the trails we normally visit. I have no intent to go “hairy chested-real wheeling”. After the lift, we had insufficient castor for a good on road driver. I could have spent some bucks for adjustable UCA, but so far consider that a waste of $$ for our intended use. I also could have purchased some adjustable LCAs, but chose the WJ arms instead. In years past I have had jeeps that were built to push the envelope to the limits. I no longer have an interest in going there and making things break to enjoy the back country, others do.
I only offered this question and the results for folks like us looking for a low buck fix for low caster angle issues. If I find that the UCAs have a problem or failure with this mod I will post that also.
Digging into the "way back" file, I've budget modded stock arms by adding plate to the axle end of the UCA's then drilled a couple of holes to allow for caster fine tuning.
I've also extended lower factory arms by cutting and welding in a section of rectangle tubing thats slides up into the channel. They were used on multiple trips on 7-8 rated trails in Moab and daily driven for over a year and never failed.
