Getting my JK ready for some miles this winter. It's an 08 with 125k on it. I have the stock control arms on the vehicle. They are kinda looking worn as is the rest of my undercarriage. Was thinking about wire brushing it and rattle can spray. A friend at work said he had a full set of control arms from a JK 10th anniversary with only 500 miles on them.

I don't think there is anything wrong with my control arms. I don't think they are bent or anything. I installed the grade 8 bolt kit years ago also. Should I just clean and rattle can the arms or a free set of new control arms could cause Death wobble or something similar. I know they rebuild the joints on grease-able control arms every 30k or so. I don't want to deal with that at all and I am happy with the way my JK drives. I run KM2's 305 70r16 with the OME HD lift. I don't wheel hard but then again I don't know what that really looks like. I've definitely been driving on the beach and accidentally hit a dune going 50mph or so lol. Not saying these things don't happen, I just don't plan on them. Once again, if it aint broke, don't touch it and just re-torque them all properly? Or this is a nice little upgrade that just got sent my way and it looks just as easy as Im thinking to do the work myself. Should be a straight swap? Adding more to my do it myself list.

 

Do you have some form of caster correction? If not, while you are pulling off control arms seems like a great time to get that taken care of.

Between your two choices. 'remove and repaint your arms' or 'remove your arms and install your buddies arms', I would go with his. Clean, with new bushings, versus 125k miles of crud and worn bushings? No brainer.

Deathwobble? Swapping to those arms, or aftermarket arms, or adding correction brackets, will not cause steering issues --> assuming you tighten the bolts. Kinda like swapping to an aftermarket trackbar isn't the cause of deathwobble horror stories we see, it was failing to tighten the bolts that did it...

 

Ed,

I'm in your shoes and parts like that are cheap. When I get the chance to move on parts that have less wear in the rubber, I jump on them. I had a set of control arms in the shed for the longest time. When I hit 100k I swapped them all out. It's a good time to loosen the CA bolts, jounce the vehicle, and re-tighten to remove the potential bind from the lift.

I'm on my 3rd set of stock arms (crushed a couple sets ) but the replacements have not created any issues.

 

What are my options for caster correction with the stock arms? Drop brackets?

 

Ha Ha Karls10jk we seem to be on a very similar program. I've been watching some control arm replacement videos. It looks slightly more involved than pulling a tire and then 2 or 4 bolts.

 

I mentioned it because I got over 3" out of my OME HD coils, so I assume you did as well? If so, caster is probably a bit over 3*, instead of the stock 4.2*. But find out for sure before before trying to decide if you want to buy components.

With stock arms, cam bolts and drop brackets will both raise the caster. Won't take much searching to find a bunch of negative opinions on cam bolts, so brackets are probably the better choice between them.


On older jk's, the front upper control arm on the passenger side can be a problem to remove because of the exhaust. Some have posted about prying it out a bit or using a sawzall on the bolt.

 

I'm at 2.5" with the aev brackets and the feeling before/ after is night and day. If you don't have any correction yet, brackets are an awesome option on the daily driver. I've had them on the trails and in the rocks they can get a little more hung up but not terribly.

On replacing them- if you do them one at a time, it isn't bad. That passenger upper does receive negative publicity but you do not need a sawzall to fix it. Unbolt the axle side then move up the frame side. You'll start to get the bolt out and it'll hit the exhaust- swing the arm out and you'll be able to get the bolt to slide right out.

I'll see about finding pics later of the bracket install but the two piece design of aev can be a downfall. I'd look at the one piece ones, I think Rancho has a set out now.

 

I agree with everything being said here. Although there might not be an issue with your control arm bushings, they have 125k miles on em. Considering that factory takeoffs should be dirt cheap since dime a dozen out there.....I think it would be worth replacing with new take offs with new bushings.

Outside of what has already been noted with the passenger upper arm on some older models, the frame side rear uppers are a tiny bit of a booger cuz you have to hold the nut inside the frame rail while inserting the bolt. What makes it a little tricky is the bracket the nut is welded to isn't flat/straight. It's got some bends in it which makes holding in place a little trickier. It might be helpful to have someone hold the arm in place as you mess with holding the nut in place and inserting the bolt.

 

The 1-piece Ranchos look really nice. They cost $50-60 more I think. I've installed 2-piece design for someone before and it was a bit aggravating as a couple of the holes didn't align up perfectly. I don't know anyone with em, but I tend to think the premium for the Ranchos might be worthwhile. Keep in mind resale value for them too whenever you might be finished with them.

 

Our bracket vs others


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuS52yWtIJQ&t=119s