Stock LCAs to Mopar Extended LCAs - Caster Change

[wcberry]

I changed out he front stock LCAs to the Mopar Performance Extended LCAs. Not to hard, other than the damn torque when putting the bolts back in. I got an alignment afterwards to compare with an alignment from a few months back. Looks to add 1° of Caster, to 5.5°. It did reduce steering wander. I run BFG KO2, 12.5x35s on Jeep 392 wheels and all suspension is stock. except for aPerformance Series 2.0 Through Shaft Steering Stabilizer. Although the wander wasn't that bad, the longer LCAs did make a difference.

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[Louie4]

I am about to pull the trigger on this. I think it will be worthwhile given the relatively low cost of the arms. I recently replaced my shocks and my front tires have the every other lug wear pattern. Probably from worn shocks and alignment issues.

My wife complains it’s not “tight” in the steering. May have some merit. But she drives a Mercedes.

*Edit: Trigger pulled

 

[D_JT]

Yup. I installed a set on my wife's stock JL rubicon on 35's last weekend. I bought a set for my Gladiator as well to accommodate the 1.5" clayton springs I installed.. They should be delivered today. For less then $100 shipped, its a no brainer if you are staying stock or close to stock. I do like the bushing design on the MOPAR 2" lower control arms They resemble more of a "flex" joint you would find on Clayton's overland series.

 

[jmr]

I've done this on my old 22 Willys 2 door and it reduced the wander allot. I also installed them on my 24 JLUR and it helped but the wander wasn't that bad to start with. I installed them with it sitting on the tires at full left or right depending on the side I was replacing. The 22 Willys was easy to line up the new lca but the 24 JLUR the passenger side was a pain to get the lca to line up. Did you have any bolt line up issues like that with your JT?

 

[Splenda]

Help me to understand why someone would buy the Mopar control arms instead of buying a decent set of adjustable control arms. Quality adjustable control arms have better ends and are much stronger and can be adjusted to any length, also allowing you to lift the vehicle more later. My ride improved tremendously when I went from the stock control arms to the Core 4x4 Crawl control arms. The Johnny Joints really stiffened things up and got rid of the stock bounciness that the suspension had.

 

[Louie4]

Mine is just a DD to take my kids to school and tow my travel trailer. Maybe light trail riding. I have a ‘93 YJ I use for wheelin’.

It’s cheaper and takes less time to replace. That’s my reasoning.

 

[jmr]

I'm not rock crawling looking for max flex. Just going for a inexpensive improved factory option that enhances drivability.

 

[D_JT]

Help me to understand why someone would buy the Mopar control arms instead of buying a decent set of adjustable control arms. Quality adjustable control arms have better ends and are much stronger and can be adjusted to any length, also allowing you to lift the vehicle more later. My ride improved tremendously when I went from the stock control arms to the Core 4x4 Crawl control arms. The Johnny Joints really stiffened things up and got rid of the stock bounciness that the suspension had.

Cheap. Thats why. $87 shipped to my door for both arms and they are plenty effective. I did have the same thought as you. I was going to buy a set of Claytons cheaper arms, which are $400 for just the lower front. My Gladiator is a daily/family wagon with mild wheeling and tow vehicle. I have a long arm TJ locked front and rear on bead locks. Thats for wheeling. One day the Gladiator will get a nicer set of control arms. Or if these longer mopar arms dont fix my issue, then I'll pull the trigger on the Clayton arms.

 

[InvertedLogic]

Help me to understand why someone would buy the Mopar control arms instead of buying a decent set of adjustable control arms. Quality adjustable control arms have better ends and are much stronger and can be adjusted to any length, also allowing you to lift the vehicle more later. My ride improved tremendously when I went from the stock control arms to the Core 4x4 Crawl control arms. The Johnny Joints really stiffened things up and got rid of the stock bounciness that the suspension had.

Cheap and OEM quality. Stock ride height and don't do any wild rock crawling, these arms will work just fine and do not require any maintenance or custom alignment to get the lengths right.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Help me to understand why someone would buy the Mopar control arms instead of buying a decent set of adjustable control arms. Quality adjustable control arms have better ends and are much stronger and can be adjusted to any length, also allowing you to lift the vehicle more later. My ride improved tremendously when I went from the stock control arms to the Core 4x4 Crawl control arms. The Johnny Joints really stiffened things up and got rid of the stock bounciness that the suspension had.

