jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

I'm looking to go ahead and replace my front lower control arms with
adjustable versions soon. I already have teraflex adjustable arms in
the back. They've done ok, but I'm not thrilled with them; for one
thing, one of the stupid grease zerks sheered off while I was pumping
grease into it the other night, so I have to take it from the shop and
see if they'll remove the rest of the zerk and put a new one in, or
simply replace the control arm.

So, I was looking around, and saw a recommendation for the JKS
adjustable lower control arms, that they were very good quality and
strong.

I also ran across the rustys offroad adjustable lower control arms.
Not much info about them, but they cost half of what the JKS ones do,
so they are definitely tempting. I don't want to buy them if they're
crap though; who cares if its half the price if I have to end up
replacing them with the better quality ones later anyway?

If anyone has any of these brands installed and has good/bad comments
or recommendations, please let me know!

One more thing...will I need to get some sort of extender to the
control arm axle mount in order to ensure it doesn't hit my spring
perch on full flex with my 4" lift? My current crappy LCAs have a bend
in them in the front, preventing any possible contact, so I'm
wondering if I'll run into a problem with these straight adjustable
LCAs.

Thanks,
Bob

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

Bob wrote:
> I'm looking to go ahead and replace my front lower control arms with
> adjustable versions soon. I already have teraflex adjustable arms in
> the back. They've done ok, but I'm not thrilled with them; for one
> thing, one of the stupid grease zerks sheered off while I was pumping
> grease into it the other night, so I have to take it from the shop and
> see if they'll remove the rest of the zerk and put a new one in, or
> simply replace the control arm.

You might try a small screwdriver in trying to get that zerk out. I've
found that once the 'nut' part breaks off, sometimes the threaded part
just needs a little encouragement and will come out relatively easily.
Don't throw up your hands too easily.

> So, I was looking around, and saw a recommendation for the JKS
> adjustable lower control arms, that they were very good quality and
> strong.
>
> I also ran across the rustys offroad adjustable lower control arms.
> Not much info about them, but they cost half of what the JKS ones do,
> so they are definitely tempting. I don't want to buy them if they're
> crap though; who cares if its half the price if I have to end up
> replacing them with the better quality ones later anyway?

Not sure about JKS, but I've heard good things about Rusty's stuff.
Teraflex has some good arms too, though. Other than the zerk, what
problems have you had? I like the RE ones I have now a lot.

> One more thing...will I need to get some sort of extender to the
> control arm axle mount in order to ensure it doesn't hit my spring
> perch on full flex with my 4" lift? My current crappy LCAs have a bend
> in them in the front, preventing any possible contact, so I'm
> wondering if I'll run into a problem with these straight adjustable
> LCAs.

You shouldn't need any contol arm mount extension. You might need
extension brackets for the rear shocks if you don't mount them upside
down (recommend DT3000s).


--
__________________________________________________ _________
tw

03 TJ Rubicon - Rubicon Express 4.5"
01 XJ Sport

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
-- Dave Barry

Pronunciation: 'jEp
Function: noun
Date: 1940

Etymology: probably from g. p. (abbreviation of general purpose)
A small general-purpose motor vehicle with 80-inch wheelbase,
1/4-ton capacity, and four-wheel drive used by the U.S. army in
World War II.

(Please remove the OBVIOUS to reply by email)
__________________________________________________ _________

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

Bob wrote:
> I'm looking to go ahead and replace my front lower control arms with
> adjustable versions soon. I already have teraflex adjustable arms in
> the back. They've done ok, but I'm not thrilled with them; for one
> thing, one of the stupid grease zerks sheered off while I was pumping
> grease into it the other night, so I have to take it from the shop and
> see if they'll remove the rest of the zerk and put a new one in, or
> simply replace the control arm.

You might try a small screwdriver in trying to get that zerk out. I've
found that once the 'nut' part breaks off, sometimes the threaded part
just needs a little encouragement and will come out relatively easily.
Don't throw up your hands too easily.

> So, I was looking around, and saw a recommendation for the JKS
> adjustable lower control arms, that they were very good quality and
> strong.
>
> I also ran across the rustys offroad adjustable lower control arms.
> Not much info about them, but they cost half of what the JKS ones do,
> so they are definitely tempting. I don't want to buy them if they're
> crap though; who cares if its half the price if I have to end up
> replacing them with the better quality ones later anyway?

Not sure about JKS, but I've heard good things about Rusty's stuff.
Teraflex has some good arms too, though. Other than the zerk, what
problems have you had? I like the RE ones I have now a lot.

> One more thing...will I need to get some sort of extender to the
> control arm axle mount in order to ensure it doesn't hit my spring
> perch on full flex with my 4" lift? My current crappy LCAs have a bend
> in them in the front, preventing any possible contact, so I'm
> wondering if I'll run into a problem with these straight adjustable
> LCAs.

