Any control arms that are better than OE but not super expensive?

[Steve Rodgers]

1997 TJ SE, stick, 3” lift, 31” BFG All Terrains
I’ve read a lot about control arms here, very informative. However, I am not really ever going to be bashing through the backcountry, I will do some light wheeling.
My arms and bushings are 21 years old and I want to eventually replace them. Most of the recommended products here turn out to be big ticket items. Are there any control arms that are better/nicer than OEM but not sky high price?
I haven’t really seen any in my reading.
Thank you for any suggestions.
Steve

 

[Rob5589]

The oem control arm is considered a well thought out design. Look at is this way, your Jeep is 21 years old and the stock arms and bushings are still working. If the bushings are shot you can buy complete replacement Moog arms so as not to deal with the hassle of swapping bushings.

 

[Squatch]

For what it's worth, I have now removed two sets of upper control arms from two different TJs, only to find the bushings in very good (maybe even excellent) condition. Not so on the lowers, however. Both sets were cracked and deteriorated. Also, I went through several TJ control arms at a 4X4 wrecking yard, and it was the same scenario: uppers were in great condition, lowers were toast. I bring this up only because if you are on a budget, or don't feel up to doing the complete job, based on what I've seen, you could probably get away with just changing out lower bushings, or the complete (lower) control arms, and leave the uppers alone. Having said that, I decided to install all new bushings, as I'm already in there, and this thing is a full-on project, at this point. Though I'm replacing the upper bushings, I'm absolutely convinced I really didn't need to. Just my two cents worth.

 

[ac_]

View attachment 44743 1997 TJ SE, stick, 3” lift, 31” BFG All Terrains
I’ve read a lot about control arms here, very informative. However, I am not really ever going to be bashing through the backcountry, I will do some light wheeling.
My arms and bushings are 21 years old and I want to eventually replace them. Most of the recommended products here turn out to be big ticket items. Are there any control arms that are better/nicer than OEM but not sky high price?
I haven’t really seen any in my reading.
Thank you for any suggestions.
Steve

Most of the arms are big ticket because they are adjustable, and even have different adjustable options. If you can get away with the stock arms, they are much cheaper. I just bought these about 6 months ago, but wanted to correct a camber issue I had, so I went with big ticket control arms, but while I ran these, I had no issues.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MPVWEBY/?tag=wranglerorg-20

 

[Steve Rodgers]

Great information all, thank you very much, I'll inspect mine and decide what to do.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

The oem control arm is considered a well thought out design. Look at is this way, your Jeep is 21 years old and the stock arms and bushings are still working. If the bushings are shot you can buy complete replacement Moog arms so as not to deal with the hassle of swapping bushings.

X2, this advice right here. The OE control arms are a much better design than most would believe. I'd rather have them than some aftermarket control arms I've seen that offer less flex/articulation abilities. Crown's CAK13 arm kit is another choice for replacement arms.

 

[gg1]

I went with all Mopar that I could get, but they are not all available anymore, so for the ones I couldn't get I good Moog. Be aware Moog makes more than one grade for our TJs. I purchased the ones made in the USA. They are more expensive. I wouldn't buy anything from Crown if I could help it, but that is just me. Had two fenders delivered from them that I returned. They were junk.

Oh, I got the Mopar from Jeep and the Moog from Summit. Love Summit as they ship fast and have good prices.