Easy - mine is a truck, a daily driver and I won't have any interest in lifting my Mojave X. That would ruin it as a plow vehicle and I have zero reason. I can save a lot of money by installing the MOPAR arms. I've done that on two of my JTs and likely will do that on my 25 as well.

Why should I spend a lot more money - it won't do a thing for me.

It's not a hard-core crawler and it's not a show truck. I build it to suite my needs, not the needs of others.

 

[wcberry]

Help me to understand why someone would buy the Mopar control arms instead of buying a decent set of adjustable control arms. Quality adjustable control arms have better ends and are much stronger and can be adjusted to any length, also allowing you to lift the vehicle more later. My ride improved tremendously when I went from the stock control arms to the Core 4x4 Crawl control arms. The Johnny Joints really stiffened things up and got rid of the stock bounciness that the suspension had.

One word, Cost. A daily driver with out hard off road wheeling does not need LCAs that cost in the hundreds. The OEM LCAs cure the problem I was seeing for under $100. Seems like a no brainer.

 

[culdbbi]

Help me to understand why someone would buy the Mopar control arms instead of buying a decent set of adjustable control arms. Quality adjustable control arms have better ends and are much stronger and can be adjusted to any length, also allowing you to lift the vehicle more later. My ride improved tremendously when I went from the stock control arms to the Core 4x4 Crawl control arms. The Johnny Joints really stiffened things up and got rid of the stock bounciness that the suspension had.

Help me to understand why someone would buy the Mopar control arms instead of buying a decent set of adjustable control arms. Quality adjustable control arms have better ends and are much stronger and can be adjusted to any length, also allowing you to lift the vehicle more later. My ride improved tremendously when I went from the stock control arms to the Core 4x4 Crawl control arms. The Johnny Joints really stiffened things up and got rid of the stock bounciness that the suspension had.

Cuz they're like 4 or 5 times the price as a couple of lower control arms, and not everyone wants to go taller.

 

[culdbbi]

I am about to pull the trigger on this. I think it will be worthwhile given the relatively low cost of the arms. I recently replaced my shocks and my front tires have the every other lug wear pattern. Probably from worn shocks and alignment issues.

My wife complains it’s not “tight” in the steering. May have some merit. But she drives a Mercedes.

*Edit: Trigger pulled

I had the same wear pattern and it was the alignment. I thought it was the shocks at first, so I changed those out, but once the wear patterns in the tire it won't come out. In fact I had one tire wear bald while the others probably had another 15k+ miles left on them before they were iffy.

Got new to me stock tires plus an alignment and I feel like the truck will roll forever, so smooth.

 

[Splenda]

I had the same wear pattern and it was the alignment. I thought it was the shocks at first, so I changed those out, but once the wear patterns in the tire it won't come out. In fact I had one tire wear bald while the others probably had another 15k+ miles left on them before they were iffy.

Got new to me stock tires plus an alignment and I feel like the truck will roll forever, so smooth.

I've been wondering how much difference an alignment on a Jeep can really make. I got my Jeep in September 2024. I immediately installed a 3.5" lift with all 8 control arms, then I mounted my own 37" tires on beadlock wheels and installed those. I haven't had an alignment, even though I was thinking about getting one. I have rotated my tires twice, once at 3000 miles and again at 6000 miles. I'm at 8000 miles now, and I plan to rotate them again at 9000 miles. I'm doing 5-tire rotations, and I see no discernable difference between the tires. At what mileage should I start to see wear? They're Toyo Open County M/Ts.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I've been wondering how much difference an alignment on a Jeep can really make. I got my Jeep in September 2024. I immediately installed a 3.5" lift with all 8 control arms, then I mounted my own 37" tires on beadlock wheels and installed those. I haven't had an alignment, even though I was thinking about getting one. I have rotated my tires twice, once at 3000 miles and again at 6000 miles. I'm at 8000 miles now, and I plan to rotate them again at 9000 miles. I'm doing 5-tire rotations, and I see no discernable difference between the tires. At what mileage should I start to see wear? They're Toyo Open County M/Ts.

A lift won't change anything but caster. And with adjustable or other control arms, you can set that where it belongs (for your Jeep)
Caster isn't a tire wear angle unless in extremes and coupled with other issues.
A lift doesn't change camber at all.
It doesn't change toe - only steering wheel centering.

So, if you have caster set where it's good, that's about it.
There's nothing to align unless you change tie rods or somehow otherwise affect the toe setting.
Toe being off will cause feathering across the face of the tire.
Shocks can cause wear, under-inflation will cause odd sawtooth patterns generally on the outer treads.

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