Rock Krawler control arm issue

wayoflife said:
Doesn't hurt anything but it is really loud when it lets go and everyone will let you know that something sounded bad :D
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im looking forard to the loud pop then! :cheesy:

bl17z90 said:
No offense Steve but I'm glad you saw this problem before I did and now I know how to address it.

Good luck buddy hope you get it all straightened out :thumb:



Eddie, this is what you are refering to correct?

http://www.quadratec.com/products/16156_0300.htm
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lol your welcome. i didnt see an answer on any other forum and there wasnt a thread on here yet about it so im glad to have found it and post it for eddie and others to help me answer.

yes that is the perch he is talking about
 
So I want to provide an update on the solution we came up with.

My man Steve at Brad Fab Industries in Media took both my stock lower arms and the new rock krawler arms and lined them up at the axel mounting spot. He then cut the rock crawler arm an re-welded the fixed joint back on making it to the exact length of 19 5/8" long. This fixed my issue of the track bar hitting the coil. I still need to get the spacer shims that rock krawler has to straighten my springs fully again but everything is good to go!

I will take a pic tomorrow




Sent from my iPhone
 
Would lifting too high without getting adjustable arms causethe sprigs to bow the opposite direction?


Sent from my phone?
 
bl17z90 said:
Would lifting too high without getting adjustable arms causethe sprigs to bow the opposite direction?


Sent from my phone?
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No. Your axle is designed to travel in an arc and the spring perches are aligned in a way to follow it. You will only see bowing issues IF you extend your lower control arms and/or set your rear pinion angle.
 
I would have complained to RK, now that you cut the control arms i'm sure you voided any warranty. I hope it all works out in the end. A lot of people around my area run RK and I've helped install their kits a couple times and haven't heard of this issue with their CA's. Maybe a bad batch where made?
 
jkbud said:
I would have complained to RK, now that you cut the control arms i'm sure you voided any warranty. I hope it all works out in the end. A lot of people around my area run RK and I've helped install their kits a couple times and haven't heard of this issue with their CA's. Maybe a bad batch where made?
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yea i prob did for the lower arms but it is what it is. the nice thing about these arms is that they are pretty beefy looking and look like they will take a beating. the bad part is that i had to mod them to accomplish what i wanted to acomplish.

i dont think its a bad batch at all sadly. my installer called RK and talked to them about it. he aid they design them to be 1" longer because of there Fenders they make. this way the axel is centered under the fender. i personally think it is stupid to do that. just make them stock length and let people extend them if they need to.

in the end i should have done more research like i normally do before i bought all of these arms. bad move on my part. but you live and learn and i hope these arms hold up for a long time now.
 
I run the RK 3.5 X- factor and haven't had a problem yet. The extra inch centers the axel nicely. I did have to trim the backside of my rear pinch seem instead of the usual front but that's to be expected. Did you relocate the swaybar like the instructions say? I managed to miss that note at midnight and a few Rum / Cokes in :)
 
BrowniesJK said:
I run the RK 3.5 X- factor and haven't had a problem yet. The extra inch centers the axel nicely. I did have to trim the backside of my rear pinch seem instead of the usual front but that's to be expected. Did you relocate the swaybar like the instructions say? I managed to miss that note at midnight and a few Rum / Cokes in :)
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yep i moved it back 1". my main issue was the trackbar was litterally sitting inbetween the coils. then after talking with eddie on here i figured mine as well make the rear lower factory length to fix the issue.
 
BrowniesJK said:
I run the RK 3.5 X- factor and haven't had a problem yet. The extra inch centers the axel nicely. I did have to trim the backside of my rear pinch seem instead of the usual front but that's to be expected. Did you relocate the swaybar like the instructions say? I managed to miss that note at midnight and a few Rum / Cokes in :)
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You have a 4-door and he has a 2-door. The 2-doors have a much shorter rear drive shaft and when setting the pinion angle, it sits a lot steeper. In other words, your axle will be rotated back a LOT more and that is a big part of what causes the springs to bow so much. Also, while your rear lower control arms should be lengthened to account for a lift, 1" longer is way more than is required to get your axle centered under the fenders and this is regardless if you have a 2-door or 4-door. At most, it should be only about 1/2" even for a 4" lift.
 
