Most economical control arms?

pcoplin

pcoplin

TJ Enthusiast
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Santiam, OR
I have a buddy with a stock Rubicon with 200k on it. He's retired and just uses his Jeep for hunting, and will be keeping it at his house in Montana.

Bushings are all bad and had wobble, so need control arms anyway. Springs are pretty sagged too.

Options are to just buy stock arms from Dorman, maybe level the front with a spacer. Possibly could get a lower mileage used set.
Or get mild lift springs ( H&R? Zone?) with adjustable control arms.

Keep in mind this is just fire roads and highway. He had a buggy for wheeling.

Rough country bushings okay in their arms? Any suggestions?

I can build him some arms with JJs but it's not warranted for him.

Thanks, all.
 
I have heard a lot of bad things about RC control arm bushings, wouldn’t go with them.

does he want adjustable for some reason or just stock replacement? I think Moog does good replacement bushings. If memory serves me correctly.
 
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KingCarGuyZ said:
I have heard a lot of bad things about RC control arm bushings, wouldn’t go with them.

does he want adjustable for some reason or just stock replacement? I think Moog does good replacement bushings. If memory serves me correctly.
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If we end up lifting it we will need adjustable. He's thinking of doing that so he can easily add lift springs later.

Stock control arms from Dorman are only $30 each.
 
guys are puttin in 2" all the time on stock arms, most times, worst case is you end up with some washers to drop the belly skid a little bit.
mine came with +2" on stock arms, and a little harmonic vibe. i did a MML instead of a belly skid drop and that worked for me.
 
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I’d go with stock arms. Best priced for sure. I had two year old RC arms that has some deterioration in the rubber bushings already. I gave the away to a forum member. They still worked ok but were already staring to have some play.
 
Steel City 06 said:
I’m pretty sure you can simply press the bushings in and out of the stock arms for the absolute cheapest option, if labor is not an issue.
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If you have access to a shop press and the arms are not all rusty and beat up you could save a few bucks and just do bushings. Normally I buy the whole control arm when replacing bushing or ball joints (non-TJ vehicles) to save time and have all new stuff.
 
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AMS417 said:
If you have access to a shop press and the arms are not all rusty and beat up you could save a few bucks and just do bushings. Normally I buy the whole control arm when replacing bushing or ball joints (non-TJ vehicles) to save time and have all new stuff.
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I found a good air hammer (I used a 3X rivet gun) and a control arm bolt made very quick work of pressing bushings in and out of the front axle. I’m sure it would work on control arms too
 
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Steel City 06 said:
I found a good air hammer (I used a 3X rivet gun) and a control arm bolt made very quick work of pressing bushings in and out of the front axle. I’m sure it would work on control arms too
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Sure would. I don’t have air but I do have a press and a collection of BFH’s. Most of the shit I end up working on for friends is junk and needs all the parts. I ain’t working harder to save anyone $20 when I’m working for free.

Some day when I have a proper shop I want air. Need the real estate market to dip so I can snag a deal and move out of the city.
 
2" of lift go with factory style arms. If you want to tuck it for any reason, then you'll need to step up to some adjustables. The factory arms actually flex really well.

If you get vibs, you know the formula. Drop the skid or raise the motor, or install a SYE and get some adjustable uppers.
 
It's a PITA to even try to replace the bushings in the factory control arms. I watched a shop guy even resort to a torch on that job several years ago, the labor cost was ridiculous. Save $$$ and time with aftermarket replacement stock-type arms like from Dorman. The factory design is far better than most are aware or would suspect. It certainly flexes a lot better than low-end solid control arms with polyurethane bushings.
 
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