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

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.

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.

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).

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:

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 wrote in message news:...

Ok, I never had any problems with my Tera arms so I was curious. The metal in those zerks isn't too strong, so overtightening them can shear them, as well as any lateral stress. Tera just uses standard zerks, so you'll find the same zerks on everyone's arms. Also, you should mount them so the zerks are topside so no rocks, mud can shear them.

I will say it would be nice if there was a good, strong

Heh, no arms are adjusted that way that I know of. :) If you are bending the control arm brackets removing/installing the control arms, you might look at what you are doing a little closer. If your axles are aligned properly, your arms should slip into the brackets fairly easily. There should NOT be any bending of ANYTHING.

Sorry for being dense here, but I don't understand your problem. The shock and control arms shouldn't come into contact. We ARE talking TJ here, right?

Yes, check out the REs, very nice arms. As far as discos, I like the Teraflex the best of all of them, but I know the JKSs are very popular too.

Ok, I'll make my responses shorter this time ;-)

Yup, I mounted them zerk side up, with that exact reasoning in mind.

I'm not bending anything putting the control arms in and taking them out. My mounts are just bent from scraping rocks, and are no longer aligned with each other very well (i.e. the two tabs that the end of the control arm slides between aren't perfectly straight, and don't provide a perfectly parallel, straight shot for the control arm end to slide up between them).

Ok, I'm not talkikng about the SHOCK itself hitting the control arms. But, on (yes, this is the TJ we're talking about...or at least MY TJ) the shock is mounted in a metal "plate" (for lack of a better term) that is welded onto the axle, and hangs back BEHIND the axle (behind the spring mount). This plate has a rolled-down edge, and this rolled-down edge doesn't look to have that much clearance between it and the middle of the control arm. And that's with my angled procomp control arms that add clearance due to the angle bend in the middle of the arm. Since I have a short-arm kit, and I'm looking to put an adjustable STRAIGHT, non-angled arm in the front, the middle of the arm will be passing that much closer to the rolled edge of the metal plate the shock is mounted to. If I get full droop on the axle, I'm thinking it is possible that rolled edge might come in contact with the control arm.

Well, based on the fact my tera arms are working fine, and people here seem to like the RE arms, I'm narrowing myself down to probably one of these two, since they are significantly ($50 or more) cheaper than the JKS arms. And no one seems to have the JKS arms or any experience with them. As long as clearance isn't an issue, I'll probably just end up going with the tera arms, if nothing else, just to maintain consistency of like components.

Thanks for your help and comments.

/Bob