wayoflife said:
You have a 4-door and he has a 2-door. The 2-doors have a much shorter rear drive shaft and when setting the pinion angle, it sits a lot steeper. In other words, your axle will be rotated back a LOT more and that is a big part of what causes the springs to bow so much. Also, while your rear lower control arms should be lengthened to account for a lift, 1" longer is way more than is required to get your axle centered under the fenders and this is regardless if you have a 2-door or 4-door. At most, it should be only about 1/2" even for a 4" lift.
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I always questioned how these companies can say a lift is good for 2dr and 4dr applications. Glad you guys came up with a fix.
 
BrowniesJK said:
I always questioned how these companies can say a lift is good for 2dr and 4dr applications. Glad you guys came up with a fix.
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Well, in all fairness, most companies provide adjustable control arms that start at a stock length. This would give you the option to set it as needed so really, it would work just fine for a 2-door or 4-door.
 
Stevo, I have rear uppers only, I set the pinion angle straight to the transfer case. The coils are bowed like Eddie said, but there is no rubbing anywhere, I would sell those lowers if I was you before you modified them
 
jkmadness said:
Stevo, I have rear uppers only, I set the pinion angle straight to the transfer case. The coils are bowed like Eddie said, but there is no rubbing anywhere, I would sell those lowers if I was you before you modified them
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to late, already modified lol

my uppers are set and everything is good now :thumb:
 
Sorry to bring up an old thread but my wife bought me the RK 3.5 x factor kit for christmas and I'm having the same exact issue in the rear. No way am I about to cut these control arms and re weld them nor will I purchase adjustable spring perches. I feel that the $1800 kit I purchased from RK should work properly as is.

With that being said, what should I do? My rear coils look like bananas and the bottom of coil is way further back than the top, looks dangerous to me.
 
Stretch,
Did you install the geometry corrections wedges for the rear coils? I ask because they will make sure the coils only bend/curve in one direction (away from your track bar) instead of like a "S". Make sure your pinion angle is correct...should look like a straight line from your drive shaft into the rear differential - no bend.

I have the 3.5" X-Factor too with the drag link flip kit. The problems I've had were:
- The rear track bar rubbing when flexing on the rear passenger coil (the wedges didn't prevent that for me). I fixed it by fabricating a new upper mounting bracket for the rear track bar - essentially moves it back an inch.

- The rear track bar's relocation bracket (that you weld in) rubs on the driver's side rear shock when flexed. I've been working on this issue since I installed the lift. I use my grinder to remove the edge of the relocation bracket that rubs on the shock and then paint the bare metal. I thought I had removed enough metal a few months ago until I wheeled the Jeep today and I saw it had rubbed again. So I'll take some more metal off tomorrow and then I should be good.

-Matt
 
I have the wedges installed and properly with the thicker part towards the back. I honestly think the lower arms are WAAAAAAY too long as pointed out in this thread earlier. I almost went with the metalcloak lift instead of RK but opted for the RK because of the 20% off deal, now I'm not so sure my 20% savings was worth it. I'm hope I'm wrong and this pleases me once ironed out but right now I have a $45,000 jeep sitting on jack stands in my garage. NOT happy.

Was just looking through metalcloaks install instructions just out of curiousity to compare lenghts of their rear arms and the difference is huge compared to RK. I could careless about the rear axle moving 1" back as I already have trimmed my rock rails/pinch seams when I had a budge boost. I just want my springs to sit vertical with little to no bow in them and damn sure dont want an S like they are now. I swear this axle is 2" further back than it should be.
 
I personally installed my rk3.5 max travel and did not see the issues stated on my 2011JKU.

Am I correct that the issues are on the 2 door as stated earlier? If any issues are on the 4 door let me know if I can provide any measurements or pics/video.

That's gotta be frustrating.
 
I run the 3.5 mid arm X factor on my jkur and I installed it my self and haven't had any issues with it, if you need pics let me know
 
Did you guys use RK's lengths provided in the instruction manual? With those #'s my rear coils looked like an S. I shortened the upper and lower by 1" and its better but not perfect. If you guys can take a side shot of spring that would be great.
 
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