Rock Krawler Control Arm Thread

This thread is in response to me getting a really good deal on a set of RK Control Arms (Upper & Lower) from Ross. Thanks again!

As these are used CAs I am in the process of disassembling and cleaning everything up to see what I truly have to work with. After trying everything in the book on how to break the jam nuts loose, my neighbor and I resorted to a BFH and a BFWrench! I also soaked them with penetrating oil to help. I did notice that one of the joints jam nut was not tightened all the way down against the arm and providing the necessary stretch to the threads. I'm not sure if this was due to RK removing them from Black Betty or not??

I finally got all the joints broke loose. Those things were on there tight! I then cleaned them up and it looks like a couple are ruined. Some have the innards hanging out. I will probably go through the process of replacing all the joints with RK's Monster Pros. I will start out with the LCAs since I already have 2 new replacements. I will buy the other 2 in the near future and will assemble them onto my Jeep.

As of right now I am taking the paint off the arms and repainting them. It's a long process since it's so hot and humid outside that I can only work in the mornings. I will have more time to work outside starting tomorrow as the kids head back to school. Right now I have one Rear Upper painted and another Front Upper taken down to bare metal. I will start on the Lowers tomorrow morning.

When I ordered a RK T-shirt, I was lucky enough to receive a complete set of new Control Arm Decals for the Lowers.

As I started removing the original paint I did notice that all the CAs are stamped on the end with serial numbers that match to each pair. This is excellent quality control on Rock Krawlers part.

Most likely when I get the 2 new Monster Pro Joints in I will most likely have them installed by an Offroad shop in OKC. That way they can do the work and align everything at once. I will need to find out how much that will run. I met a guy (local Jeep club) a couple weeks ago that has a brand new 2014 and has used the shop to completely redo everything from suspension to driveline on his Jeep. They came highly recommended.

I'm still going at this slowly so I don't get something screwed up. Also, I can't post pics from my phone so I will update with pics when I get my wifi back up and running.

I have also researched and I can take these Arms up to the 3.5 X Factor with the swapping of my current springs and adding a front trackbar bracket and a new rear trackbar. I also need to pick up the rear spring correction wedges when this happens. Something I'm thinking of doing so I can run up to 37/38" tires.

Stay tuned

Pics Man! for the love of god PICS!

This is interesting. So you are rebuilding control arms?

Well I'm trying to clean up some used ones. I cannot get the actual joints apart. They use a special wrench or spanner to take the main assembly apart and I do not have that.

So if these came of Black Betty, what is BB running now? Did RK make improvements to the control arms?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WhiteRavenRR

This thread is in response to me getting a really good deal on a set of RK Control Arms (Upper & Lower) from Ross. Thanks again!

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That "Good Deal" was free. (LOL) The shipping for 100lbs of control arms however was not. (Gasp!)

They were the upper and lower control arms from Black Betty's 2.5 X-Factor Lift. 8 arms total. And they are from the summer of '12 so they are barely 2 years old, wheeled, moderately.

As far as why we took them out, RK had worked up their 3 link long arm system, and Betty wears that now. 3 Link front, 3 Link Rear. super twisty.

Attachment 997

The UPS man was not a happy camper when he brought the box to the door. Judging by the RK website, it looks like they have started using their Monster Pro Joints on all their arms.

That looks like a nice system.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ljvsnyder

That looks like a nice system.

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the 3 link is a little floatier on the road than the 5 link X-Factor. The 5 link I remember being more nailed down in the turns.

Off road the 3 link long arm is a new level.

OK, here are the control arms that were sent from Ross and a couple of close ups of some of the joints along with a Monster Pro joint that is brand new:

Attachment 1028

This shows a joint that has the innards hanging out. I contacted RK and they said that the joint is still good as long as the joint, as a unit, doesn't just flop around.
Attachment 1029

A new Monster Pro along with a standard Krawler Joint:
Attachment 1030

A little closer view of one of the arms:
Attachment 1031

I started by removing all the Krawler joints and the flex joint bushings. I used a 5/8" socket to push out the center sleeve.:
Attachment 1032

Attachment 1033

Once the sleeve is out, there are two bushings that need to come out from each side:
Attachment 1034

Attachment 1035

I also used a parts cleaner with a very mild cleaning agent to clean all the grease and crud that were on the Krawler joints themselves.:
Attachment 1037

At this point I had a decision to make. I thought about taking the control arms to get new powder coating, bedline the arms, or just paint them. I decided on just painting them with some self-etching primer, satin black, and then a gloss clear coat. That way, when they get scratched I can just touch them up. The bed lined option would have been nice but I received a new full set of control arm decals from Rock Krawler that wouldn't stick very well to the rough surface of bed liner.

I broke out the ol' sander and took the arms completely back to bare metal:
Attachment 1038

I then cleaned and then sprayed the self-etching primer:
Attachment 1039

Attachment 1040

I then sprayed a nice satin black, followed by a good clear coat. The final pic so far is of a finished front lower (top) against another lower that has yet to be redone. Also attached is the Monster Pro joint:
Attachment 1041

I sprayed each coat of paint several layers thick to give a nice heavy-duty coating of paint. As of right now, I have 4 arms completely done, 3 that have been primed, and one that hasn't been sanded.

I called a local off-road shop to see what they charge to install these as they may be more than what I want to get into. They quoted me $425 for the install, not including alignment. I would have to go elsewhere for that.

I then read through RK's instruction manual to see what all was involved in the installation and I may just do it myself. I can think of $425 on other products I would like to have.

Stay tuned...