My 08 jk has just a little over 100,000 miles on it, it's an X with Rubicon springs and a budget boost and I know most if not all of the front end bushings are toast! Are bushings and ball joints a major undertaking or something simple (like an old chevy) also is there an aftermarket brand I should go with or is stock ok? Also should I look into aftermarket tiered or is stock with new ends ok?

I'm new to the built jeep world and can use some guidance

 

Ball joints are simple but time consuming, took me about three hours to complete with front brakes and doing high steer at the same time.

For bushings I'd have to say if you are still stock with no lift it will be a cheap fix people sell take offs all the time.

My personal opinion but new control arms. It's definitely not in everyone's budget but if you can afford them it is worth it.

 

This one is a little tricky, much like a ball joint.
But doable.

 

How did you determine the bushings, aside from the ball joints, are toast? I'm at 130k miles and mine still feel fine but there are areas that have slop that could stand to be replaced.

 

A friend owns a tire shop. When I put the 35s on it and they aligned it he showed me where everything was wore out. My rig came to me with very saggy coils and almost blown front shocks. The slightest bump and it would bottom out on the bump stops hard. I'm sure this didn't help it any.

Since I have had her, I have been trying to figure out what I want to do so I know what I need and budget acordingly.

 

Thinking the Ball Joint replacement... If you are (going to go) with bigger tires... you might want to have some C gussets welded in at the same time. Maybe have a shop do it, so all you have to do is tackle the control arm issue.

I replaced my control arm bushings twice with the Energy Suspension from Quadratec. I kept wollowing them out, because of the shock travel I have. Every time I flexed it I'd get the shakes pretty bad after I got home. In Picture, the lower bushing is new. Think I used the oem bushing mentioned above for the upper front axle.

Energy Suspension 2.3108G - Energy Suspension Front Control Arm Bushings for 07-16 Jeep® Wrangler & Wrangler Unlimited JK - Quadratec