Tire/wheel advice for a noob?

No drilling either...I wouldn't compare it to the preferred brands, it's deff not a Currie product, but for the $$ it will get you where you need to be with a few bucks left to put into other areas of your rig...if a guy has the need or the $$, buy the best, if not, the RC will work...

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New parts generally work just fine regardless of the initial cost. The front track bar is critical for proper steering geometry and more expensive track bars will use better joints. There is nothing wrong with going with a RC track bar, but there is a greater probability of a problem developing sooner with a cheaper version. Everything is a trade off.
 
New parts generally work just fine regardless of the initial cost. The front track bar is critical for proper steering geometry and more expensive track bars will use better joints. There is nothing wrong with going with a RC track bar, but there is a greater probability of a problem developing sooner with a cheaper version. Everything is a trade off.
I agree with your assessment. I would probably go with a more expensive front adjustable track bar with better joints due to the nature of all the interaction between the steering, track bar, etc. In the rear, however, it's just a side-to-side adjustment, and I like the joints RC uses, they are almost identical to oem. Those factors, and the price, made the decision for me. For my Jeeping style, there was no justification for a more expensive rear track bar. Had I put on a larger lift, and had to rotate the axle, resulting in the need for a track bar mounting bracket that accommodates the rotated axle, I would have gone a different route.
 
Argh.. So I had to use the money on my mini-van. Who would've thought that the cheapest fuel pump out there was still $500+ (Which is still better than the OEM Dodge pump they wanted to sell me that priced $750+)

Took the Rubicon over some light woodland trails the other day just to feel it out a bit and I think one of the control arms is loose. There's some "thunking" going on over rough spots. Not hard noise but something is definitely shifting underneath the vehicle so I'm going to throw it up on a lift tomorrow and do a more thorough inspection of the drive components and suspension. Personally via the sound I think it's the upper control arm.

Thinking of also just buying some replacement shocks all around and some 1" pucks for the front springs to line everything back up as a Band-Aid fix until I've got the money for a full lift. Found some JKS setups that come with trackbars/QD swaybar connects that were priced comparably to the OME kit Chris keeps recommending that were in the 2.5-3" lift range.
 
Woe is me.

@Chris @glwood @StG58

You guys should get a kick out of this. I took her into the hobby shop on base today, threw it on the lift, pulled the tires and started going over the suspension and drivetrain.

First things first. @xxdabroxx should get a kick out of this. Remember how I said my swaybar was connected? Well, with weight on the suspension, it was. As soon as the springs extended and everything lowered though..

Sr6I0TN.jpg


Pay no mind to the shitty focus, it was bright and I couldn't really see my screen clearly. That would be the driver side sway bar endlink... not connected. Not in one piece, actually.

So here's the passenger side, which is not far off from being the same way.

WCi93n2.jpg


This is the other big thing we noticed.

iJB3GEz.jpg


So for any plebs reading this, that there's your lower control arm mount, passenger side. Notice how it's not exactly straight? The upper is canted a bit too, as is the lower mount on the frame itself. The passenger side upper control arm also shows signs of having been kinked and straightened back out (with a definite slight bend still there). All in all I'm going to have to cut the mounts off and replace them, they've also cracked and separated slightly (Maybe a total of 2-3mm separation from the axle, about 9mm long) near the edge of the weld.

All of the bushings are pretty worn out with only one actually leaking grease when I went around lubing them (Top of the tire hub in this picture, actually. Not sure what bushing to call it..)

Are polyurethane bushings okay for jeeps with light trail work and some mud in front of them?

In the end I'm looking at replacing all of the bushings, the control arms, the sway bar end links and then seeing where I sit from that point. I'll probably look at a lift kit for doing most of the replacement work and try to get some lady with a magic crystal ball to tell me whether or not I should go long or short arm since I have no idea what I'll ultimately be using this jeep for in a few years time.

And so my build begins. >.<

Edit: Father-in-law claims he hit the guard rail pretty flush and then spun towards the passenger side. Doesn't remember any real impact to the passenger tire, at least not enough to do that kind of damage.

Sr6I0TN.jpg


WCi93n2.jpg


iJB3GEz.jpg
 
Woe is me.

@Chris @glwood @StG58

You guys should get a kick out of this. I took her into the hobby shop on base today, threw it on the lift, pulled the tires and started going over the suspension and drivetrain.

