jjmmagoo

Hello, i am trying to understand control arms. I am trying to determine if I need them. I presently own a 2009 Jeep JK unlimited. I have a teraflex leveling kit. Also, I am riding stock rims with 33' Goodyear duratracs. Using Bilstein 5100 series shocks. The reason why I am asking this question is that every now and than I hear a metallic sound when i go over a smallish bump. Its kinda like a clang sound. Not loud and i don't feel anything odd in the steering wheel. I have no issues with the drive itself just the clang and the occasional squeak. I also experience when going over a rather large incline or decline where the front flexes a bit I hear a metal on metal sound kinda like a honk. I have posted my issue with the honking sound on a different post. I really think its the control arms but would like some insight before I decide to purchase new ones. I have heard that the bushings do tend to lose its life after a few years and with the north east winters it wouldn't surprise me that the bushings are shot. I guess my question is based on my set up do i need adjustable? Do i need to replace all of the control arms at once? Can I just replace the bushings? What would be an economical way of doing this? OR am i looking in the wrong place? Is it the control arms? I have had my mechanic look at everything and he has said everything seems to be tight. Thank you in advance!

karls10jk

The first thing to check would be torque on everything, including shocks.

If you decide that you want to replace the control arms, just find a set of cheaply priced takeoffs and install them. At such a low lift, adjustable arms would be a waste. Add in the maintenance and it's really throwing away cash for your situation.

jedg

X2 on what Karl said. I'll add you may take a look at how your coils are seated on the front. They should be seated at the bottom into a slot in the coil bucket. If they aren't, this will sometimes cause sounds.

TheDirtman

It takes a lot of wear and tear to destroy a factory bushing and at your lift height you should be fine with the factory length. I suspect it is something else. Like is already stated.

jjmmagoo

Thank you for your responses. Every time I think I might have figured this out it I really didn't. So without sounding totally idiotic, what about the replacement bushings that are like $80 for a set of four? Would that be wise? That of course there is play within the existing control arms. How would I be able to tell about the springs sitting correctly? Can I do the fix myself?

Thank you for all of your help!!!

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TheDirtman

Look at the axle side coil base, there should be a groove with a stop for the coil to sit in. Make sure the end of the coil is against the stop.

karls10jk

You've got 8 control arms and the lowers have a bushing at each end. The front uppers have a bushing in the control arm and then another pressed into the axle housing. The rear upper control arms are similar to the lowers. So you'd actually have 16 bushings to replace- is that cost adding up yet?

It then comes down to what's your time worth? For me, my time is worth enough that it's easier to replace the entire arm instead of messing around with pressing bushings in and out. An entire set of arms can be had for $150 all day long.


We're still jumping the gun though- did you check the torque on all of the fasteners up front? Usually it's something stupid like a shock bolt has come loose.

You can check to see if the coil is seated correctly quite easily, just look at the bottom and see if the end of the coil is in the small divet at the base. If it isn't then remove your sway bar links up front, remove the bottom bolt for the shock, and jack up the jeep by the frame (just behind the control arm mount) until you can rotate the coil by hand. Rotate where it needs to be, set it down, tighten all removed hardware.

jedg

Yeah. What Karl said. You have something loose or a coil rotated. As he said, find a set of control arms before replacing those bushings.

jjmmagoo

FANTASTIC! Thank you!!! I am working till Tuesday. I will check it out! Hoping its something as easy as what you say. Thank you again!

Rednroll

After installing my lift along with new tie rod and drag link, I finally had a chance this weekend to go on some off road trails on a camping trip. I noticed the exact same sounds occurring in the exact same instances you described. Occassional creaking and clanking sounds when going up and down some hills and hitting small bumps.

What I noticed when looking under my 2009 JKU is that the bottom of my TF HD front track bar seems to be hitting the top of my Solid HD front diffy cover. I noticed, one of the fins on the Solid diffy cover has some metal to metal scrapping on it. I need to get under it today and take a closer look now that I'm back from the camping trip. I'm unsure what I can do to fix the problem at this point. Hopefully, just turning my TB will fix it or I'm thinking I might have to replace the diffy cover with one of the TF covers that don't have the big fins on the top like the Solid covers do. From what you described I would inspect that front diffy cover area, since by your description of when it happens, it sounds a lot like what I was experiencing and I already have brand new front LCA's installed.