Which Johnny Joint is used as a replacement for the stock upper control arm bushings?

stabbyjoe said:
Fair enough, I don't know everything or even close to enough to give you a solid answer about that thread. Though I don't think it's a common issue I'm interested to know more as well. I'm still going that direction so I'll update as to what happens with mine when I'm done. Dw or no dw🤣
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Good news is mrblaine has some diagnosis in there along with fixes.
 
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stabbyjoe said:
Johnny joints almost never are the reason for dw unless they are worn completely out and never greased. The firm recommendation to me when contemplating.... what is your jeep going to be used for and do you mind the increased harshness of nvh on the street. If it's more of a daily stock bushings are plenty fine. That's what I've found in my research.

Others such as @mrblaine could probably explain better.
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Johnny joints don’t really increase NVH either…regardless of what metal cloak says.
 
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mrblaine said:
Pretty much. Oddly, OEM bushings both go in from the same side so the JJ barrels should as well.
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Is there a consequence to having one of them backward, like the bushing being located incorrectly or coming loose due to an asymmetry in the bracket?

And for that matter, which side do they go in from? Mine are opposite so I don't even know which one is wrong and now I don't trust any photos on the Internet.
 
freedom_in_4low said:
Is there a consequence to having one of them backward, like the bushing being located incorrectly or coming loose due to an asymmetry in the bracket?
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Not really, it just puts the end of the arm in a slightly different spot from stock.
freedom_in_4low said:
And for that matter, which side do they go in from? Mine are opposite so I don't even know which one is wrong and now I don't trust any photos on the Internet.
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The cast mount on the diff determines which way they go in since that one can only go in from one side on the 44. Or, goes in from the outboard side inward. The extruded flange on the right side also tells you which way they were originally.
 
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Mike_H said:
Almost as ignorant as saying Johnny joints increase NVH…
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The best part is how Metalcloak immediately undermine and contradict themselves by putting a rod end on their track bars.
 
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I did this modification to a HPD30 and the rig drives and handles better than at any other time I have owned it. No NVH or DW issues and it can now flex to the limit of the lift and tires installed without binding. Worth the effort with no downsides.
 
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What shock length are jj generally needed in the front over oem bushings?

I thought I had it saved somewhere but I can't seem to find it.
 
Longwhitejeep said:
What shock length are jj generally needed in the front over oem bushings?

I thought I had it saved somewhere but I can't seem to find it.
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There isn't a specific number. Any shock travel that is greater than factory will increase the wear on the factory bushings due to the added rotation of the bushing. This is true of both the front and the rear. And this assumes that one is using the added travel to begin with.

The other, maybe more important, question to ask about correcting the drive line angles with control arms after a spring lift.
 
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jjvw said:
There isn't a specific number. Any shock travel that is greater than factory will increase the wear on the factory bushings due to the added rotation of the bushing. This is true of both the front and the rear. And this assumes that one is using the added travel to begin with.

The other, maybe more important, question to ask about correcting the drive line angles with control arms after a spring lift.
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Thanks. The savvy arms I'm running should be good there.

I am just toying with keeping fresh oem bushings vs the jj on the upper axle side with 4 inch currie springs. It may be something that waits for tuned fox shocks when the time and fund allow.
 
Good Hope said:
I did this modification to a HPD30 and the rig drives and handles better than at any other time I have owned it. No NVH or DW issues and it can now flex to the limit of the lift and tires installed without binding. Worth the effort with no downsides.
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The stock bushings did not limit the flex, at all.
 
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Longwhitejeep said:
Thanks. The savvy arms I'm running should be good there.

I am just toying with keeping fresh oem bushings vs the jj on the upper axle side with 4 inch currie springs. It may be something that waits for tuned fox shocks when the time and fund allow.
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The front axle uppers are best left with the factory bushings unless you convert to a 3 link with the larger 2.5" Johnny Joint on top. The pair of 2" narrow JJs that RockJock provides in the housing kit are not big enough to control the axle the way that a larger joint is able to.
 
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jjvw said:
The front axle uppers are best left with the factory bushings unless you convert to a 3 link with the larger 2.5" Johnny Joint on top. The pair of 2" narrow JJs that RockJock provides in the housing kit are not big enough to control the axle the way that a larger joint is able to.
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Thanks. That's really why I posted in here with the links I did. I'll just stick with new mopar bushings for now.
 
mrblaine said:
The stock bushings did not limit the flex, at all.
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Interesting. Then why do people do it? I assumed I was gaining some increased axle articulation, but I did the work a year and a couple hundred dollars ago so perhaps it was just a fun project.
 
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