Anyone feel like educating me on...
Thread Starter
JK Super Freak
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,231
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From: Guam - PCSing to McGuire AFB, NJ in July '09
Anyone feel like educating me on...
control arms?
I'm reading the descriptions on some TeraFlex lift kits on the Northridge site and I notice that one comes w/o the Flexarms, one comes with a full set, and one comes with only front lower and rear upper.
Why front lower and rear upper? Why would you want to upgrade those and not the front upper and rear lower. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation and I think I've probably read it around here somewhere, but I'm lost right now.
I'm reading the descriptions on some TeraFlex lift kits on the Northridge site and I notice that one comes w/o the Flexarms, one comes with a full set, and one comes with only front lower and rear upper.
Why front lower and rear upper? Why would you want to upgrade those and not the front upper and rear lower. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation and I think I've probably read it around here somewhere, but I'm lost right now.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 241
Likes: 0
From: Florida Space Coast...but I get around
The simple answer is COST. Obviously a set of adjustable front/rear uppers and lowers
is going to be more expensive than only 1/2 of that. The kits with only 4 CA's are saving
ya some $$ and still allowing both your front and rear pinion angle and front caster to
be, somewhat, adjustable. A complete set gives ya much more adjustability to dial in your
ride after a lift but the 4 CA kits will work.
is going to be more expensive than only 1/2 of that. The kits with only 4 CA's are saving
ya some $$ and still allowing both your front and rear pinion angle and front caster to
be, somewhat, adjustable. A complete set gives ya much more adjustability to dial in your
ride after a lift but the 4 CA kits will work.
JK Super Freak
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,673
Likes: 3
From: Alberta
MichiganMikes more or less got it.
Once you've lifted your Jeep it's suspension geometry its going to be messed up....what I mean by this is, your axles are going to shift to the drivers side out of center with the Jeep, and your Caster is going to decrease, giving your stearing a "flighty" or "wish washy" feeling. How do you correct this? Well just about every kit already addresses the axle shift problem with adjustable trac bars or drop brackets...but few address the caster problem. Some will throw in Cam bolts where you have to hack apart your front lower control arm mounts at the axle to give you a little play to adjust your caster back to where you need it, these are not recomended, more preffered is the Front Lower Adjustable control arms. These allow you to adjust your caster back to a more positive number getting rid of that "flighty" steering problem. You don't HAVE to have front uppers, but it provides you better ability to tune in your caster while keeping your axle from pushing forward. Nice to have both, but front lowers do the job. I didn't even mention the pinion angle at the rear, so...rear upper adjustable control arms are tossed in to allow you to adjust your rear pinion angle back to a more suitable angle because once lifted I'm sure you've already guessed, that pinion angle is going to increase. Again, rear uppers alone do the trick, both upper and lower just finish the complete set, not necessarily required.
Once you've lifted your Jeep it's suspension geometry its going to be messed up....what I mean by this is, your axles are going to shift to the drivers side out of center with the Jeep, and your Caster is going to decrease, giving your stearing a "flighty" or "wish washy" feeling. How do you correct this? Well just about every kit already addresses the axle shift problem with adjustable trac bars or drop brackets...but few address the caster problem. Some will throw in Cam bolts where you have to hack apart your front lower control arm mounts at the axle to give you a little play to adjust your caster back to where you need it, these are not recomended, more preffered is the Front Lower Adjustable control arms. These allow you to adjust your caster back to a more positive number getting rid of that "flighty" steering problem. You don't HAVE to have front uppers, but it provides you better ability to tune in your caster while keeping your axle from pushing forward. Nice to have both, but front lowers do the job. I didn't even mention the pinion angle at the rear, so...rear upper adjustable control arms are tossed in to allow you to adjust your rear pinion angle back to a more suitable angle because once lifted I'm sure you've already guessed, that pinion angle is going to increase. Again, rear uppers alone do the trick, both upper and lower just finish the complete set, not necessarily required.