You shouldn't need any contol arm mount extension. You might need
extension brackets for the rear shocks if you don't mount them upside
down (recommend DT3000s).


--
__________________________________________________ _________
tw

03 TJ Rubicon - Rubicon Express 4.5"
01 XJ Sport

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
-- Dave Barry

Pronunciation: 'jEp
Function: noun
Date: 1940

Etymology: probably from g. p. (abbreviation of general purpose)
A small general-purpose motor vehicle with 80-inch wheelbase,
1/4-ton capacity, and four-wheel drive used by the U.S. army in
World War II.

(Please remove the OBVIOUS to reply by email)
__________________________________________________ _________

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

Bob wrote:
> I'm looking to go ahead and replace my front lower control arms with
> adjustable versions soon. I already have teraflex adjustable arms in
> the back. They've done ok, but I'm not thrilled with them; for one
> thing, one of the stupid grease zerks sheered off while I was pumping
> grease into it the other night, so I have to take it from the shop and
> see if they'll remove the rest of the zerk and put a new one in, or
> simply replace the control arm.

You might try a small screwdriver in trying to get that zerk out. I've
found that once the 'nut' part breaks off, sometimes the threaded part
just needs a little encouragement and will come out relatively easily.
Don't throw up your hands too easily.

> So, I was looking around, and saw a recommendation for the JKS
> adjustable lower control arms, that they were very good quality and
> strong.
>
> I also ran across the rustys offroad adjustable lower control arms.
> Not much info about them, but they cost half of what the JKS ones do,
> so they are definitely tempting. I don't want to buy them if they're
> crap though; who cares if its half the price if I have to end up
> replacing them with the better quality ones later anyway?

Not sure about JKS, but I've heard good things about Rusty's stuff.
Teraflex has some good arms too, though. Other than the zerk, what
problems have you had? I like the RE ones I have now a lot.

> One more thing...will I need to get some sort of extender to the
> control arm axle mount in order to ensure it doesn't hit my spring
> perch on full flex with my 4" lift? My current crappy LCAs have a bend
> in them in the front, preventing any possible contact, so I'm
> wondering if I'll run into a problem with these straight adjustable
> LCAs.

You shouldn't need any contol arm mount extension. You might need
extension brackets for the rear shocks if you don't mount them upside
down (recommend DT3000s).


--
__________________________________________________ _________
tw

03 TJ Rubicon - Rubicon Express 4.5"
01 XJ Sport

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
-- Dave Barry

Pronunciation: 'jEp
Function: noun
Date: 1940

Etymology: probably from g. p. (abbreviation of general purpose)
A small general-purpose motor vehicle with 80-inch wheelbase,
1/4-ton capacity, and four-wheel drive used by the U.S. army in
World War II.

(Please remove the OBVIOUS to reply by email)
__________________________________________________ _________

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

Hi Bob,

Coincidentally, I sheered off a grease fitting on one of my Rubicon
Express LCAs two nights ago. Grrr. Other than that, I'm very happy with
all of my RE springs and arms and have had no other problems. You might
put RE on your comparison list.

When I was shopping for lift components I considered Rusty's, but I
found a rather high proportion of negative reviews. That being said,
many people have no problems with Rusty's. Everyone seems to really like
the JKS stuff. I've got their 'Quicker' disconnectable swaybar links and
I like they way they're made.

Steve

Bob wrote:
> I'm looking to go ahead and replace my front lower control arms with
> adjustable versions soon. I already have teraflex adjustable arms in
> the back. They've done ok, but I'm not thrilled with them; for one
> thing, one of the stupid grease zerks sheered off while I was pumping
> grease into it the other night, so I have to take it from the shop and
> see if they'll remove the rest of the zerk and put a new one in, or
> simply replace the control arm.
>
> So, I was looking around, and saw a recommendation for the JKS
> adjustable lower control arms, that they were very good quality and
> strong.
>
> I also ran across the rustys offroad adjustable lower control arms.
> Not much info about them, but they cost half of what the JKS ones do,
> so they are definitely tempting. I don't want to buy them if they're
> crap though; who cares if its half the price if I have to end up
> replacing them with the better quality ones later anyway?
>
> If anyone has any of these brands installed and has good/bad comments
> or recommendations, please let me know!
>
> One more thing...will I need to get some sort of extender to the
> control arm axle mount in order to ensure it doesn't hit my spring
> perch on full flex with my 4" lift? My current crappy LCAs have a bend
> in them in the front, preventing any possible contact, so I'm
> wondering if I'll run into a problem with these straight adjustable
> LCAs.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

Hi Bob,

Coincidentally, I sheered off a grease fitting on one of my Rubicon
Express LCAs two nights ago. Grrr. Other than that, I'm very happy with
all of my RE springs and arms and have had no other problems. You might
put RE on your comparison list.

