Adjustable Control Arms?

boehml

boehml

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So I'm not the most experienced when it comes to suspension knowledge.. I understand that in order to correct caster and "flighty steering" adjustable control arms are probably necessary. I have about 3" of lift, would lower control arms provide more benefit than uppers (if I was just looking to buy a single set)?
 
I used to have an 04' rubicon, with an OME suspension that rasied it up about 2.5". I don't remeber the name of the company, but I did install aftermarket lower control arms. They were not adjustable, but were a bit longer than stock and worked perfectly as they were intended for my rigs specific suspension height. So yes, lower control arms are the first thing to do. Then, if needed the uppers.
 
See there? Now you are even more confused than when you asked the question. Want even more confusion? Go to the jeep forums, as your question has been a raging debate since jeep introduced the coil spring suspension back in 97'. Yes, definitely start with your lower control arms. Adjustable or not? Once you have them adjusted properly thats it, you never adjust them again. For twice the money over fixed control arms, you have something to play with for a 1/2 hour or less. If, on the outside chance you are a serious rockcrawler, and your rig is offroad way more than on road, then get the adjustables. The biggest mistake that we make with our rigs is buying stuff to bolt on that we just don't need, nor will ever make use of. Believe me, over the course of my lifetime, I've wasted enough money on bolt on stuff to buy an entire rig. Now, I use a very simple rule of thumb, KISS..
 
The reason I said what I did because if you have your Jeep aligned at a good place,and keep the fixed lowers, they have to use a cam bolt arrangement to get your caster back close to what you need for driving , even on the streets, tire ware and steering....
 
I don't know Jeeps, but for my Nissan, there are a variety of upper control arms that give a better caster angle, and allow the factory alignment bolts to be used for fine-tuning. Like @Oldfooladventures Moak said above, adjustable isn't going to be useful unless you're constantly adjusting. Otherwise, you just need enough to be able to get your alignment back on track, and you're done. Most of the time, lifts 2" or greater are going to have caster issues without some sort of correction, but make it a static correction and be done with it.
 
Captain Josh said:
I don't know Jeeps, but for my Nissan, there are a variety of upper control arms that give a better caster angle, and allow the factory alignment bolts to be used for fine-tuning. Like @Oldfooladventures Moak said above, adjustable isn't going to be useful unless you're constantly adjusting. Otherwise, you just need enough to be able to get your alignment back on track, and you're done. Most of the time, lifts 2" or greater are going to have caster issues without some sort of correction, but make it a static correction and be done with it.
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Thank you.. fixed lowers for the specific lift height is the way to go on jeeps. If you're up 3" then get ones specifically for 3" of lift.. no other adjustments will be necessary. I used a good alignment shop once, to check my own work. There are many threads out there explaining how to align solid front axles DYI.. in the meantime I'll find the name of the fixed arms I purchased . OK, found it. http://www.extremeterrain.com/synergy-fixed-front-lower-arms-8047.html The OP really isn't lifted high enough to worry about twisting the axle , which a combination of upper and lower arms will do, as much as he simply needs to push it forward. I don't want to sound like "the expert" or anything like that, but I've been working with jeep suspensions for decades and learned long ago to KISS. There is a plethora of suppliers out there that will always be telling you how badly you need something they are selling. I actually used to get into some heated discussions with some of them. I purchased an OME kit from a guy once and he began berating me for not buying his complete kit which included a very expensive adjustable rear track bar. He went so low as to name call and threaten me with crash and burn stories. I finally got him to admit that the bracket that OME supplied with their kit was of high quality so therefore his expensive adjustable control arm wasn't necessary. Happens all the time, you just gotta be an nformed customer.
 
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Oldfooladventures Moak said:
Thank you.. fixed lowers for the specific lift height is the way to go on jeeps. If you're up 3" then get ones specifically for 3" of lift.. no other adjustments will be necessary. I used a good alignment shop once, to check my own work. There are many threads out there explaining how to align solid front axles DYI.. in the meantime I'll find the name of the fixed arms I purchased . OK, found it. http://www.extremeterrain.com/synergy-fixed-front-lower-arms-8047.html The OP really isn't lifted high enough to worry about twisting the axle , which a combination of upper and lower arms will do, as much as he simply needs to push it forward. I don't want to sound like "the expert" or anything like that, but I've been working with jeep suspensions for decades and learned long ago to KISS. There is a plethora of suppliers out there that will always be telling you how badly you need something they are selling. I actually used to get into some heated discussions with some of them. I purchased an OME kit from a guy once and he began berating me for not buying his complete kit which included a very expensive adjustable rear track bar. He went so low as to name call and threaten me with crash and burn stories. I finally got him to admit that the bracket that OME supplied with their kit was of high quality so therefore his expensive adjustable control arm wasn't necessary. Happens all the time, you just gotta be an nformed customer.
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I'm a fan of KISS, makes trail life easy. I probably should have been more descriptive in my post and specified "longer control arms". I was looking at control arms for specific lift heights after I originally posted and saw the price difference, and it made me wonder, is an adjustable joint as opposed to a fixed joint really worth the $100 markup for MY overland rig? Probably not.
 
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I have a different rig on my XJ as soon as I lifted to 5 inch lift I had to then make changes to the upper and lower control arms. I chose a control arm drop kit which drops the mounting points by 4 inches allowing stock upper and lower control arms and returning back close to stock angles. It's a huge difference in drive and so far I have not had any clearance issues.
 
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