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Rough Country control arm drop brackets question

cjstefan

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Maryland
Hey guys, hope everyone's doing well out there. To begin I have a '98 SE 5 speed. Anyway, I'm in the process of putting a Rubicon Express 4.5 front/3.5 rear lift on. I used the drop brackets with factory control arms (my lift is the perfect height for that co.bo according to Rough Country) in place of long arms for ease of replacement parts on the road anywhere in the country. So the passenger side tire is about dead center in the wheel opening but the driver side is about an inch to an inch and a half closer to the front bumper cap/flare. The thing is, the wheelbase measures the same on both sides. Is this normal or what do you think is going on here?
 
That is strange that your wheelbase is correct, but the front seems off...1.5" is a lot to make up. How do your back tires look in the rear wells; same on both sides? Are you positive your front fenders/flares are in the same spot on either side; maybe your front bumper/fender is bent, but not super noticeable? I'd say you should try measuring off the back of the front wheel well instead of the front of it.

I don't have experience with the RC drop brackets, but I did have the RE drop brackets. I remember them being a pain to install, as nothing lined up cleanly. I can't see anything on them causing 1.5" off though...unless there is a bend somewhere or the alignment shims are extremely off, but then your wheelbase would be off between both sides.
 
I measured the wheelbase while I still had the factory rear wheels on but they were centered, yeah. I was thinking maybe the driver side bumper corner was pushed back but the bumper cap and flare line up perfectly. I'll definitely measure off the rear flares though as soon as I can get a second set of hands. I tried to go with the RE brackets but nobody had them in stock. I'm really trying to avoid adjustable control arms because then that defeats the purpose of keeping factory arms.
 
If you think everything is installed correctly and it's all complete, I would take it to the alignment shop. Their "thrust" angle measurements would tell you if somethings wrong.
 
The bumper cap or fender flare is not a fixed reference point to measure from. As you have already supposed, it could have been nudged out of place.

Measure on each side from a control arm bolt and/or the drop bracket bolt to a fixed point on the frame rail such as the bumper mount bolt hole or a sway bar bracket bolt head.
 
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You might also measure the distance from front to rear on the two diagonals. It's possible that even the rear axle is not square to the body.


David Bricker / SYR
 
On the tail of David's suggestion.....Another question....

Did you put an adjustable track bar on with the lift? Is it adjusted to have your front axle centered?
 
I measured from the rear shock mounting bolt hole to the corner of the original control arm frame bracket and the driver side was about a quarter inch further away. I put an Iron Rock track bar when I did the lift but my parking lot is on a slight incline so it might be off a turn or two. The factory rear wheels were almost dead center in the openings so I have to assume the axle was square with the body.
 
From the factory, the front axle is offset 10mm from square to allow for straight tracking on crowned roads. So the wheel base will not measure equal.

Page 826 of your official genuine Jeep Factory Service Manual shows all the frame dimensions.
 
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