When I was shopping for lift components I considered Rusty's, but I
found a rather high proportion of negative reviews. That being said,
many people have no problems with Rusty's. Everyone seems to really like
the JKS stuff. I've got their 'Quicker' disconnectable swaybar links and
I like they way they're made.

Steve

Bob wrote:
> I'm looking to go ahead and replace my front lower control arms with
> adjustable versions soon. I already have teraflex adjustable arms in
> the back. They've done ok, but I'm not thrilled with them; for one
> thing, one of the stupid grease zerks sheered off while I was pumping
> grease into it the other night, so I have to take it from the shop and
> see if they'll remove the rest of the zerk and put a new one in, or
> simply replace the control arm.
>
> So, I was looking around, and saw a recommendation for the JKS
> adjustable lower control arms, that they were very good quality and
> strong.
>
> I also ran across the rustys offroad adjustable lower control arms.
> Not much info about them, but they cost half of what the JKS ones do,
> so they are definitely tempting. I don't want to buy them if they're
> crap though; who cares if its half the price if I have to end up
> replacing them with the better quality ones later anyway?
>
> If anyone has any of these brands installed and has good/bad comments
> or recommendations, please let me know!
>
> One more thing...will I need to get some sort of extender to the
> control arm axle mount in order to ensure it doesn't hit my spring
> perch on full flex with my 4" lift? My current crappy LCAs have a bend
> in them in the front, preventing any possible contact, so I'm
> wondering if I'll run into a problem with these straight adjustable
> LCAs.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

Hi Bob,

Coincidentally, I sheered off a grease fitting on one of my Rubicon
Express LCAs two nights ago. Grrr. Other than that, I'm very happy with
all of my RE springs and arms and have had no other problems. You might
put RE on your comparison list.

When I was shopping for lift components I considered Rusty's, but I
found a rather high proportion of negative reviews. That being said,
many people have no problems with Rusty's. Everyone seems to really like
the JKS stuff. I've got their 'Quicker' disconnectable swaybar links and
I like they way they're made.

Steve

Bob wrote:
> I'm looking to go ahead and replace my front lower control arms with
> adjustable versions soon. I already have teraflex adjustable arms in
> the back. They've done ok, but I'm not thrilled with them; for one
> thing, one of the stupid grease zerks sheered off while I was pumping
> grease into it the other night, so I have to take it from the shop and
> see if they'll remove the rest of the zerk and put a new one in, or
> simply replace the control arm.
>
> So, I was looking around, and saw a recommendation for the JKS
> adjustable lower control arms, that they were very good quality and
> strong.
>
> I also ran across the rustys offroad adjustable lower control arms.
> Not much info about them, but they cost half of what the JKS ones do,
> so they are definitely tempting. I don't want to buy them if they're
> crap though; who cares if its half the price if I have to end up
> replacing them with the better quality ones later anyway?
>
> If anyone has any of these brands installed and has good/bad comments
> or recommendations, please let me know!
>
> One more thing...will I need to get some sort of extender to the
> control arm axle mount in order to ensure it doesn't hit my spring
> perch on full flex with my 4" lift? My current crappy LCAs have a bend
> in them in the front, preventing any possible contact, so I'm
> wondering if I'll run into a problem with these straight adjustable
> LCAs.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

hey twaldron,

Thanks for the suggestions on getting the zerk out. I wouldn't usually
throw my arms up this quickly, but I'm a bit disgusted that the damn
thing sheered off this soon after buying the arms. I've only had them
on the rig about three months; this was only the second time I've
greased them (the first being when I originally installed them).

I haven't been overly displeased in any particular way with the
control arms besides the zerk breaking; I think it just has to do with
how new the arms are in relationship to already having a problem,
y'know? I will say it would be nice if there was a good, strong
adjustable/flexible arm out there that could be adjusted WITHOUT
taking one end out of its mounting bracket (my brackets are bent up
enough that taking them and putting them back in the brackets is QUITE
a chore).

As for shock extensions, as I stated, I'm doing the front. I've
already got the tera's on the rear (and I've got shock extensions on
the rear as well...I was tired of denting my cans). But in the front,
I noticed there's not a lot of clearance between the metal supporting
the bottom of the front shock and the control arm. I read in one
review of installing adjustable straight arms in the front that
someone had to put on some sort of extension, so I was curious about
that. I figure I'd rather just grind off some of the excess metal on
the shock mount, though, if that will be sufficient. I don't want to
put extension brackets on those control arms if I can help it; they're
under a lot of stress and torque, and I would think such an extension
would just weaken their connection(s).

