Rock Krawler Control Arm Thread

[ljvsnyder]

That looks like a nice system.

[JeepLab]

That looks like a nice system.

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.

[WhiteRavenRR]

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:



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.


A new Monster Pro along with a standard Krawler Joint:


A little closer view of one of the arms:

[WhiteRavenRR]

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

[WhiteRavenRR]

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:


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




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:


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...