I have a 2011 40dr with a Teraflex 2.5 lift. I was told I might want to put adjustable lower control arms on so that when I need to have the front end alignmnet done in the future, it would make it easier to do. Could someone please clarify this for me so I go the right direction.

 

I am about to install a 21/2 " lift on mine as well , so I talked to my frame and axle guy who I've know and trusted for years and asked him about it . He told me jk's have limited adjustments for camber and caster and adding a lift rolls the axle back at the top, as you go up in lift this gets worse, taking away adjustability , he told me to go with adjustable lowers to regain lost adjustability

 

before you go spending any money, you need to ask yourself if you are okay with the way your jeep rides. based on the fact that you already have this lift on and the fact that you're asking this question, i'm going to guess that you are fine with it and won't need to buy anything. the only reason why you should get adjustable lower control arms is because they will allow you or your alignment shop to add a bit more positive caster. this is something you would want IF you feel that your jeep is too flighty at highway speeds. with just 2.5" of lift, you should be fine without them.

also, please do NOT pay someone to do your alignment. with what you have, the most they they will be able to do is recenter your steering wheel.

 

JK's have NO ability to adjust caster unless you install adjustable control arms or god forbid, cam bolts. being that the JK has a solid front axle, you CANNOT adjust camber at all. the most you can do there if needed is install off set ball joints and that shouldn't be necessary unless your axle c's are bent. i'm sure your frame and axle guys know a lot about both but his knowledge of JK's is limited.

 

My JK seems to run great, it's just that when I do need to get an alignment, I thought the control arm issue might save me some grief later. Just a question, but if I did purchase these, does on just remove the old arms and replace with the new ones, or is their adjustments etc., that have to be made? If so, I would rather take it and have them installed by someone who knows what the heck their doing, and that would not be me.

 

I assume you meant "also, please do NOT pay"..... Correct?

 

an alignment consists of these four things, setting caster, setting camber, setting toe and recentering your steering wheel. because of the way the steering system is designed on the jk, your toe will not change after installing a lift and therefore, no adjustment to it will be needed. because of the solid axles that jk's have, you will not have any camber that needs to be adjusted. if you are happy with the way your jeep rides, you would not need to adjust your caster and trust me, an alignment shop WOULD NOT adjust this unless you had the means to and you asked them to. a lift will change the position of your steering wheel and this is about the only thing that an alignment shop will charge you $100+ to do. this is of course, a 2 minute job that you can do your self with a 15mm wrench.

if you really think you need an alignment, click on the link below and i think you will find that you can do this yourself:

http://project-jk.com/jeep-jk-write-...-end-alignment

 

yes - thank you for correcting this for me.

 

Yeah I believe Wayolife meant "do NOT pay anyone to do an alignment"

Leave it alone! A Jeep is not the typical "car" that you are probably used to. An alignment for you in your current configuration would amount to adjusting toe in / out and steering wheel centering. Neither of which will require any additional parts to be added to your Jeep.

As Wayolife said unless your steering feels "flighty" or you decide to add more lift I would leave it be and enjoy your Jeep.

 

Thanks to everyone who responded to my thread. Thats one of the reasons I love this forum as it helps me so much where I have no mechanical knowledge, just love my Jeep.