Rear upper control arm replacement

[AJ9P]

So I have seen a few threads about this, and I was wondering if there were any aftermarket parts that I could get that would improve the off road preformance than the oem boomerang.thanks

 

[tommudd]

Sadly this is about the only option anymore
https://www.ironrockoffroad.com/product/wj-adjustable-a-arm-short.html

They also have the brackets to convert it to a KJ as well

I run the JBA bolt on tri links on the 03 and 04 but are no longer available

CORE 4X4 also has lower control arms for a WJ that fit and do great

 

[AJ9P]

Sadly this is about the only option anymore
https://www.ironrockoffroad.com/product/wj-adjustable-a-arm-short.html

They also have the brackets to convert it to a KJ as well

I run the JBA bolt on tri links on the 03 and 04 but are no longer available

CORE 4X4 also has lower control arms for a WJ that fit and do great

would you recommend upgrading to the flex joints vs the normal rubber bushings? Thanks

 

[tommudd]

All depends on you, your driving habits, how you will use your KJ etc

If it was me, then I would

 

[AJ9P]

Thanks tommud, I have been burned enough times on “upgrades” I have become very skeptical of them. Lol

 

[tommudd]

Thanks tommud, I have been burned enough times on “upgrades” I have become very skeptical of them. Lol

Just ask, over the last 16 plus years of KJ ownership have seen plenty of owners get burned by companies / individuals on parts etc when they are wanting to upgrade their rides

 

[Offroad Bob]

I put the Iron Rock adjustable rear upper and adjustable rear lower control arms about 2 weeks ago. I ordered it with the upgraded flex joints too. Easy install except removing that bracket on the rear axle housing that the old ball joint set up used. After cleaning up threads in the axle housing the new setup bolted right up ! Much easier than the stock junk. I’ve changed the upper rear arm 3 times now and hopefully this was the last. I’ve found that when installing the rear upper arm (stock or aftermarket) it’s best to first put a floor jack under the center of the rear axle and unbolt the lower arms, remove them from the axle, remove shocks and lower the jack some to take the pressure off the ball joint. Then remove the pinch bolt securing the ball joint to the rear axle. Then lower the rear axle and remove the springs. The axle will be sitting on the jack and held only by sensor wire to the ABS sensor and brake lines. No need to disconnect brake lines or sensor wire, just be careful. Then remove the bolts on the forward ends of the upper control arm and remove it. When reinstalling with either a stock or aftermarket upper arm, we found it easiest to start the bolts on the forward ends of the upper arm (rear axle still lowered on jack), then raise the jack to make the rear axle meet the ball joint or the new connector on the aftermarket arm. Then work the pinch bolt through the grove in the ball joint and lightly tighten. Then we mounted lower control arms to the unibody loosely. Then we raised the jack with the axle still sitting on it in order to align the lower arms with the rear axle and loosely bolted them. Then we lowered it again to install the springs and reattached the shocks. Then we put the rear wheels on and set the Liberty back on the ground. We looked it all over, then tightened it all up with the weight of the vehicle on the suspension. Tightening everything with the vehicles weight on it will help keep from preloading the bushings. The Iron Rock with the upgraded flex joints will give you better articulation of the rear axle, but it will increase your in cab noise. I’ve gotten used to the noise. It’s worth the trade off ! So far very happy with the Iron Rock setup. Handles even better than stock !

 

[duderz7]

That's good to hear Bob. This is the setup I'm looking to eventually get. Just a heads up, look at the date of the last post in a thread before responding. Sometimes you can go down a rabbit hole researching something and end up bringing an old thread back to life. In this case it was only 2 months so not bad. We've seen some comeback from years ago, sometimes necessary, usually not.

 

[Johnny O]

I too can state I’m impressed with the IRA LCAs and rear A arm. I tested the heck out of the rear suspension with a very heavy load and everything performed perfectly. (12k watt generator, four chainsaws, and 80 liters of fuel on top of my standard tool load out)
As a disclaimer: I did have the recall installed rear LCAs and they were OK after some retorqing, but I feel the IRAs version are even nicer though I really don’t use them as they were intended.

was driving over lots of logs and branches and into some pretty nasty with debris yards to run the genny and clear trees.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Did you have to call them to get the upgraded joints? If Im going to spend that kinda $$, I would just rather not have rubber bushings to deal with.

