So I'll admit coming from a truck to a jeep I'm not really sure how the control arms really function on my wrangler as it's a completely different set up. I've read through posts on here everyone having various opinions on control arms and I was hoping I could get a decent answer from just asking my question.

A little background, I have a unlimited 6spd, I really don't get to go off road very often and if i ever do it's typically just some mud, I don't do any kind of rock climbing or anything extreme. I mainly use it as my daily driver to work, the beach etc.

So with that said, my 4" Rough Country Lift came in the mail today and I was going to get it put on next week but reading some posts has got me nervous. I already have a 1" body lift and will be running 37" tires.

My question is, what should I do about the control arms... From what I have read on a lot of posts I feel like 9 out of 10 people are heavily against the cam bolts. As mentioned I'm not really doing anything crazy off road and am not very concerned with being able to have an insane amount of flex, i just want to be able to drive it for the most part.

Are the cam bolts only used in the front lower arms? If so will getting a set of front lowers only be a good solution? Should I just get longer arms or Adjustable? i don't really understand the adjustable concept...

Thanks a lot for the help!

 

if money is an issue and like you say you will not really be going off road than you could go with cam bolts. but i felt that i could never take my new jeep offroad.....and the next week i was out with my buddies playing in the mud.

once you cam out the front you cant really go back. you remove the control arms and gring out a portion of the hole to accomodate them. not the best option if you plan on continuing the build. just my thoughts on this

 

The arms have as much to do with flex as they do with castor and drive line angles.

As you increase the length of your springs you are pusing your axles straight down frome the frame. Since your stock arms are of a fixed lenght the affect is that your axles will be closer to the center of your jeep. This increases the drive shaft angles and also reduces the castor. You may also see that the springs are slightly bowed because you are no longer verticle

The reduction in castor causes poor handleing, very poor. If you are going to 37s you will feel very uneasy while driving. It will track poorly and dart around with almost no on-center feel.

The increase in your drive line angles will cause premature failure of your drive shafts and may effect the componets they atttach to.

A four inch lift really needs to account for the more dramatic geomety changes than a shorter lift does.

Once the cams are used you have made a change that is hard to recover from. If you find that you are experiencing issues that require new arms you would have already cut slots in the same places that the new arms will mount to.

I would think that you would want to correct the handleing issue 1st. Some lower front control arms are the easiest way to do this. You can at least dial in some extra castor. Rear uppers can then be used to correct the rear drive shaft angle.

Many guys find themselves in a situation were a little extra work will need to be done after the inial lift goes in. Rough Contry is getting you in the air, you may find that Teraflex, Currie or JKS will be there to get your ride quailty back.

 

Money is partially an issue so yeah I think I would do the cam bolts if you didn't have to do the whole grinding out of the hole, but that seems like an awful idea.

So yeah I guess my main question basically is can I just get the lower front arms and be good? The cam bolts aren't used anywhere else are they?

 

I am running 4 inch rough country without the cam bolts or adjustable control lower control arms right now. I plan on installing the lower control arms pretty soon. The steering wheel doesn't snap back as quick with the shorter control arms. It is driveable without them.

 

Sorry I missed part of your question.

By going adjustable you get very fine control. The questions is how much lift did your 4 inch lift provide. I can tell you the TF 4 inch was atleast 5 in the front. The only way I would suggets fixed arms is if you were going with a complete solution from a single vendor that was engineered for that particular lift.

Good luck, this can be very difficult to work out all of your options.

I would suggest that you give Dave at Northridge4x4 a call. He can help you out with any additional parts you might need and you may find that the cost isn't as much of a deal when you consider the piece of mind that comes with it.

 

So just looking around briefly, I found you can get Rusty's Offroad front lower adjustable control arms for $200. Would they be ok? I don't know a ton about Rusty's but seems like they would be good enough for someone like me who doesn't do crazy off roading. Opinions?

http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=RC-CA411-JK&Category_Code=ARMS

Again though big question is, are the front lowers the only ones that were supposed to use the cam bolts?

 

this may answer your questions...

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/modified-jk-tech-2/multiple-manufacturer-assembled-suspension-lift-44547/