i have 4.5" rubicon express long arm on 07

the bushings are going out. can i use the Superflex joint on both ends of each control arm? the ends that already have the joint are fine, its the rubber bushings that have gone out. since they come from RE with joint on one end and rubber bushing on ohter end, i didnt know if its ok to joints on both ends

 

yea i pland on calling RE anyways. im hoping they will just replace the bushings for me since this is a RE problem. but was looking at just upgrading and see if they'd work out a deal for me

hmmmm, i didnt even think about that with needing to have correct end. i just thought u could install the flexjoint in place of the bushing. just wanted yals opinions. im calling here in few hrs once they open up.

 

the control arms are designed specifically to use the hour glass shaped rubber bushing they have and unless you were to have custom joints welded on, you would not be able to replace it with anything else. having said that, you would NOT want to replace these rubber joints with a hard joint as that would REALLY limit your flex. the rubber bushings are specifically used to allow for some give as they get pushed and pulled during articulation. unfortunately, this is the biggest drawback of radius arm design. i'm sure you can have the bushings replaced but you will go through more. most radius arm manufacturers see the replacement of these bushings as normal wear & tear parts and need to be replaced on a regular basis.

 

thanks WOL,
dude this sucks, normal wear and tear huh. this is going to be big $$ to replace nearly all the rubber bushings if they wont cover it then add in labor cost. i might as well start saving for another lift.

is there any upgrade like polyurathane bushings or would that still be too hard of a material? if i have to keep replacing these things, i might seriously consider gettting another lift at the end of the year. i do like the evo setup wth TF

 

where is MK, i know once u read this you are going to ripp on me!!!

 

more than likely, the only bushings that are bad are on the upper arms. it's a pain and annoying to do but, it is something you can do yourself with the right tools. unfortunately, moving to a poly joint would be worse as it would squeak like crazy and most likely crumble - rubber is the best joint for this application.

as far as saving up for another lift goes, have you ever thought about just making a modification to what you already have? i mean, you already have coils, shocks, track bars and technically good lower control arms already if you think about it. if i were in your shoes, i might consider getting something like the evo long arm brackets and a set of upper control arms and call it a day. be a lot cheaper to do and so long as the lengths of your lower arms work out dimensionally, i don't see why it wouldn't work.

 

just got off phone wth RE. no upgrade on poly bushings. they said it is too hard of material.

they did have bad batches of bushings from the manufacturer some time ago, which they have switched and they are fine now. on a good note, he said if my purchase date falls within that time frame, which it looks like it does. RE will take care of all the bushings for me and not a penny out of pocket and my buddy said he would help me replace so thats even better. now that was some good news, so hopefully once i verify the dates, it will all be covered.

 

it is literally every rubber bushings on the suspension, upper and lower, front and rear. if it was rubber, its toasted.
thats is a good idea, i will look into it. the eventual goal was to be able to run 40's.

 

wow, what a bummer.

as far as the idea goes, if you're gonna spend money anyways, you might as well give it a try as i bet it will work. heck, you could probably even just have custom upper control arm mounts made for your frame and just kept your existing lower brackets in place. then, all you would need are new upper control arms and i know that you can have a custom set made for a reasonable cost.

 

Hmm, I'm not gonna rip you man, your one of the few re guys on here that chats with me. haha