Rear Control Arms!

[HARDTRAILZ]

Old vs New and trail damage













This pic you can see the the e brake cable is ziptied because at full ext it pulls fairly well. A lil bracket will easily fix that. The regular brake lines are fine. On the right side on this upper arm there is a little lip coming out from the frame and the arm barely contacts it at full ext. Not sure if it is a big deal or if it can be round off or if the arm diameter could be slightly shrunk.


They are a very nice product. I would move the grease bungs a bit, but I will let the builder know my thoughts. So far they seem good, but i will try and flex it this weekend and see if any issues arise.

[Trail X]

Looks great. They'll definitely be better for sliding over some rocks.

I wonder about flex... do those bushings have 10* of flex to them?

Also - your drivers side speed sensor wire looks a bit tight here:

[HARDTRAILZ]

It is at full ext and its not super tight, still has a bit of give to it.

[bartonmd]

Looks great. They'll definitely be better for sliding over some rocks.

I wonder about flex... do those bushings have 10* of flex to them?

Also - your drivers side speed sensor wire looks a bit tight here:

I hadn't thought about the rubber bushings and twisty shafts going to stiff shafts (haha) and poly bushings...

May end up having to do like Terraflex does, and have a 1-1.25" bolt toward one end, threaded into the shaft, so you can have poly bushings while having basically no resistance to rotation...

Mike

[Trail X]

Maybe the stiffer control arms mean we can get rid of that damn sway bar. I joke, but maybe.

I guess we'll see when Kyle checks it out. I worry about it flexing the axle tabs.

ETA - I'm looking at the pinion angle... it may make sense to lengthen the uppers more to help correct the pinion angle and get it out of the rocks a tad more.

[bartonmd]

ETA - I'm looking at the pinion angle... it may make sense to lengthen the uppers more to help correct the pinion angle and get it out of the rocks a tad more.

As long as the stock ones are set up in such a way as to keep the pinion angle the same through the travel, they are good to go, as-is... Don't want to make the pinion angle different than the output shaft angle, or you'll get a vibration... Cardon joints have a slow spot 2x per rev, and it changes with angle, so they oppose the ends of the drive shaft, so it gets made up right there... Change one angle but not the other, and the slow spots won't be the same slowness of one another, and you'll get a vibration on the highway...

Mike

[Trail X]

Oh ok. I was helping on a jeep the other weekend and they were dialing in the pinion angle by adjusting the uppers. But they also had a double Cardan joint coming off the Xfer case.

[bartonmd]

Oh ok. I was helping on a jeep the other weekend and they were dialing in the pinion angle by adjusting the uppers. But they also had a double Cardan joint coming off the Xfer case.

Yeah, IIRC, you try and split the angle 3 ways, and since there's an odd number of cardon joints, it won't be perfect, but it'll be better than it would be otherwise...

Mike

[gotricebih]

Hopefully this weekend Kyle will be able to test the flex on these. If he isn't happy with the amount of flex it has then I will have to get some different bushings for him to try.

[bartonmd]

Flexy, Yo?

Mike

[HARDTRAILZ]

Posers shots just to see how if felt. Quite stable really. Curb is about 7 inches and rocks is 10-11 inches tall.

Could have used some rougher ground or bigger rocks to really test these, but the fridge died and the Bro in law moved in to stay for his first college semester. I will find someplace better soon.

The bushings looked to squish nicely and I did not notice anything negative in comparision to stock. I think they may have more flex since the factoroy rubber is wrapped in metal which would bind before the 1/4 inch of bushing on each side of these would.

[HARDTRAILZ]

[glfredrick]

Might have to plan on replacement of the bushings on a regular basis. Good news is that the job is easy.

Could have used a set of these on one end.

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestor ... oints.aspx

[bartonmd]

Cool!

Mike

[Trail X]

Htz - Looks good - I'm assuming that's with the rear swaybar connected?

Gotricebih - are there more flexy bushings available? Just curious what you have in your arsenal.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Connected. I dont like the way it acts disco'ed in the rear. On bigger stuff the body leans so far, i am uncomfortaable and that makes it not worthwhile. Figure it is better to have a driver happy that a bit of flex for safety sake.

[gotricebih]

I can get different bushings. I used these to keep cost down.

I am gonna talk to Kyle and see if he is happy with the flex they have. I also wanna get a closer look to see if it looks like the bushings are gonna wear out quick.

I could use a flex joint, but that would jack the cost way up. I think with a high price nobody would want to buy them.

[Trail X]

I can get different bushings. I used these to keep cost down.

I could use a flex joint, but that would jack the cost way up. I think with a high price nobody would want to buy them.

You're probably thinking along the right lines. Our group tends to be on the cheap side.

[bartonmd]

Maybe wouldn't be a bad thing to make both styles... You're hand-making them one at a time anyway, right?

How much cost difference ya talkin'?

Mike

[MrSmithsTB]

Maybe wouldn't be a bad thing to make both styles... You're hand-making them one at a time anyway, right?

How much cost difference ya talkin'?

Mike

True. If they are built to order, offering the option wouldn't hurt.