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.

Ok so replaced the front bumpstops also today but the the Jeep pulls right when I'm driving.

Used two jacks. sway bar disconnected, removed lower front shock bolts. Remove brake line bracket bolts. Remove drivers side track bar bolt. Loosened lower control arm bolts. Removed skid plate.

Dropped the axel low with both jacks and jack stands under frame ,Pulled the springs, pulled the crap bump stops. Insert new stops. Jack axel up until bump stops press fit in. Lower down, put in springs, jack back up, put in shocks, drivers side track arm bolt and then tires.

All control arm bolts are lose now along with drivers side track bar, tires are on and vehicle is on the ground. Upper track bar bolts torqued to spec, lowers done then track bar then tires.

The only variable I can think of is that the steering stabilizer needs to be reset and could have slipped down the tie rod since I have synergy tie rod and stabilizer adapter collar. I can just pull the stabilizer and take it for a drive and see if it still pulls.

I didn't touch the drag link or tie rod but I did notice the wheels slightly turned to the right when I was putting everything back together.

Maybe I need to get an alignment now?

The steering wheel looks like it might be slightly tilted to the right also.

The trackbar hardly ever goes back exactly the same, so having to center the steering wheel is to be expected to compensate for any side-to-side change in position of the axle. The stab won't affect centering.

Regarding the slight pulling to one side, it might be from the clearance in the bolt holes allowing both pairs of control arms to hold the axle slightly crooked. What I've done is to loosen all the bolts for the arms and rotate the whole axle housing down at the pinion (to take up the bolt clearances in one direction for max caster) with cinch-straps (or whatever works), then tighten the bolts. Maybe that will work on yours... :cheers:

Agree on the no SS, I don't run one and haven't for a while since going to upgraded steering. I have the parts to do this but it's nice to see what I might run into. I''ll also be adding a rear track bar and recentering my steering while I'm in there.

Ok I pulled the steering stabilizer and it still pulls to the right. I'm going to try and re center the steering wheel first.

This also brings up another question.

I have synergy tie rod/drag link combo. In order for the steering stabilizer to connect to the tie rod I need a collar adapter. I also have the flip kit bracket that goes through the other side of the track bar.

My question is torque specs. The upper bracket side of my SS cannot accept the metal bushings that come with the teraflex for two reasons. #1 because the busing is too tall to fit in the bracket and #2 the bolt diameter is bigger.

If not using the sleeve is that ok and what would my torque specs be? How about torque specs of the one bolt into the collar?

How do you know where to position the collar on the tie rod also? I'm always worried that it isn't facing perfectly upwards and it may have shifted when I dropped the axel. Just jack up the front end and turn the wheel from side to side? Just make sure it has full range of motion both ways?

Positioning the collar is easy- cut full passenger and then move the collar over 1/4" towards the driver's side. Cut driver and ensure you've got full range of motion there. You can center it but if you're full lock and there's still 1/4" of play then you're safe.

As to the rest of it....can't help there. I ran the flipped mount like you've got and smashed the end of the factory stabilizer (not enough bumpstop) so after doing that twice, I ditched the stabilizer.

Probably best to call TF about the bolt, bushing, and bracket issue -- strange.

Stabs have to have clearance throughout suspension travel as well as full left-right travel. Easy to say, but hard to do and actually verify unless it's an OEM style stab in the stock position (which is the way mine is). This isn't much help, but it's easy to have a stab that looks positioned OK but actually hits when the suspension and steering move to the extremes (including bump-stop compression). :cheers:

I've ran Teraflex VSS9550 for quite a while in the past with no sleeve run through that bushing due to the required bolt being too large a diameter. It's not that big of a deal IMO. That SS isn't doing a yeomen's load of work or anything, it's just the last little complimentary piece of the puzzle. The bolt won't tear up the inside of the bushing or anything, and you don't need to be concerned about some specific torque value when tightening the bolts down. I'd use a big waster so the head of the bolt has something to compress down on the bushing a bit with. Get things tight, but no need to squish the bushing like a gorilla. Like Karl, I don't even run a SS these days after my last one leaked oil. I've just been waiting till I go hydro assist which should be next couple weeks.....but I've probably been well over a year without anything there.

Ok I just won't smash the bushing of the SS but it seems to be normal. I have washers on them already so that definitely helps.

Here are the alignment numbers. I figured after all of this work and it's been a few years I would just get an alignment before a big trip anyway.

The steering wheel looked positioned off center to the right and the vehicle pulled right. After the alignment the steering wheel feels slightly to the left but the JK drives straight. I may have to take it back and see if they can get it perfect. It would be somewhat annoying to drive it like this.

Here are my alignment specs. I'll go back tomorrow and have it fixed. Any feedback on the numbers would be appreciated.

Your caster is really low. I thought you had some form of correction on there. You would be amazed at the difference some control arm brackets or other form of correction would make if you got that number back up above 4*. USUALLY, an alignment shop can nail that steering wheel dead center with no issues. If doing it at home it can sometimes take two tries. If you still have the factory drag link it's as simple as loosening two 15mm nuts and twisting the turnbuckle just a bit in the proper direction, then re-tightening the nuts.

There's just not much you can do about camber assuming ball joints aren't bad. We typically just have to live with the camber we have.

So on the caster....I have AEV CA brackets on 2.5" coils and my numbers are similar, but the Jeep drives really well. I put in 8 hours at 70mph without issue (aside from fuel mileage). Dunno why yours mirrors mine but it was also done at a station that uses that older style alignment machine. I've been thinking about going to one with a newer, high dollar Hunter.

That's really surprising you have brackets and still end up that low. :thinking: I drove my jeep good 3+ years I think with similar caster (no correction but a higher lift). I didn't think it was terrible, was just my normal. When I was finally able to get some arms and get that caster higher, I could tell a big difference. I'd think it would be magnified with a shorter wheel base.

No caster correction. Stock arm replacement.
I'm taking it back there tomorrow to get the steering wheel centered. It will be easier with me in the Jeep.

Ok steering wheel centered. I'm outta time (surf forecast looking great) to fork lift test it before this trip but I definitely am glad I have new bumpstops in especially rears. I'm glad I got the alignment. It had been 2-3 years and the Jeep feels like it is driving great.

I'll update this thread when I get back and do the test.