First things first. @xxdabroxx should get a kick out of this. Remember how I said my swaybar was connected? Well, with weight on the suspension, it was. As soon as the springs extended and everything lowered though..

Sr6I0TN.jpg


Pay no mind to the shitty focus, it was bright and I couldn't really see my screen clearly. That would be the driver side sway bar endlink... not connected. Not in one piece, actually.

So here's the passenger side, which is not far off from being the same way.

WCi93n2.jpg


This is the other big thing we noticed.

iJB3GEz.jpg


So for any plebs reading this, that there's your lower control arm mount, passenger side. Notice how it's not exactly straight? The upper is canted a bit too, as is the lower mount on the frame itself. The passenger side upper control arm also shows signs of having been kinked and straightened back out (with a definite slight bend still there). All in all I'm going to have to cut the mounts off and replace them, they've also cracked and separated slightly (Maybe a total of 2-3mm separation from the axle, about 9mm long) near the edge of the weld.

All of the bushings are pretty worn out with only one actually leaking grease when I went around lubing them (Top of the tire hub in this picture, actually. Not sure what bushing to call it..)

Are polyurethane bushings okay for jeeps with light trail work and some mud in front of them?

In the end I'm looking at replacing all of the bushings, the control arms, the sway bar end links and then seeing where I sit from that point. I'll probably look at a lift kit for doing most of the replacement work and try to get some lady with a magic crystal ball to tell me whether or not I should go long or short arm since I have no idea what I'll ultimately be using this jeep for in a few years time.

And so my build begins. >.<

Edit: Father-in-law claims he hit the guard rail pretty flush and then spun towards the passenger side. Doesn't remember any real impact to the passenger tire, at least not enough to do that kind of damage.

Well, now you know why it feels like a sail boat going down the road!

If you aren't going to lift more than a couple inches replace your bushings with stock ones. If you are going much over that you would benefit from adjustable control arms. I think you can get all of the control arms on amazon for something like $190. I think you are talking about the ball joints, they are in the "C" that is attached to the end of the axle tubes. If they are tight, tires won't rock up and down, etc while on a lift I'd leave them be.

Stiffer bushings aren't good for a TJ suspension, it needs to flex.

Sr6I0TN.jpg


WCi93n2.jpg


iJB3GEz.jpg
 
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I know Rough Country doesn't generally get much love around here, but I opted to use their adjustable rear track bar in lieu of drilling out the rear track bar bracket for the OME relocation bracket included in the kit. Gave me adjustability, and is much more stout than the stock track bar:

I just used the rear relocation bracket from OME. It was a little difficult, but not too bad. The bracket costs $20. Just make sure you have a 1/2" and 7/16" metal drill bits on hand for the drilling and mount as much of the bracket as you can to have holes lined up perfectly. The most difficult part was getting the track bar realigned. In the end, if you don't have $150, it can be done; if you do and want to spend on adjustable, go for it!
 
Well, now you know why it feels like a sail boat going down the road!

If you aren't going to lift more than a couple inches replace your bushings with stock ones. If you are going much over that you would benefit from adjustable control arms. I think you can get all of the control arms on amazon for something like $190. I think you are talking about the ball joints, they are in the "C" that is attached to the end of the axle tubes. If they are tight, tires won't rock up and down, etc while on a lift I'd leave them be.

Stiffer bushings aren't good for a TJ suspension, it needs to flex.
x2
Poly bushings on a TJ are asking for disappointment. If you aren't going tall on a suspension lift, aren't in a hurry to mod your TJ, or aren't exactly sure what trails you're going to run, buy a set of stock arms and plug those in. The stock arms work well at low lift heights and are cheap enough to not agonize over.

@LCL-Dead, it looks like you have some serious repair work to do before you can start to think about suspension mods. Now this is just me, but I would repair all of the known defects back to stock (or better) and then see what mods make sense for your use. There's a lot of questions involved in modifying a TJ suspension, and long arms are rarely the correct answer.
 
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I just used the rear relocation bracket from OME. It was a little difficult, but not too bad. The bracket costs $20. Just make sure you have a 1/2" and 7/16" metal drill bits on hand for the drilling and mount as much of the bracket as you can to have holes lined up perfectly. The most difficult part was getting the track bar realigned. In the end, if you don't have $150, it can be done; if you do and want to spend on adjustable, go for it!
When I had my rear suspension apart, and installing the OME springs/shocks, I had every intention of putting that bracket on. When I saw what was involved, I just could not figure out how I was going to get a drill in there to drill the holes as per the instructions. I left it stock at that point and ordered the RC track bar, haven't looked back.
 
x2
Poly bushings on a TJ are asking for disappointment. If you aren't going tall on a suspension lift, aren't in a hurry to mod your TJ, or aren't exactly sure what trails you're going to run, buy a set of stock arms and plug those in. The stock arms work well at low lift heights and are cheap enough to not agonize over.

