VIP Member UKTJ Posted July 18 VIP Member Share Posted July 18 Thinking forward a couple of steps in modification of my TJ I have been pondering control arms and wondering if there is any point doing looking to build my own. As far as I can see there are three options: Option 1 - buy from a UK seller I could buy Rough Country adjustable arms from Jeepey for c.£1,400 plus delivery I could buy even heavier duty Teraflex arms for c.£2,070 plus delivery Option 2 - import from the US The Rough Country arms from Quadratec after international shipping and duty / VAT would be c. £1,020 I could buy Savvy Offroad aluminium adjustable arms (rated by the US TJ forum I frequent as the best available on the market) for c.£1,700 by using a freight forwarder Option 3 - make / have made my own arms from parts I have yet to locate a source for pre-fabricated threaded bushing joints in the UK (any suggestions?), so I am working on all flex joints Gigglepin sell right and left hand threaded Johnny joints and lock nuts, 14 of these are delivered are c.£1,310 Offroad Armoury sell the 1.25" 12 weld in threaded bungs, 14 of these delivered are c.£245 These bungs need tube with a 1.5" inner diameter, something like 50.8x6.35 wall (1/4"), 8 400mm lengths of that comes out at c.£1,000 delivered So making arms, albeit very strong ones would come in at c.£2,355 for parts alone Unless I am mising some much better priced UK suppliers this says to me that importing from the US is much more cost effective than fabricating them myself, as long as I want standard length short arms. Any thoughts, input of cheaper sources, etc. much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIP Member TimC Posted July 18 VIP Member Share Posted July 18 Think you’ve answered your own question very well there Terry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Ok call me stupid in my mind ( that i will give you is old ) control arms are used in conjunction with a lift kit to sort out the caster angle of the axel ? is above statement is not something I dreamed then wouldn’t they come with a lift kit ? Or why would you want them without a lift kit ? mind you could have some already and there failing with age .. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIP Member UKTJ Posted July 18 Author VIP Member Share Posted July 18 56 minutes ago, John said: Ok call me stupid in my mind ( that i will give you is old ) control arms are used in conjunction with a lift kit to sort out the caster angle of the axel ? is above statement is not something I dreamed then wouldn’t they come with a lift kit ? Or why would you want them without a lift kit ? mind you could have some already and there failing with age .. I guess my answer would be maybe. I installed a 2" lift on my TJ, I added new springs, new shocks and modified the level of bump stop for the new 33" tyres. With that level of lift the drive shaft angle is altered. Rather than go in the direction of dropping the transfer case skid to alleviate any resulting vibration I also fitted 1" raised motor mounts (in conjunction with a 1" body lift). With this recipe I have been able to continue running stock control arms (as well as continuing to run a slip yoke and stock drive shaft). One of the things on the shopping list is to use the space created by the body lift to 'tuck'the transmission and transfer case up into the space created by the body lift. When I do that I will need to fit a slip yoke eliminator and a double cardin drive shaft. When I do that I will need to adjust the pinion angle because a DC driveshft needs a different pinion angle / alignment to a stock driveshaft. To do that I will need adjustable control arms. I am also thinking about whether to swap the low pinion dana 30 front axle for a high pinion version from an XJ, ideally that would benefit from adjustable control arms to alter the pinion angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIP Member UKTJ Posted July 18 Author VIP Member Share Posted July 18 3 hours ago, TimC said: Think you’ve answered your own question very well there Terry. I was hoping somebody would call me silly and tell me where I could buy parts much more cheaply I could use rose / heim joints and build the arms for much less, but my understanding is that they can be very harsh for a Jeep used on road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frosty Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 easy answer, buy my heavily modified TJ, then you can just drive it. it has already been modified more than you are thinking of modding yours 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIP Member UKTJ Posted July 19 Author VIP Member Share Posted July 19 3 hours ago, frosty said: easy answer, buy my heavily modified TJ, then you can just