I will check into the RE control arms as well. As stated in the other
reply to my post, though, I've heard wishy-washy reviews of the stuff
from rusty's, so I'm probably not going to go that way. Maybe I'll
change it now and say I'm between JKS, RE, and Tera. (Also, I too have
the JKS discos, and do like them a lot, so that does give me
confidence their arms may be good. I'm just hoping someone on here
actually HAS the JKS lower arms and can give a personal review of
their performance in particular.)

/Bob
Boy, I type a lot. Sorry for the long posts! ;-)


twaldron <thomas@OBVIOUSrubicons.com> wrote in message news:<Jw4Xb.735$466.338637931@newssvr11.news.prodi gy.com>...
<snip!>

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

hey twaldron,

Thanks for the suggestions on getting the zerk out. I wouldn't usually
throw my arms up this quickly, but I'm a bit disgusted that the damn
thing sheered off this soon after buying the arms. I've only had them
on the rig about three months; this was only the second time I've
greased them (the first being when I originally installed them).

I haven't been overly displeased in any particular way with the
control arms besides the zerk breaking; I think it just has to do with
how new the arms are in relationship to already having a problem,
y'know? I will say it would be nice if there was a good, strong
adjustable/flexible arm out there that could be adjusted WITHOUT
taking one end out of its mounting bracket (my brackets are bent up
enough that taking them and putting them back in the brackets is QUITE
a chore).

As for shock extensions, as I stated, I'm doing the front. I've
already got the tera's on the rear (and I've got shock extensions on
the rear as well...I was tired of denting my cans). But in the front,
I noticed there's not a lot of clearance between the metal supporting
the bottom of the front shock and the control arm. I read in one
review of installing adjustable straight arms in the front that
someone had to put on some sort of extension, so I was curious about
that. I figure I'd rather just grind off some of the excess metal on
the shock mount, though, if that will be sufficient. I don't want to
put extension brackets on those control arms if I can help it; they're
under a lot of stress and torque, and I would think such an extension
would just weaken their connection(s).

I will check into the RE control arms as well. As stated in the other
reply to my post, though, I've heard wishy-washy reviews of the stuff
from rusty's, so I'm probably not going to go that way. Maybe I'll
change it now and say I'm between JKS, RE, and Tera. (Also, I too have
the JKS discos, and do like them a lot, so that does give me
confidence their arms may be good. I'm just hoping someone on here
actually HAS the JKS lower arms and can give a personal review of
their performance in particular.)

/Bob
Boy, I type a lot. Sorry for the long posts! ;-)


twaldron <thomas@OBVIOUSrubicons.com> wrote in message news:<Jw4Xb.735$466.338637931@newssvr11.news.prodi gy.com>...
<snip!>

Re: jks vs. rusty's vs. tera - lower control arms (LCA)
 

hey twaldron,

Thanks for the suggestions on getting the zerk out. I wouldn't usually
throw my arms up this quickly, but I'm a bit disgusted that the damn
thing sheered off this soon after buying the arms. I've only had them
on the rig about three months; this was only the second time I've
greased them (the first being when I originally installed them).

I haven't been overly displeased in any particular way with the
control arms besides the zerk breaking; I think it just has to do with
how new the arms are in relationship to already having a problem,
y'know? I will say it would be nice if there was a good, strong
adjustable/flexible arm out there that could be adjusted WITHOUT
taking one end out of its mounting bracket (my brackets are bent up
enough that taking them and putting them back in the brackets is QUITE
a chore).

As for shock extensions, as I stated, I'm doing the front. I've
already got the tera's on the rear (and I've got shock extensions on
the rear as well...I was tired of denting my cans). But in the front,
I noticed there's not a lot of clearance between the metal supporting
the bottom of the front shock and the control arm. I read in one
review of installing adjustable straight arms in the front that
someone had to put on some sort of extension, so I was curious about
that. I figure I'd rather just grind off some of the excess metal on
the shock mount, though, if that will be sufficient. I don't want to
put extension brackets on those control arms if I can help it; they're
under a lot of stress and torque, and I would think such an extension
would just weaken their connection(s).

I will check into the RE control arms as well. As stated in the other
reply to my post, though, I've heard wishy-washy reviews of the stuff
from rusty's, so I'm probably not going to go that way. Maybe I'll
change it now and say I'm between JKS, RE, and Tera. (Also, I too have
the JKS discos, and do like them a lot, so that does give me
confidence their arms may be good. I'm just hoping someone on here
actually HAS the JKS lower arms and can give a personal review of
their performance in particular.)

/Bob
Boy, I type a lot. Sorry for the long posts! ;-)


twaldron <thomas@OBVIOUSrubicons.com> wrote in message news:<Jw4Xb.735$466.338637931@newssvr11.news.prodi gy.com>...
<snip!>