Sponsoring Manufacturer
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 6,824
Likes: 3
From: Utah
MichiganMikes more or less got it.
Once you've lifted your Jeep it's suspension geometry its going to be messed up....what I mean by this is, your axles are going to shift to the drivers side out of center with the Jeep, and your Caster is going to decrease, giving your stearing a "flighty" or "wish washy" feeling. How do you correct this? Well just about every kit already addresses the axle shift problem with adjustable trac bars or drop brackets...but few address the caster problem. Some will throw in Cam bolts where you have to hack apart your front lower control arm mounts at the axle to give you a little play to adjust your caster back to where you need it, these are not recomended, more preffered is the Front Lower Adjustable control arms. These allow you to adjust your caster back to a more positive number getting rid of that "flighty" steering problem. You don't HAVE to have front uppers, but it provides you better ability to tune in your caster while keeping your axle from pushing forward. Nice to have both, but front lowers do the job. I didn't even mention the pinion angle at the rear, so...rear upper adjustable control arms are tossed in to allow you to adjust your rear pinion angle back to a more suitable angle because once lifted I'm sure you've already guessed, that pinion angle is going to increase. Again, rear uppers alone do the trick, both upper and lower just finish the complete set, not necessarily required.
Once you've lifted your Jeep it's suspension geometry its going to be messed up....what I mean by this is, your axles are going to shift to the drivers side out of center with the Jeep, and your Caster is going to decrease, giving your stearing a "flighty" or "wish washy" feeling. How do you correct this? Well just about every kit already addresses the axle shift problem with adjustable trac bars or drop brackets...but few address the caster problem. Some will throw in Cam bolts where you have to hack apart your front lower control arm mounts at the axle to give you a little play to adjust your caster back to where you need it, these are not recomended, more preffered is the Front Lower Adjustable control arms. These allow you to adjust your caster back to a more positive number getting rid of that "flighty" steering problem. You don't HAVE to have front uppers, but it provides you better ability to tune in your caster while keeping your axle from pushing forward. Nice to have both, but front lowers do the job. I didn't even mention the pinion angle at the rear, so...rear upper adjustable control arms are tossed in to allow you to adjust your rear pinion angle back to a more suitable angle because once lifted I'm sure you've already guessed, that pinion angle is going to increase. Again, rear uppers alone do the trick, both upper and lower just finish the complete set, not necessarily required.
JK Jedi
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 5,168
Likes: 1
From: texarkana,tx
I bought the tera 3" with the half set of flex arms. I also added some adjustable track arms at the same time. Even though I have a tight budget, I wanted to keep my geometry correct. The drive now is better than it was with less lift and factory arms. The tera arms are so nice I am going to get the other 4 to finish the set. Issues that you read about with ESP and flighty steering won't be an issue with the arms adj. to the correct length and your axle re-centered.
BTW. Teraflex has awesome customer service and is very active on this site. You will not be sorry if you go that direction.
BTW. Teraflex has awesome customer service and is very active on this site. You will not be sorry if you go that direction.
JK Super Freak
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,673
Likes: 3
From: Alberta
I as well currently have the front adjustable lower Teraflexarms, they are a phenomenal product, big and beefy and and the funds roll in (after my little re-gear and locker project) I plan to outfit the rest of the Jeep with Teraflexarms
JK Freak
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 753
Likes: 0
From: Orange County, CA
I agree......I REALLY like the drive after my TF arm install.
I am thinking that most of the lifts we see are 3 to 4 inches and the lowers in the front only are suffucient to get the caster adjustment we need. I think if you were going into the 4 to 6 inch range, and whole set of uppers and lowers would be necessary.
The TF boys can address that in more detail I suppose.
I am thinking that most of the lifts we see are 3 to 4 inches and the lowers in the front only are suffucient to get the caster adjustment we need. I think if you were going into the 4 to 6 inch range, and whole set of uppers and lowers would be necessary.
The TF boys can address that in more detail I suppose.