Control arm identification

Jay P

Jay P

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Messages
609
Location
West Jordan, UT
I had these CA’s given to me in a box of goods that the PO said that he had from a previous Jeep. I can’t budge them because I believe they are fixed but I’m wondering if you guys can identify them? I may use them for my 3” lift if I can use some universal bushings possibly.
e974e11d16eba3d1374529d80b5b4f13.jpg



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Not even a friggin' clue who makes those... but is that just me, or does that thing have a slip joint on it?

What's up with the multiple grease fittings on it too? Usually the grease fittings are near the bushing end on each side.

For what it's worth, it appears to use standard levite bushings at each end.
 
Chris said:
Not even a friggin' clue who makes those... but is that just me, or does that thing have a slip joint on it?

What's up with the multiple grease fittings on it too? Usually the grease fittings are near the bushing end on each side.

For what it's worth, it appears to use standard levite bushings at each end.
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Ya it’s weird. The 3 zerks made me think it was adjustable but it’s not. Must be pretty old I’m thinking. Do you mean where it necks down? Won’t budge and all 4 are an even 16 inches with the grease fittings pointed on the same direction.


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It sure looks old. And yes, where that neck is, it looks almost like a slip joint on a DC style driveshaft, but that would serve no purpose on a control arm. That's just a real odd ball to be honest. Mine have grease fittings but only one on each end, directly above the bushings. Those are in some odd locations.
 
I'd use it for the scrap metal heap. Bushings at both ends means it has very limited flex/range of movement, likely not even as good as the factory arms which actually are designed to provide quite a bit of flex, due to the clever and 'elegant' (to use an engineering term) u-shaped stamped metal design.

Inflexible designs like that one in the photo can, and did to my previous TJ, cause so much stress at the control arm mounts they can be torn away from where they are welded. I had to replace a couple torn mounts before being clued in the root cause of the problem. Better designed/more flexible control arms cured that problem.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
I'd use it for the scrap metal heap. Bushings at both ends means it has very limited flex/range of movement, likely not even as good as the factory arms which actually are designed to provide quite a bit of flex, due to the clever and 'elegant' (to use an engineering term) u-shaped stamped metal design.

Inflexible designs like that one in the photo can, and did to my previous TJ, cause so much stress at the control arm mounts they can be torn away from where they are welded. I had to replace a couple torn mounts before being clued in the root cause of the problem. Better designed/more flexible control arms cured that problem.
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Got it, I’ll get rid of them. With a 3” lift and a rattle underneath at initial acceleration I’m thinking my stock CA bushings are shot. I could be wrong but if so what do you recommend? New stock CAs or adjustable?


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Jay P said:
Got it, I’ll get rid of them. With a 3” lift and a rattle underneath at initial acceleration I’m thinking my stock CA bushings are shot. I could be wrong but if so what do you recommend? New stock CAs or adjustable?


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If you get adjustable control arms (which you'll really want with a 3" lift) get a control arm that uses the Johnny Joint, such as the Currie arms, Savvy arms, and a few others. The Johnny Joint will provide maximum articulation and misalignment, and is a great design.

You may be able to get by with stock control arms, but 3" is pushing it in my opinion, and that's right around the height you should really have adjustable control arms.
 
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BTW, those arms now that I look at them, look like @Jerry Bransford's first gen TeraFlex arms, which you can see in this post here.

What a horrible design. Even though I'm no engineer, I can easily see how those would provide less flex than the stock arms and probably break your control arm mounts right off the frame or axle. I'm shocked TeraFlex would even design such a horrid thing!
 
Chris said:
BTW, those arms now that I look at them, look like @Jerry Bransford's first gen TeraFlex arms, which you can see in this post here.

What a horrible design. Even though I'm no engineer, I can easily see how those would provide less flex than the stock arms and probably break your control arm mounts right off the frame or axle. I'm shocked TeraFlex would even design such a horrid thing!
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Ya that is at least the same design. I’m going to wait until I can get some good adjustables or until the rattle drives me crazy. I’m really trying to understand them and how and why to adjust them at certain lengths before I get too out of control. I had to ratchet strap my axle to get the stock ones back on and I didn’t have the rattling before I put in the springs. Must have pissed something off under there.


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Correct old Teraflex design and also old RC design as well. Yours look more like the RC ones I had the RC ones many years ago as a hand me down from a friend they were good at flex because they would rotate in the middle but if you do not grease them constantly the internal threads would wear out. The arms would then move in and out during acceleration not good at all.

Here is a pic i found online of what the inside looks like. Threads are almost gone here.
controlarm.jpg
 
JeepNWilly said:
Correct old Teraflex design and also old RC design as well. Yours look more like the RC ones I had the RC ones many years ago as a hand me down from a friend they were good at flex because they would rotate in the middle but if you do not grease them constantly the internal threads would wear out. The arms would then move in and out during acceleration not good at all.

Here is a pic i found online of what the inside looks like. Threads are almost gone here.
View attachment 30358
Click to expand...

That’s it! Thanks for the response. I need to think on this now. I’m not ready to spend on Currie/Saavy adjustabled just yet but I do have one moving during acceleration at the moment though.


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Yea I was always afraid they would pop out when wheeling. I would say you definitely need to get replacements because that axle movement because of it is bad. I had bad vibes because of mine. When I was installing my now RC long arm lift and remove those old arms they basically fell apart on my hands lol
 
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