@LCL-Dead, it looks like you have some serious repair work to do before you can start to think about suspension mods. Now this is just me, but I would repair all of the known defects back to stock (or better) and then see what mods make sense for your use. There's a lot of questions involved in modifying a TJ suspension, and long arms are rarely the correct answer.

Yeah, the plan is to take it back to stock as much as possible before I look into raising it up at all. For the most part the plan is as follows:

1: Purchase OEM (Or suitable replacement) swaybar end links to replace the broken/breaking pair.
2: Take the rig to a local jeep focused shop this weekend to have them look at and estimate costs for welding on new control arm mounts, or seeing if those are still solid enough to just hammer back into place with maybe a bit of reinforcement welding to seal up the gaps at the rear of the mounts.
3: Pound out the frame-side lower control arm mount on the passenger side so it sits true again, or close to true.
4: Have the shop also look at the passenger side ball joint / knuckle as, when looking at the jeep from the front, it appears that the passenger front tire is leaning in slightly. Still unfamiliar with the nomenclature surrounding this part of the assembly.

My father-in-law, after further questioning, claims they hit the guard rail pretty much flush with the front end but to me, all of this damage screams of a heavy impact on the passenger wheel side wheel. They spun clockwise so I'm wondering if he hit something else and just didn't realize it. The last 8 or so inches of the frame up front is indeed canted slightly to the driver side and I've seen the pictures of the front end damage (grill pushed into radiator, etc). It seems like the only thing that got overlooked when they repaired the jeep was the suspension.

Anyway, once all that is done I'll be looking into 2-3" lifts and 31-33" tires to fill in the new space. Then it'll be on to fixing a bearing on my Corolla and replacing the catalytic converter to make sure that thing remains a suitable long distance vehicle.
 
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After looking at them a local shop is going to straighten two of the mounts and I'll be sourcing 4 control arms to replace the existing set, of which 3 are slightly bent and all 4 are in need of new bushings.

This should handle the alignment issue with the axle and trackbar. Yays. Only gonna run me like $500..
 
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After looking at them a local shop is going to straighten two of the mounts and I'll be sourcing 4 control arms to replace the existing set, of which 3 are slightly bent and all 4 are in need of new bushings.

This should handle the alignment issue with the axle and trackbar. Yays. Only gonna run me like $500..
Whoo-hoo! I mean $500 is $500, but that's not bad in the grand scheme of things. It's amazing just how tough a stock TJ really is. You can smack'em around pretty hard and they still keep on ticking right along. If you are putting in 4 control arms, you may look into just getting a set of 8 and replace all of them at once. I'm guessing that you are doing the fronts? It's more labor hours, and slightly more expense for the parts but then that task is just done for awhile. The stock Clevite bushings start to wear out before you can see the wear. On the other hand you have access to a lift and a shop on base. You can plug the other 4 arms in as time and money allows. Have one axle done now and do the other, yourself, later.

Oh, are you going to have the frame looked at?
 
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I'm thinking about it. We put two Rubicons up on lifts next to each other (one an 05, then mine the 06) and took measurements of the frames at various points and, as far as we could tell, the frame on mine is slightly bent in the front. By front, I mean the first 8-10" of the frame where it sticks out beneath the grill.

All we were doing though was comparing spacing between the two frames, using various parts underneath the jeeps as reference points, as well as checking the space between each side of the frame and using a 12' piece of rebar to try and eye gauge stuff. Not expert work, of course.

One of our locals says he has a complete set of control arms he'll throw my way for free, so I'm probably going to hop on quadratech and buy bushings for all 4 of them just to be safe. That should cut the cost of the repairs down to $350 or so.
 
When I had my rear suspension apart, and installing the OME springs/shocks, I had every intention of putting that bracket on. When I saw what was involved, I just could not figure out how I was going to get a drill in there to drill the holes as per the instructions. I left it stock at that point and ordered the RC track bar, haven't looked back.
For the half inch I was stumped a bit. Drill wouldn't line up bc of spring perch. Then realized I could go from the backside. Not too difficult from there.