Issues trying to get caster (cam bolts) for front lower control arms

[BigYellowHeep]

First off I'd like to thank everyone here for all the great information, I've done alot of work to my TJ based off the threads on this site!

I'm having some issues trying to get caster (cam bolts) for my front lower control arms. Moog is the only company that lists anything, and their only option is a 7mm OD bolt with accentric washers. Well the bushings are a 14mm ID in the sleeve... My control arm bushings were way overdue, but now that I'm up to the front I'd like to be able to correct the pinion angle as my front driveshaft is toasted. Slip is beat out of it and it goes through two sets of Moog U-Joints per season. Previous owner put a 3in suspension lift and looks like they had the same issue and just put regular bolts in the lower arms. All the work from them was done at 4WheelParts but I guess they dont keep records that far back? Is my best option to just get some new adjustable lower arms and keep my uppers stock where I just pressed new bushings into them? Any help and insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Steel City 06]

Adjustable upper control arms will be more helpful in setting pinion angle and caster than lowers. For larger lifts, ideally you would have adjustable upper and lowers, but for lower lifts you can usually get away with uppers only. Very low lifts can get by on stock arms.

Cam bolts are another solution to adjust caster and pinion angle, and should be relatively inexpensive. I don’t recall the bolts being that large, but I could be wrong.

You can only adjust caster without pinion angle by the use of offset ball joints.

 

[BigYellowHeep]

Adjustable upper control arms will be more helpful in setting pinion angle and caster than lowers. For larger lifts, ideally you would have adjustable upper and lowers, but for lower lifts you can usually get away with uppers only. Very low lifts can get by on stock arms.

Cam bolts are another solution to adjust caster and pinion angle, and should be relatively inexpensive. I don’t recall the bolts being that large, but I could be wrong.

You can only adjust caster without pinion angle by the use of offset ball joints.

Part number for the proper cam bolts? Cause the only cam bolts I could get I can almost fit both of them inside the bushings at once... only reason I'm even doing adjustable arms is so I can avoid this issue and just put regular bolts/nuts thru it. Wouldn't I get some caster adjustment out of the lowers though?

 

[Steel City 06]

I don’t have the part numbers for the correct bolts offhand.

Changing the length of the lower control arms will change caster and pinion angle, but it also significantly changes wheelbase. The control arm mounts for the LCAs are much closer to the center of the axle than the uppers, so they will alter how the axle is positioned much more so than a UCA. Changing wheelbase will cause issues with interfering components.

On this forum, there are several resources on how to cycle your axles. You will see that in cases of incorrect wheelbase, suspension or steering components will contact the axle or other components, and cause damage. Thus, once wheelbase has been set to avoid damage, it shouldn’t be changes much.

Technically, UCA adjustments also change wheelbase, but to a much lesser degree. For those with four adjustable arms, they simply adjust the lowers in the opposite direction to a much lower degree to maintain wheelbase.

 

[Remington620]

Try Moog K100047

 

[freedom_in_4low]

Changing the length of the lower control arms will change caster and pinion angle, but it also significantly changes wheelbase. The control arm mounts for the LCAs are much closer to the center of the axle than the uppers, so they will alter how the axle is positioned much more so than a UCA. Changing wheelbase will cause issues with interfering components.

On this forum, there are several resources on how to cycle your axles. You will see that in cases of incorrect wheelbase, suspension or steering components will contact the axle or other components, and cause damage. Thus, once wheelbase has been set to avoid damage, it shouldn’t be changes much.

I can attest to this with just one example.

I have adjustable lowers only in front. With them adjusted far out enough to have 7 degrees of caster, when turning hard right, a bit before full lock, the back of the inner tie rod end (where it attaches to the drag link) would get up against the head of the axle end track bar bolt, then as I kept turning, pop off the bolt head and slap the track bar bracket. I didn't even know about it until I was cycling my steering, front wheels off the ground, after a power steering pump replacement. But I had been curious about why I had a weird spot on my track bar bracket where the paint was gone but it never rusted (because my tie rod was cleaning the rust off!).

Obviously, that was more caster than I needed anyway, so I dialed it back to 5.5 and it just baaaarely cleared. My front uppers are the last 2 stock suspension links in my entire rig, and adjustables are part of my next build phase.

 

[TeeJohn]

It takes tools and patience but I made four squared-off versions of the round OEM insert that locates the axle. I drilled the appropriate size holes offset far enough from the center to give me pinion angle I’m looking for. They will not work loose and are easy to install. Over the years I’ve made three versions with different hole placement to set different angles.