drive it. it has already been modified more than you are thinking of modding yours It’s certainly a cracking TJ with an enviable spec, I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding a buyer. I would have loved to buy it, but sadly management worked out that even if I did I wouldn’t stop tinkering with my current one and put her foot down . Unfortunately she knows I enjoy the journey as much as the destination 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIP Member Caroline12 Posted July 19 VIP Member Share Posted July 19 Aluminium adjustable arms do they use aluminium for light weight reasons ? I would find out what aluminium series it is, some will bend and snap, 6061-T6 (T=tempering) won’t bend. T4 will bend more. I get aluminium to be more malleable, elastic flexible without snapping, to a degree compared to steel. My concern would be bending out of shape or eventually snapping over time with aluminium. I think for hard use, off-roading I would consider steel only, for peace of mind. I would look at Stress strain graphs for aluminium/steel and you at how the material performs before its plastic deformation and ultimately snapped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIP Member UKTJ Posted July 19 Author VIP Member Share Posted July 19 (edited) 1 hour ago, Caroline12 said: Aluminium adjustable arms do they use aluminium for light weight reasons ? I would find out what aluminium series it is, some will bend and snap, 6061-T6 (T=tempering) won’t bend. T4 will bend more. I get aluminium to be more malleable, elastic flexible without snapping, to a degree compared to steel. My concern would be bending out of shape or eventually snapping over time with aluminium. I think for hard use, off-roading I would consider steel only, for peace of mind. I would look at Stress strain graphs for aluminium/steel and you at how the material performs before its plastic deformation and ultimately snapped. The Savvy arms are solid bar aluminium, which run out about the same weight as steel arms using 1" OD with 0.156 wall. The uppers are 1.25" diameter and made out of 6061-T651, the lowers are 1.5" diameter and made out of 7075. The longer kid-arm versions have been run on Savvy vehicles in their Everyman winning King of the Hammers entries and carry a lifetime warranty. I believe, like many Savvy parts for the TJ they were designed by Blaine Johnson - a bit of a legend when it comes to building TJ based rock crawlers in the US. I would be interest on your thoughts though, they are here. Edited July 19 by UKTJ Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIP Member Caroline12 Posted July 19 VIP Member Share Posted July 19 2 hours ago, UKTJ said: The Savvy arms are solid bar aluminium, which run out about the same weight as steel arms using 1" OD with 0.156 wall. The uppers are 1.25" diameter and made out of 6061-T651, the lowers are 1.5" diameter and made out of 7075. The longer kid-arm versions have been run on Savvy vehicles in their Everyman winning King of the Hammers entries and carry a lifetime warranty. I believe, like many Savvy parts for the TJ they were designed by Blaine Johnson - a bit of a legend when it comes to building TJ based rock crawlers in the US. I would be interest on your thoughts though, they are here. They look very good and nice, I do like the (brass ?) ends and the extended bolt sleeves, and would definitely hold the bolts and joints firmly in place, stop twisted and lateral movement as they get old and wear. An updated design and very practical. I see the exactly what you mean by fully adjust each end and lock nuts. A solid bar inside a 0.156”, about 4mm in hard aluminium. Sounds pretty robust. I don’t know Blaine Johnson or anything on the TJ scene, but they look good, sound robust and probably a reasonable price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 If it’s still on standard gearing I’d personally look at that first …running 33s will be a bit of a ball ache Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VIP Member UKTJ Posted July 19 Author VIP Member Share Posted July 19 38 minutes ago, John said: If it’s still on standard gearing I’d personally look at that first …running 33s will be a bit of a ball ache Oh, I agree, I have been trying to get gearing sorted for a while but struggling to find somebody to do it. Hence why in my first post I said I was thinking a couple of steps ahead. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 Yes I suppose when I think about it I had my tj done in 2006 in my head that was only like 5 years ago There were a few places doing it then … have you tried devon 4x4 and steve at fte if he’s still going ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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