Bushings Shot - Upgrade Control Arms?

[TNSahara]

I have a ‘99 Sahara that I bought a couple years back with a RC lift kit (I know…RC…) installed by PO. Brought it into the garage to do some work over the winter months. Noticed that it DEFINITELY needs rear control arm bushings. Should I just replace bushings in OEM arms, upgrade to stock length aftermarket w/better bushing style, or go adjustable rear control arms? What about front control arms? Any benefit? Anything else I should look at upgrading?

Jeep sees mostly highway miles when driven, but gets wheeled occasionally and gets used as a hunting rig. Doesn’t get wheeled hard. Hoping you guys can point me in the right direction based on my current setup.

Current setup from PO:
3.25” RC lift (springs and spacers)
Rear trackbar relocation bracket
Front trackbar relocated
T case drop
Tossed junk RC shocks for Rancho 5000X

 

[NCLife]

I just went through this calculus. I have a 3" lift. All bushings were shot. They were the original control arms on an '03. Everything I read said changing the bushings is a colossal PIA. So I looked at the cost of replacing with stock OEM style which more costly than I thought. So of course I looked at adjustables and the additional spend was worth the better quality and flexibility the adjustable type offer. I ended up going with Core 4x4. I bought all 8. That was my journey YMMV.

 

[RocknLJ]

I just went through this calculus. I have a 3" lift. All bushings were shot. They were the original control arms on an '03. Everything I read said changing the bushings is a colossal PIA. So I looked at the cost of replacing with stock OEM style which more costly than I thought. So of course I looked at adjustables and the additional spend was worth the better quality and flexibility the adjustable type offer. I ended up going with Core 4x4. I bought all 8. That was my journey YMMV.

Strongly recommend Currie Arms.
have had them on my TJ since mid 2000’s and running strong. Great on road and off road. Just swapped out some older RE arms for Currie on the LJ.
also running Currie steering and track bars.
If it’s your forever Jeep buy once cry once.

 

[NCLife]

Strongly recommend Currie Arms.
have had them on my TJ since mid 2000’s and running strong. Great on road and off road. Just swapped out some older RE arms for Currie on the LJ.
also running Currie steering and track bars.
If it’s your forever Jeep buy once cry once.

I looked at them but I put them on a Jeep I'm marginally committed to keeping. The Core hit the right balance of price and value. I'm strange, I like to buy them, restore them and then find the next project. My wife said she's thankful I don't go through women like I do cars.

 

[TJ4Jim]

I have a ‘99 Sahara that I bought a couple years back with a RC lift kit (I know…RC…) installed by PO. Brought it into the garage to do some work over the winter months. Noticed that it DEFINITELY needs rear control arm bushings. Should I just replace bushings in OEM arms, upgrade to stock length aftermarket w/better bushing style, or go adjustable rear control arms? What about front control arms? Any benefit? Anything else I should look at upgrading?

Jeep sees mostly highway miles when driven, but gets wheeled occasionally and gets used as a hunting rig. Doesn’t get wheeled hard. Hoping you guys can point me in the right direction based on my current setup.

Current setup from PO:
3.25” RC lift (springs and spacers)
Rear trackbar relocation bracket
Front trackbar relocated
T case drop
Tossed junk RC shocks for Rancho 5000X

A full set of stock arms will run about $200 and if you not building an off road rig then they are fine for normal use, with rubber bushings being preferrable for a road Jeep. Bushing replacement on stock arms that are 24 years old may not be an option as they are easily mangled when trying to remove old bushings and not worth the effort.

 

[TNSahara]

This is my forever Jeep. Wanted a green Sahara TJ since HS, and finally got one. It’s getting some much deserved love after I recently totally gutted and overhauled my ‘91 XJ.

 

[06lj]

Of course adjustable arms with flex joints will be an improvement. They will allow you to dial in the suspension and provide better articulation. Whether you need them or want to spend the money on them is up to you. Do you have future plans for to build up the Jeep? Are you happy with how it performs now? If you decide to go adjustable avoid anything with fixed bushings as they would be a downgrade from stock. The stock style arms are an ingenious design and are actually very good. I ran them for years and never had an issue.

 

[RocknLJ]

This is my forever Jeep. Wanted a green Sahara TJ since HS, and finally got one. It’s getting some much deserved love after I recently totally gutted and overhauled my ‘91 XJ.

My TJ is a 99 Sahara in green bought it new.
Told my wife she wI’ll bury me in it.LOL
Been to many Camp Jeeps and other off-road events with the family.
Had a 2012 JKUR I also bought new but sold it to my daughter for a 12 pack of Shiner Bock when she moved to TX. I still think I got the better part of that deal.
in the process of swapping the frame due to rust on the TJ and was suffering from Jeep withdrawal when spotted this very clean fairly unmolested LJ Rubi in TX.
My loving wife said go for it and I was on a plane the next day.
Found a lot of awesome people in the Jeep world over many years.
Wishing you the best.

 

[TNSahara]

Of course adjustable arms with flex joints will be an improvement. They will allow you to dial in the suspension and provide better articulation. Whether you need them or want to spend the money on them is up to you. Do you have future plans for to build up the Jeep? Are you happy with how it performs now? If you decide to go adjustable avoid anything with fixed bushings as they would be a downgrade from stock. The stock style arms are an ingenious design and are actually very good. I ran them for years and never had an issue.

Do you have any suggestions on control arms? Johnny Joints? I would love to build the Jeep over time, and want to select the right parts that are rebuildable now so I’m not doing double the work down the road.

 

[TNSahara]

My TJ is a 99 Sahara in green bought it new.
Told my wife she wI’ll bury me in it.LOL
Been to many Camp Jeeps and other off-road events with the family.
Had a 2012 JKUR I also bought new but sold it to my daughter for a 12 pack of Shiner Bock when she moved to TX. I still think I got the better part of that deal.
in the process of swapping the frame due to rust on the TJ and was suffering from Jeep withdrawal when spotted this very clean fairly unmolested LJ Rubi in TX.
My loving wife said go for it and I was on a plane the next day.
Found a lot of awesome people in the Jeep world over many years.
Wishing you the best.

That’s awesome! Jeep jamboree type stuff is on my list for the future with this TJ. Make it very comfortable on-road, and very capable off-road. Even if it takes me a couple of years to do so. Also, the LJ…good buy. Love those things.

 

[06lj]

Do you have any suggestions on control arms? Johnny Joints? I would love to build the Jeep over time, and want to select the right parts that are rebuildable now so I’m not doing double the work down the road.

Johhny Joints are an excellent choice. They have been around a while and have been proven to be durable. I used the Savvy arms but RockJock and Core 4x4 are quality and also use Johhny Joints. It's not necessary but double adjustable uppers make things a lot easier. Core 4x4 just had a 15% off sale for Halloween and I would wager they will run it again for Black Friday.
There are several other manufacturers that have some different joints. Many people have strong feelings about them and there are endless threads on here debating their benefits or lack of benefits.