jon-d

Finished a wheeling trip and in my post driveway inspection found a broken arm mount. It does not look like i hit a rock on it so i am not sure if on one of my steep decents i hit a mound of dirt too quicly and it gave out. At least i dont recall hitting anything on that side. I plan to bring it to a shop tomarow to have it welded up. Shinny metal = no good!


Cant see it in the photo but the front pass tire is several inches off the ground. The trail was littered with these and on the steep decents really made me pucker. I think i might have hit one of those on my way down a bit fast.

caged

no you likely didn't hit anything. the added stress once you add a lift, the control arm moves and bends the stock mounts.
i wouldn't reweld that mount, i would weld in some thicker aftermarket mounts. i used rugged ridge mounts. they are beef and never had a problem after that. you could even go as far as welding a skid plate on the mounts also for that added strength.

jon-d

Thanks for the reply...i dropped it off at a shop that does fab work and the guy said he has made mounts for those in the past and will fix the broken one and beef up the other side as well. I inspected all other axle welds and they seem fine but are there any other connection points i should be concerned about?

caged

nah, that's really the only weak spot for suspension connections.

the only other spot that becomes troublesome is the frame at the steering box mounts. you could be proactive and have that beefed up at the same time. there are kits out there already that bolt in or better ones that require welding. (staangsfab) makes the best kit i've seen as of yet.

jon-d

so the shop guy called and mentioned that I should upgrade my lower control arms to the rubicon adjustable super flex arms in addition to the beefed up mounts. He was telling me that the lateral forces on that mount is what caused it to bend and by having a flexable mount that would be better, and the adjustable arm, better still. he did not mention anything about the stock upper arms. this is the first time (obviously) its happened to me, but also the first time I have been on a trail that had this many off camber holes which completely flexed out my axles. what do you guys think? change out the lower arms? If so anything less expensive than the Rubicon (they are ~$260)? seems pricey for what they are.

caged

he is correct, and i should have mentioned that also.

no need really for aftermarket upper arms until you get over 4 inches of lift.

rubicon express superflex arms are pretty much the best in their class.

you could go with cheaper, but you will have endless maintenance with anything else.
RE super flex uses a great rebuildable joint where as most others have rubber bushings that go bad constantly. (rough country, for instance)

spend the money for the rubicon express, you will not regret it. and they will remain resellable later if/when you change out your suspension, whereas anything cheaper will end up in the trash.

jon-d

Cool, thanks for the info. I will order the rubicon arms.
Currious, what are the advantages of aftermarket upper arms?

investinwaffles

More adjustability when you lift it high enough, as the suspension angles change, especially if you are using "short" lower control arms (and not a full on long-arm kit) so you can keep the axle properly centered front to back wise.

How much is it lifted? I am not that familiar with ZJ suspension unfortunately

Good on your for wanting to fix it properly though

jon-d

I have a 6" lift. I plan on installing the new arms myself. what is the process of ensuring they are set properly and the axle is aligned?

caged

use a couple ratchet straps and strap that axle so it doesn't move when you remove the arms. then the new arms should just bolt right it.
if you don't strap the axle, you will be fighting and swearing lots while you try to move the axle to get the bolt holes to line up.

as for side to side alignment, your track bar takes care of that and if it's already centered, no need to adjust that.

do one side at a time.

jon-d

thanks for the tip. how do go about ensuring the axle is properly aligned front to back? do I measure from the rear axle to the front or is there some other process?