Which Core 4x4 control arms should I buy?

Jacket4256

Jacket4256

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 6, 2021
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Tennessee
I am curious about control arms and which end type set up is the best pros and cons and what not, I have looked at lots and lots of them in varying degrees of prices and options.

What I am trying to figure out is it seems that most come in the variety of what the guys at core 4x4 are doing with their tiers, can someone help me with the pros and cons of the tiers. I know there are tons of companies and everyone has their go to but this is the easiest way for me to understand them. I had a local place suggest metalcloak but not sure I like their pushing system over the JJ

Tier 1

  • Built using 1.625″ OD 3/16″ Wall tubing.
  • Rubber or Polyurethane on adjustable end.
  • Rubber or Polyurethane on fixed end.
Tier 2
  • Built using 1.625″ OD 3/16″ Wall tubing.
  • Welded Currie Johnny Joint on adjustable end.
  • Rubber or Polyurethane on fixed end.
Tier 3
  • Built using 1.75″ OD 5/16″ Wall DOM tubing.
  • Forged Currie Johnny Joint on adjustable end.
  • Tapered Flex Polyurethane on fixed end.
Tier 4
  • Built using 1.75″ OD 5/16″ Wall DOM tubing.
  • Forged Currie Johnny Joint on adjustable end.
  • Welded Currie Johnny Joint on fixed end.
 
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Tier 1 is not good. Solid arms with rubber bushings are a recipe for a busted mount.

Tier 2 would be ok for moderate wheeling.

Tier 3 & 4 are nice. But at that price range you can also look at the aluminum Savvy arms which are double adjustable.

I have Metalcloak on my rear axle and have no complaints.
 
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I ended up going for the tier 4 from Core. They had a deal a few months back for a set of front & rear control arms with trackbars, came out to about $300 less than Currie. The double adjustable would have been nice, but once you set it you don’t really screw with it again.
 
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WallyWest said:
Tier 1 is not good. Solid arms with rubber bushings are a recipe for a busted mount.

Tier 2 would be ok for moderate wheeling.

Tier 3 & 4 are nice. But at that price range you can also look at the aluminum Savvy arms which are double adjustable.

I have Metalcloak on my rear axle and have no complaints.
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100% this, great summary. If you get anything with a JJ I’d regrease them before installing. Mine were pretty dry on a brand new Currie trackbar.
 
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rasband said:
100% this, great summary. If you get anything with a JJ I’d regrease them before installing. Mine were pretty dry on a brand new Currie trackbar.
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Yeah that didn’t occur to me until after I installed them, but before I did I exercised them & observed grease on the ball. We’ll see. What’s a symptom of a joint that needs grease? Creaking/groaning?
 
qslim said:
Yeah that didn’t occur to me until after I installed them, but before I did I exercised them & observed grease on the ball. We’ll see. What’s a symptom of a joint that needs grease? Creaking/groaning?
Click to expand...

That was my experience, it happened to a bunch all at once. Others have reported not servicing theirs for years, so I could have just gotten unlucky!

I grabbed this clip before to share:

 
mrblaine said:
Until you do. Then they are worth the price of admission.
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I was going to say something similar, I’ve messed with mine a number of times as parts change, the lift changed, or issues come up. Or even just learning new things and playing with wheelbase.

With no downsides (at least that I’m aware of) vs single adjustable the relatively minor cost difference is well worth it.
 
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rasband said:
I was going to say something similar, I’ve messed with mine a number of times as parts change, the lift changed, or issues come up. Or even just learning new things and playing with wheelbase.

With no downsides (at least that I’m aware of) vs single adjustable the relatively minor cost difference is well worth it.
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With double adjustables, I also think one is more likely to take the time to get the angles and positioning right because they are so much easier to deal with.
 
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jjvw said:
With double adjustables, I also think one is more likely to take the time to get the angles and positioning right because they are so much easier to deal with.
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That’s a good point I hadn’t thought of, I’d easily fall into that trap.
 
jjvw said:
With double adjustables, I also think one is more likely to take the time to get the angles and positioning right because they are so much easier to deal with.
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That's an excellent point, much more likely to get it right on the nose than "good enough".
 
WallyWest said:
Tier 1 is not good. Solid arms with rubber bushings are a recipe for a busted mount.

Tier 2 would be ok for moderate wheeling.

Tier 3 & 4 are nice. But at that price range you can also look at the aluminum Savvy arms which are double adjustable.

I have Metalcloak on my rear axle and have no complaints.
Click to expand...

Its funny with them (metalcloak) I have been looking at forums and online posts and reviews and very few people are in the middle with metalcloak, they either hate them or love them.

I am not trying to build some off road beast, I want something for moderate wheeling but want the better product in the middle of the road price range. I just need front lowers for the time being but may eventually get all 4 sets.
 
I run a full set of T3 arms and bars on my JK and they work quite well. While we like to avoid poly any time we can, their tapered flex poly is not the same as the old poly that just plain sucked. On the LJ, I have the T3 bars and have zero issues with them. If I was doing arms on a TJ or LJ, I would go T4 for sure. Get the Johnny Joint on both ends. Lots of love for the double adjustables, but I simply don't touch them often enough to feel it's mandatory. Ironically, I do have double adjustable on my rear uppers...
 
I waited and waited until I found a set of used double adjustables. I couldn’t imagine the time it would take to set angles with single adjustable.

My lowers are fixed so no experience there.
 
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