rock krawler rear control arms installation problems

Robert Bradbury · **Joined:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:37 am **Posts:** 132

Heavy Duty Double Adjustable Rear Lower Control Arms
I have a 02 Pre Lowered Liberty

I purchased these from Rock Krawler and have major problems.

The rear fixed bushing that fits into the chasis is too narrow by about 1/2 inch each side or
one inch total. The guy at Rock Krawler talked to me as if I was telling him a lie , and I didn't
like that too much. Apparently my word and that of a mechanic are not enough, he wants me
to take a picture , and to do this I have to put the thing on a ramp and dismantle the rear end again.

Question is: Did any one else have this problem and some possible cures? No bushing were offered
and or any reasons why they didn't fit.I did check the part number to be correct .

Second Problem : for the forward portion of the same control arm there is a Hime joint. In the
picture on the Rock Krawler site the Hime joint has a bushing extending out
through the center that appears to be as wide as the opposite fixed end. The
onbe I received is only as wide as the Hime joint itself with no bushing to insert .

Any help would be appreciated .

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:00 pm

Quote:

The rear fixed bushing that fits into the chasis is too narrow by about 1/2 inch each side or
one inch total. The guy at Rock Krawler talked to me as if I was telling him a lie , and I didn't
like that too much. Apparently my word and that of a mechanic are not enough, he wants me
to take a picture , and to do this I have to put the thing on a ramp and dismantle the rear end again

Anybody correct me if I'm wrong but I think in late '03 or '04 they changed the rear LCA's to a smaller version than is used on the '02's,so that's most likely the problem there.

Robert Bradbury · **Joined:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:37 am **Posts:** 132

tjkj2002 wrote:

Quote:

The rear fixed bushing that fits into the chasis is too narrow by about 1/2 inch each side or
one inch total. The guy at Rock Krawler talked to me as if I was telling him a lie , and I didn't
like that too much. Apparently my word and that of a mechanic are not enough, he wants me
to take a picture , and to do this I have to put the thing on a ramp and dismantle the rear end again

Anybody correct me if I'm wrong but I think in late '03 or '04 they changed the rear LCA's to a smaller version than is used on the '02's,so that's most likely the problem there.

That is exactly what I had expected to learn. I'll wait to see what others have to say for confirmation.

BTW. The Skyjacker held up for you did it? I put one on and it crashed in less than a month and I didn't even take
my Lib off rooad . I do have an ARB and winch which probably didn't help. Anyway I replaced it with a Frankinlift
with old man Emu shocks and it has held up well for half a year now. Also my rear tires(same size as yours) rub
the fender forward under the door and above quite easily off road. To deal with this I purchased the adjustable
control arm to bring the tire back 1/2-5/8" . Is this how you solved the problem?

Thanks for the reply,
Robert

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:22 pm

Well my skyjacker springs are holding up fine but since I got one of the first kits my springs are not the "softride" junk they sell now.On the other hand the struts suck,had to swap in some rancho's.Good tip,switch to synthitic winch line and save abunch of wieght up front.As for the rear rub,yeah i got it in the same place,had to remove the rear flares so i don't rip them off every time I flex.Not to worried about it cause I'm saving for a SFA swap,look out here comes the danatrac 60's(as soon as I win the lottery)!

swyszomirski · **Joined:** Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:59 am **Posts:** 286

As for the Rock Krawler rear arms, all I can say to the problems you are having is "What's new?" Rock Krawler has consistantly had poor customer service when something goes wrong and poor notification as to which models their parts fit. I would never buy anything, for any type of rig, from them, period. The aggrivation they cause is not worth it.

Stephen

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:09 pm

RockKrawler has built "Nothing" to date that works properly on the KJ. They did finally add an "**" to let people know that the 3.0 and 3.5 Lifts don't work on the CRDs...after one of our members had to jump thru hoops to prove it to them.

GilaMonster · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:27 pm

I'm the hoop jumper they lied to regarding CRD fitment, and they still won't make anything right.

