Rock Krawler Rehab?

[wacker]

I'm trying to tame my jeep a little bit. Over the years it had gotten out of control and was steadily headed toward 1 tons and trailer queen territory. Over the last few years however, it hasn't seen much use at all and now I'm really interested in how to make it more road trip friendly. I'm in the military and move every few years and it's been an ordeal moving the jeep several hundred miles every so often.

Step 1: Suspension

Currently I have a D44 and D30 slung under the jeep on an early Rock Krawler long arm kit designed for 8" springs. I run 3" BDS springs and some Walker Evans shocks.

The suspension is a triangulated 4 link rear and a 3 link front. I have some Hiem's that need replacing and I'm thinking that poly bushings at the frame side of the control arms might be better suited for a smoother and quieter ride. Is this thinking correct? Probably ordering some parts on the 1st.

Step 2: Tires & Wheels

Currently bias 36.5 IROKS. Today I rolled my 35" BFG AT's out of the basement. I've had them off the jeep about a year. Two are still holding air from then, two are flat. I'm taking the two flats into work this week to air them up and check for leaks. I'm hoping it's a dirty bead or bad valve stem. If this is the case the 35's will find there way back on the jeep.

Further down the road:
Interior comfort, Body work, new spare mount and hopefully some good new trips and memories. I used to LOVE driving my jeep, now I steal the wife's every chance I can so I don't have to put up with mine.

Any input, especially on the control arms, is appreciated!

 

[JCMatthews]

Yes, you are correct. Puting poly bushing into the control arms will make it much quieter. The noise the hemis make gets old on a DD.

 

[97tjguzzy]

look into the currie johnny joints. They have a poly bushing in them but still allow much more unbinding motion than a standard bushing. Plus they give you a softer ride without sacrificing longevity. you may be able to find some with the same thread pitch and size as your hiems so it woudl be plug and play.

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/Product569.aspx?id=2627

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/Product569.aspx?id=1262

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/Product569.aspx?id=2628

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/Product569.aspx?id=2629

 

[BigAl]

I recently went from 36 bias swampers to 35 BFG MTs. The road performance was increased 100 fold. I would have gone to 33s but the 4.88s wouldn't allow it. The change definitely made the jeep more fun to drive.

I don't know anything about heim joints but is poly the only answer? Every poly bushing I've every used was squeeky and harder than the rubber I was replacing.

 

[wacker]

I'm not convinced it'll be poly or rubber. The main focus is just getting away from the Hiem Joint. I have a ton of down travel and stiffing up the suspension a little would not be a bad thing in my application.

I'm going back to the 35's because I can't go to 33's either. 4.88's as well. I just spent some time in the boat house with the two BFG's that didn't have air in them. One seems fine now that it is aired up, no noticable leaks were found when doing a soap check. The other one was leaking like a siv from the bead. I aired it down, seperated the bead, cleaned it, reassembled, aired up and everything seems kosher now.

My front passenger side control arm frame mount joint is toast. There is a noticable 1/4 inch of play in it. This has been wearing my tire wierd. I'm going to replace the bushing first. Test drive on the IROKs and then switch to the 35's only if this is the only thing I can find wrong and the bushing resolves the problem.

After I ensure the bushings make a difference I'll order 2 for the rear lower links (top links already have them). I need to get ambitious and remove all the links and strip and repaint them. The rust under the jeep from being in ME and now OH is pretty disgusting.

Any input on paint for underbody hard parts? I'm thinking I'll wire wheel them and then hit it with some rust stop or paint over rust type paint. I don't want to spend much on it, what paints have you used that held up?

 

[JKIslander]

Dont have much advice other that what has been said, but are you the same wacker from MD? Part of the old Pasadena crew?

Sounds like your the same guy but I could be wrong

 

[lamontagne]

How early of an RK long-arm do you have? Do you have the 1st gen radius-arm on the driver side? Or do you have the 2nd gen with a third upper arm?

If you have the 1st gen, get rid of it. Dont waste your time or money.

If you have the second gen, you can fit any style joint you what with a 3/4in shank. I would stick with a cartridge style joint (ie, johnny-joint, currie, joint, Ballistic, evloution, ect..) though. A simple poly joint wont provide enough flex and fail prematurely. Besides, all of the decent joints are rebuildable. A call to Jeremy at RK will net you a handfull of new bushings for the joint at the top of the diff.

The other thing about the RK long-arm is that they a put a HUGE amount of stress on the stock axle brackets. I would very strongly recommend cutting them off and replacing them with something more stout. Poly Performance, TnT,and Ruff Stuff all make great brackets.

 

[wacker]

JKislander- Yup, I'm the same guy. I joined the Coast Guard a few years back and have been moving around ever since.

I have the second gen RK kit. I've gone through some issues with the rear uppers wearing out when they had the original bushings. A couple years ago they switched to a harder larger bushing that I want to try for the front control arms. What joints have you guys ran that had good servacibility and a smooth ride?

 

[wacker]

Alright I just got off the phone with Rock Krawler and they say that the bushings wont work with the kit I have. I think the reasoning is the angle of the control arms. The axle brackets are not in the same plane as the arms. If I were to use a bushing it would always be side loaded and that just wouldn't work out well. Looks like I'm going to order a set of there newer joints. I've used these in the rear of my jeep and they are definitley an improvement over the older style I have. Anyhow I'll be ordering next week. Hope to have the jeep rolling nice by next weekend.

PAINT? really any suggestions on paints for rusty parts?

 

[Robert Bills]

PAINT? really any suggestions on paints for rusty parts?

I have always had good results using Krylon semi-flat black.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Just a thought.

Why not sell the jeep and pick up a stocker that is more suited to what you are looking for? Put on a BB and some JKS discos and you would be fairly well set up with minimal cost and effort.

Just a thought...

 

[JKIslander]

Alright I just got off the phone with Rock Krawler and they say that the bushings wont work with the kit I have. I think the reasoning is the angle of the control arms. The axle brackets are not in the same plane as the arms. If I were to use a bushing it would always be side loaded and that just wouldn't work out well. Looks like I'm going to order a set of there newer joints. I've used these in the rear of my jeep and they are definitley an improvement over the older style I have. Anyhow I'll be ordering next week. Hope to have the jeep rolling nice by next weekend.

PAINT? really any suggestions on paints for rusty parts?

Ok so we know each other then, Im Blake aka Fahrvegnugen from Creepers.

I also got out of crawling, sold off the YJ for a JK and am setting it up for road tripping and light back country trail duty.

Missing those Annes footlongs and shakes yet?

As for paint I like rustoleum. I did my CJ underside and frame with it. Just put it on thick with a brush and it seems to do right by me here in the salt

 

[DrMoab]

Why are you guys so worried about running 4:88s and 33s.

They work just fine with 33 inch tires. I put 4:56s in mine and really regret it. I wish I would have went with the 4:88s.

 

[BEVAN]

PAINT? really any suggestions on paints for rusty parts?

I always use the rustoleum gloss black spray can from wal-mart...they cost 3.97-I use gloss because mud and other grime does not seem to stick to it as easy as flat.

 

[wacker]

Why are you guys so worried about running 4:88s and 33s.

They work just fine with 33 inch tires. I put 4:56s in mine and really regret it. I wish I would have went with the 4:88s.

Do you have a 4 cylinder? I've driven with 35's and 4.88s and the 6 cyl. before and I barely need 1st gear. With 33's I'd probably be doing burnouts at each light.

I've always used flat paint before I was thinking of trying gloss.