My rear axle upper control arm mounts are slotted similar to my front lower control arm mounts. It uses cam bolts to secure the upper arms in place. Does anyone know if a Johnny Joint Washer will fit the rear axle slots as well. They worked perfect on the front to help hold in grease and with the slot filled in it gave the control arm bushing more contact area with the mount. It seems after looking through posts many rear axles don’t have the slots but mine does and it’s from the factory that way.
Johnny Joint Washers for Rear Upper Control Arms
- Thread starter Bootheel Boy
- Start date
I would call Currie and get a picture sent to the technical people... They make about 30 different type ... If you've got the horseshoes welded to the outside for the cam bolt adjustment I don't think that's going to affect the greasable bolt they sell.
They make nice stuff
They make nice stuff
Since your '05 Sport came with slots on the rear UCA brackets; what differential does your TJ have and is it a replacement?
The Dana 35 in my '01 Sport does not have slots in its rear UCA brackets.
The Dana 35 in my '01 Sport does not have slots in its rear UCA brackets.
IIRC, all of the rear UCA mounts have the slot but they still have a knockout in them (the knockout, under normal/stock conditions, keeping the bolt centered). Are you saying that the knockout has been removed and someone is using cam bolts? Or, are you saying that you have that option?
It’s a Dana 35 axle that uses cam bolts to hold the rear upper in place. I saw no knockout that would help hold the bolt in place. Maybe I missed it. If they are up inside the slots it’s very possible I didn’t see them. It doesn’t have horseshoes like the front axle. Instead it has little raised areas on the mount that the cam bolt contacts. When trying to tighten it the cam bolt would slide over the raised areas just allowing it to spin. Saturday I backed off the nut, held the cam bolt washers in place and tightened down the nut with my cordless impact wrench. It finally held so I could tighten it. After using the impact I tried to tighten it even more with a wrench. As soon as I backed it out the driveway I felt and heard a clunk. The upper control arm had slid some. Between the holes in my control arms being bigger than the bolt and me not being able to get enough torque on the cam bolts it’s allowing the upper arm to move some. Even if I buy a nice set of adjustable upper control arms I’m afraid the slot will cause trouble in both torquing the bolt and holding in grease. A Johnny Joint Washer should help with both issues. I wasn’t aware Currie made different ones. Guess I need to pull it apart measure everything and contact Currie.
Are you certain the rear upper control arm mounts are actually slotted or do you just see the outline of a slot? If it's just an outline, they are not just knock-out fillers. I tried that 20-21 years ago and discovered they need to be drilled and cut out. a very difficult job, and even if you got the upper-rear cam bolts installed it's not worth the effort. Efforts to use cam bolts in the upper rear mounts generally always end up with them constantly slipping out of adjustment, to the point they usually need to get welded into place so they don't continue to slip out of adjustment.
It's solid steel there and if you had seen my efforts to open the slot you'd know any tool capable of doing that would be unlikely to be sold at your local well stocked tool store, Amazon, etc.
The bottom line is adjustable cam bolts have been tried there by many over the years and none claimed long term success. Welding them in place to keep them in adjustment was the usual outcome. Not worth any efforts at all where the upper rear control arms are concerned
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