I even mounted up those adjustable rear lower control arms, only to remove them because they did not size the hiem joint inner diameter bushing correctly for the bolt diameter on the axle mount. This caused the lower control arm to thump in driving situations that just became unbearable. I discovered this after dumping the rear shocks from their kit that have the same problem.
If you are installing these for added articulation, you might be just as well served by removing the rear swaybar, because that is basically all they are offering by their lower control arms. Their recommended adjustment lenght is the same as stock lenght.

As for them treating you as a "liar", they have treated me the same way.

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 4:22 pm

Try the Rubicon Express adjustable lower control arms some are using w/ good luck. All J ( www.boulderbars.com ) sells them.

FreeJeep · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:31 pm

Hmmm, I have the RK arms and have had no problems with them.

grumppee · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:07 pm

I have had no issues to date with my RK 3.5" lift. However on the lift the front strut fork does make slight contact with the CV boot at full extension. I highly doubt I will ever flex out my front end to full extension with the mild wheeling I do.

G.

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:15 pm

Sounds like RK is nothing but problems.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:57 pm

I know USAFCOP's arms on his KJ are longer than mine. His is an 02 and mine an 04.

pixeldzn · **Posted:** Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:24 pm

FreeJeep wrote:

Hmmm, I have the RK arms and have had no problems with them.

I thought you had Rubicon Express arms, Don ...

USAFCOP · **Posted:** Fri Feb 23, 2007 4:37 am

Tokyojoe wrote:

I know USAFCOP's arms on his KJ are longer than mine. His is an 02 and mine an 04.

Mine are only longer because I have beat the bracket back by repeatedly smashing it rearward on rocks :twisted:

Seriously though, the arms in the 02/03's are taller and wider than the ones on the later models.

Robert Bradbury · **Joined:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:37 am **Posts:** 132

USAFCOP wrote:

Tokyojoe wrote:

I know USAFCOP's arms on his KJ are longer than mine. His is an 02 and mine an 04.

Mine are only longer because I have beat the bracket back by repeatedly smashing it rearward on rocks :twisted:

Seriously though, the arms in the 02/03's are taller and wider than the ones on the later models.

And you are right the 02 control arm was wider than subsequent models .
I talked with a different person at R>K to day, and he was knowledgeable
and very appologetic . He advised that I was missing spacers ,bushings and
instructions which he promply put in the mail today free of charge.

Robert

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Mon Feb 26, 2007 3:30 pm

They should be free of charge. Since it cost you precious time, they should have given a discount of some sort for their error.

Robert Bradbury · **Joined:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:37 am **Posts:** 132

Tokyojoe wrote:

They should be free of charge. Since it cost you precious time, they should have given a discount of some sort for their error.

After the first dealing with them I was happy to just be treated nicely . In a just world , yes I agree
that some compensation should be given as a gesture of good will . Reality is , that is almost non exsistent
these days. I'll take the apology, you don't often get even that . I wasn't really in a hurry anyway .

Robert

FreeJeep · **Posted:** Mon Feb 26, 2007 4:59 pm

OOPs, I guess mine are Rubicon Express, not RK. Prolly explains why I'm having no issues with um. :oops:

Robert Bradbury · **Joined:** Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:37 am **Posts:** 132

tjkj2002 wrote:

Well my skyjacker springs are holding up fine but since I got one of the first kits my springs are not the "softride" junk they sell now.On the other hand the struts suck,had to swap in some rancho's.Good tip,switch to synthitic winch line and save abunch of wieght up front.As for the rear rub,yeah i got it in the same place,had to remove the rear flares so i don't rip them off every time I flex.Not to worried about it cause I'm saving for a SFA swap,look out here comes the danatrac 60's(as soon as I win the lottery)!

Is anyone close to marketing a sfa ? The rear Dana 35 is also a weak link too.

Robert

ratmloud · **Posted:** Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:13 pm

dana 35 in the rear? of what?

rock krawler rear control arms installation problems

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