 

[Offroad Bob]

I got mine with the upgraded joints. A little more road noice transmits due to no rubber in the mounts anymore, but a small trade off for the handling and range of motion

 

[Lobato]

Hey guys!
I see you all talking about installing a new upper rear control arm, so you might be able to help me out. I ordered a new one on Amazon but when I tried to fit the thing in I cannot make both bolt holes align with the support/mount holes. See pictures below... I am trying to get a refund for the new one, but I wanted to double check with you if I might be doing something wrong here. I only started that bolt that's actually going through the right support and the left hole is like 1/2" away from getting aligned with the hole in the support. The car is held up with two jack stands on the sides of the Liberty and I have my floor jack touching the rear diff.

Thanks a lot!

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[tommudd]

Hey guys!
I see you all talking about installing a new upper rear control arm, so you might be able to help me out. I ordered a new one on Amazon but when I tried to fit the thing in I cannot make both bolt holes align with the support/mount holes. See pictures below... I am trying to get a refund for the new one, but I wanted to double check with you if I might be doing something wrong here. I only started that bolt that's actually going through the right support and the left hole is like 1/2" away from getting aligned with the hole in the support. The car is held up with two jack stands on the sides of the Liberty and I have my floor jack touching the rear diff.

Thanks a lot!

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The rear diff is at the wrong angle is all
sometimes you have to get the front of the diff either up or down depending on the angle and where you need to have it end up
to push it down install stock jack between the diff and body above and push down
if needs to go up, jack under front of diff and jack it up
Not hard at all just takes a few moments
Hopefully you bought a good tri-link or you'll be back in no time doing it again

 

[Lobato]

The rear diff is at the wrong angle is all
sometimes you have to get the front of the diff either up or down depending on the angle and where you need to have it end up
to push it down install stock jack between the diff and body above and push down
if needs to go up, jack under front of diff and jack it up
Not hard at all just takes a few moments
Hopefully you bought a good tri-link or you'll be back in no time doing it again

Thanks a lot tommudd!
Should I try and install the ball joint first then? I had lowered the diff quite a bit so I thought it would not interfere with the installation of the arm, other than when I was going to put the ball joint into the diff support.
I will try that tomorrow again and see if I can make it fit.
Cheers!

 

[tommudd]

Lowering the diff will make it much harder to align everything back up

 

[Lobato]

Updates...
I'm not crazy
I passed the bolt through the new and the old arms in one side, after laying one on top of the other, as shown below.

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When I tried to pass the second bolt through the second hole, that's what happened:

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The new arm is, as I have suspected, about 1/2" shorter than the one originally installed in my Libby.

 

[tommudd]

What brand (again) did you buy ?
many of the cheap ones are junk
just like cheap CV from Autozone etc are shorter than original ones
So many companies are making inferior parts these days, for example Detroit Axle , sell cheap parts, lower ball joints wear out in just a few months etc

 

[Lobato]

What brand (again) did you buy ?
many of the cheap ones are junk
just like cheap CV from Autozone etc are shorter than original ones
So many companies are making inferior parts these days, for example Detroit Axle , sell cheap parts, lower ball joints wear out in just a few months etc

I bought it from AutoShack, which is from Ontario. I assumed that the thing was manufactured in Canada, but nope. It came from China.
Totally agree... that was my first experience buying this sort of things from Amazon and it will be the last. It is NOT worth the time/money... now my Libby will seat on my garage, on jack stands for another week or so...

 

[tommudd]

I bought it from AutoShack, which is from Ontario. I assumed that the thing was manufactured in Canada, but nope. It came from China.
Totally agree... that was my first experience buying this sort of things from Amazon and it will be the last. It is NOT worth the time/money... now my Libby will seat on my garage, on jack stands for another week or so...

I buy a lot of parts on Amazon for my own Jeeps and for customers , you just have to watch what parts you buy and from whom

 

[duderz7]

Recently ordered a "mopar" thermostat from the mopar store (or something like that) on Amazon and received a motorad. So i sent it back, then payed twice as much from the dealer...it also said motorad on it, but also has the Chrysler symbol on it. Other than that I've been pretty successful with Amazon. I do try to support retail stores if the price isn't too different.