Question about Jeepin Als Upper Control Arms

jtaylor42 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:38 am

I have added Rustys Suspension lift along with four conduit lock nuts on the front to level out the stance. However, at full droop the upper control arm hits the coil. I am wondering if these control arms will completely prevent this or if they just make it not as bad. I dont want to invest $400 unless it completely fixes the issue. Also, how hard is the install? To give you a gauge I did the lift myself in about 3 hours and also have done the lift on my Dakota and the drop on my Camaro. Thanks for the info!

Jeepin Al · **Posted:** Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:07 am

The answer is depends. On some lifts, at full droop, there is no contact. I would say on about 60% of the time you still will get some contact between the back of the arm and spring. The real difference in the arms is they allow correct alignment, repositions the ball joint and they have stronger ball joints. They are only about 1/4 on an inch longer than stock. The correct alignment normally eliminates or reduces the a-arm contact with the spring. Off road conditions you may have contact even though you don't on the street.

I recommend to people that have just installed lifts to wait depending on mileage on the KJ to purchase a new set of arms. The factory arms will last around 10 to 20K after the lift, some much longer, but eventually the angle and contact wit the spring will cause the upper ball joint to fail.

Hope this helps.

Al

Mutt · **Posted:** Thu Apr 05, 2007 6:07 pm

It completely fixed the contact issue on my KJ and finally allowed for a decent alignment.

JeepinAl is also a class act with the best customer service in the business.

jtaylor42 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:12 pm

Thanks for the info to both of you. The Jeep only has 20k miles on it and I just put lift on a few days ago so I guess I will stick to stock A-Arms until they are worn out. But Jeepin Als Arms are defintely on my list of future upgrades. I go for alignment Monday next week so I guess I will see how close they can get to a good alignment. If its bad I may be ordering sooner.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:18 pm

The upper A-arms should last a good while unless they are beating on the spring at full droop or the boots get torn someway..

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Fri Apr 06, 2007 12:18 am

New arms could fix it, but it's unlikely since you problably have more than 2.5" of lift, taking into consideration the clevis lift you did. I problably would still have adverse a-arm contact if it weren't for the Frankenlift's strut assembly bumpstop. That keeps it nice and cushioned either way. Get the arms...it's hard to have a problem-free rig, but a safer one, with better alignment, is definitely what I would call essential, at least to me.

kolesy · **Posted:** Fri Apr 06, 2007 11:18 am

I have a little more than 3" of lift up front and Al's a-arms fixed the problem for me.

ratmloud · **Posted:** Fri Apr 06, 2007 11:38 am

al's arms work great with my franenlift

scottslibby · **Posted:** Sun Apr 08, 2007 11:01 am

Hey guys,just got these in the mail and was wondering if there is anyone local that has these that could help me with the instalation of these arms? I live in Aurora

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:12 pm

I was just told my UBJ's are shot. So I'm considering these instead of OEM. Long term, they're safe? Hold up? etc?

Al, got any in stock?

Jeepin Al · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:30 pm

I have a few left in stock, with another order coming in. My Gen III arms use 1/4 thick pipe, and the bung size has been increased to 1/4 inch thickness for better weld penetration.

I will be perfectly honest here, and you make up your own minds, always take in consideration the cheap, small ball joint OEM units. I have now over 100 sets out there, all over the world now. I know of two of you that managed to break the Gen I arms. The tubing is a little smaller, as is the bung. These arms were built by a race shop, so they went for light weight strength, which works great on a track, but not off-road. The first snapped at a weld, the second split the bung in half, welds held. Both were done on a hard trail ride, after many similar trail rides, I am told. One bent due to a missing ball joint nut (not really the fault of the arm). Most manufacturers will not tell you the problems that they experienced with their product (we all know them), essentially to sell more product. Me-- I want you to be happy and safe, so I talk up my successes, as well as the few failures. As in life, there are no guarantees, my arms could fail, just as the OEM units do, I hope that they don't, and if they have to, let them fail on the trail.

I have replaced the damaged units which have taken a hell of a toll on my cash flow, even though I clearly state that if you break it, you're responsible. There are a lot of companies out there that treated me like this and I have hated it, so I try not to do the same. Treat one as you want to be treated. Sooner than later I may not be able to do this anymore. Why? I do not make much money on these, because I am trying to make them affordable to everyone.

I felt comfortable enough to have them on my KJ, for almost 40K miles.

Thank you for letting me ramble.

Al

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:46 pm

SOLD. I emailed you.

Joe Jeeper · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:50 pm

Best purchase concerning my lift was Jeepin' Als "A" arms to echo the others!

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:53 pm

Is it true that you must cut the spring pockets and fold some of the metal over since the arms hit at full droop?

Jeepin Al · **Posted:** Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:30 am

On some lifts, the frankenlift being one of them, you will need to fold over the lip on the bottom of the a-arm pocket. Those who have experienced the arm hitting this area I have asked to fold the lip over so it doesn't "cut" into the arm. Its is better to have a flat surface than one with a knife edge if there is contact.

Why is there contact, the arms will allow a certain amount of additional droop, depending on the set up. The more aggressive the lift, I would recommend to fold the lip over. Take a sawz-all and cut the lip down to the bottom of the pocket, hammer it over or use a cut off wheel and remove the lip.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:11 am

got a picture? I'm not sure where the contact is being made and I'm going to have to explain it to my mechanic during tomorrow's install.

JC · **Joined:** Sun Feb 19, 2006 10:13 pm **Posts:** 17

We have been using them for sometime now. They work great.

AdamIsAdam · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:48 am

Mine are in. Now I need to get the alignment done.

It looks like the tires are a bit tilted in at the bottom. So they look like this from front view: \ / Is this normal? I think it's less now that I drove it for a few miles. Alignment won't change this. If the a arms are longer, this makes sense, but it does concern me because that kind of stance is a bit less stable (in theory). Although it feels ok to drive.

Also, I think the KJ is sitting taller again (ie, more lifted).

Any thoughts here?

Jeepin Al · **Posted:** Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:43 am

The wheels will be pointed like that if you didn’t get a wheel alignment. With the old arms, they needed to pull the bottom a-arms all the way into the body to align it correctly (chamber/caster) so when you put my arms on, the new arms will position the top of the spindle back to where it was before the lift, forcing the top of the tire outwards. This will also cause your toe to be out, which will wear the tires.

The tilt of the wheels will be correctable with the alignmnet. If you have less than 2.25 inches of total lift, the top of the wheels will remain a little like this \ / .

Al

Question about Jeepin Als Upper Control Arms

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