Suspension re-torque
 

Gonna have to loosen up some suspension components to install bump stops. Also plan on installing new factory upper control arms.

Any advice on the re-torque suspension components? I get that you have to jump on the bumpers when they are loose but does that include the track bars also? And can you get to all the bolts to do the re-torque with the tires on? Is there an order of re-torque I should be doing by component and then also bolt order of each component? Thanks for the help. 3000 mile round trip vacation coming up.

As for jumping on the bumper, it can't hurt but I don't bother. Key point is normal weight on the axles before tightening so that the rubber in all the clevite bushings are in the shelf-state (no twist/torque in the rubber bushings).

There's no tightening order, it's not like a cylinder head with a large surface and lots of bolts that can warp during tightening. Pretty sure all the bolts can be tightened with tires on (might have to turn a the front wheels for easier access), but I've done it with the axle on jack stands too.

Post some trip pics when you're back! :cheers:

Hey Eddie, if you're talking about the rear uppers, it's easiest to do it with the tire off. The outer nut axle side will be hard to get a wrench on with the tire mounted. You can try to get an open ended wrench on it first to see, but almost positive that tire is coming off as wheel backspacing plays a part in how much room you have to work with. Also, the frame side upper bolt is a real pain in the butt cuz you have to hold this little flange that has the nut welded to it up in the frame rail, and naturally it's got a couple angles in it so it's not as straight forward as you'd like......unless you have 3 hands (1 to hold the flange, 1 to hold the control arm lined up with the bracket, and 1 to insert the bolt). If you can get the significant other to hold that arm in place while you fiddle with the bolt and nut it will help. Also, if you have any additional bump stop mounted on the axle's perch, you'll need to remove them in order to get torque wrench on that bolt. As Mr.T noted, no specific order to tighten, just do it with the weight of the jeep sitting on the suspension.

Of course. The weight of the vehicle is unchanged with each side up ok jack stands supporting the axel. Lol duh! Kinda feel dumb now for asking. I knew the rear uppers would be the hardest and I was trying to calculate out if I needed the rear bump stop pads since I knew I would have to take them off to put on the new arms. It's gonna be a full day to figure it all out but that's what summers for I guess. Thanks for the help as always. I have this thing running perfect right now and ready to eat up Baja.

Take good notes on what's fun and what's not about it. I'm replacing a few factory control arms because they've ended up bent, who knows how.....maybe those large rocks I was messing around with. Brackets should be dirt free but are you planning on any lightweight lube in there to ensure the bushings are quiet?

I remove my MC arms every 18m or so to re-grease the bushings. If you ever find yourself with both the lower and upper arms off at the same time, I want to say you have to install the upper arm first :thinking: I think I've run in to this issue before and if the lower arm is installed first, you can't get the flange with the nut for the upper arm inserted up in to the frame rail as there's not enough clearance. Since I have EVO RockStars installed on my rear axle, it's a decent struggle getting that lower arm in place......and even more of a beating once you get it installed and then realize you have to remove it again to get the upper arm installed! :clap: I think that you're ok just doing a direct swap of the upper arm since you won't be pulling that flange out of the frame rail (it can just sit there waiting for the new arm), but mentioning for Karl in case he finds himself with both arms removed at the same time.

I have Metalcloak skids similar to the Evo's so I'll be feeling the pain of installing one end before the other and playing that game. I'll shoot for one arm at a time too though.


How did I find out one was bent? My friend and I were talking about how the factory arms have a little bend in them for extra clearance in the rear. He quickly corrects me and says they don't. I showed him my rear lowers as proof. We drove to the dealership and ALL of the arms are straight. They've got a little flat spot where the part number is stamped but they're all straight. I politely asked if I could have his takeoffs as he just went to a GameChanger lift with all the bells and whistles.

Well the rear bump stops were a piece of cake. Just take the tires off and grease them and they slide right in. I used the handle of the jack to pry up on it to really make sure they were in correctly.

I forgot, but see from that picture the frame side upper has a flag nut....which would negate what i said about removing the wheel up above. you should be able to get that arm swapped with the wheel in place unless you're just leaving it off now from the bumpstop. my bad.

Yea I'm replacing the all of the bump stops right now. Then I'll get the fork lift going. No point in trying to see anything when they are that deteriorated. Can't really tell anything. So I'll replace them first then give it a check.