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The Budget Bucket's build

SORRY for all the posting going on I'm on brake from class so might as well ask my question now.

* i am going to install miniskids, should have already done it but oh well, heres some pics of my lower control arm mounts, will i be able to hammer these down, weld on the skids, and still be able to align the front end properly? if not should i get new mounts?*









 
My lowers weren't quite as bad as yours and I had a lotta trouble trying to bang them straight. I just welded on what I could and called it good enough lol banged on them a couple times in Reno and held up just fine

I'm really jelly of the led bar btw
 
a7y7aja5.jpg

I wonder if I'll be able to get mine on when I get them. Haha. I'll probably be redoing all the mounts on this 30 when I put it in my wife's rig.
 
Haha. Mine look about that bad too. I'm just planning on putting new mounts on and rotating them to get more clearance and a "built in" mini skid.
 
Ha awesome! And that sounds pretty sweet man. I'll have to pick your brain w that. Send me a message again. I lost ur number about that 242 shift plate. Gotta mail it to ya
 
alright so to continue with the lower control arms.


I'm running stock uppers so i don't have to worry about that, but my lowers arms are just causing me a headache. a while ago i put in the 4.5 lift arms from kevin shown in some pics back a few pages. the problem is that they keep loosening up. so i have a clunk in the front from the lca's (both at the frame rail and the axle mounting) when i reverse then forward or go over big bumps in the road, and offloading is just terrible....clunks all the time. so one its bad for my mounts, lca bushings, and my driveshaft/transfercase.

so i got under neath and took off the bolts after hammering the mounts back down away from the bolts, and put blue lock tight a lot on the bolts. then i tightened them back up pretty good. ran the con and no problems. drove home no problems. then a week later it starts to clunk again, now not as bad as the first but still badly.

so my question is do i need to torque them down correctly? specs that i have found are

"Upper front 55 ft. lbs. Upper rear 66 ft. lbs.
Lower front and rear 85 ft. lbs.
These specs are for a 2000"

are these correct? also if these are ill tighten em down, but if it happens again what do you guys suggest i do?



ALSO
coming in the next month or two are the laberon hood vents i bought, and then doorless xj time. hopefully by the time of end of august i will start my rocker replacement and stiffeners.
 
Wait, tightening the mounting bolts temporarily cures the clunk? Says to me that something is wrong with the hardware. Quite possibly the torque.
I'd put a torque wrench on all of it, at those specs you listed (they are correct) and see from there. You shouldn't need blue loctite if they are torqued correctly.
Also possible, the mounts themselves are ovaled out. I've never heard of it in an LCA mount but it could happen. Especially if they've been clunking...
 
Re: Re: The Budget Bucket's build

yossarian19 said:
Wait, tightening the mounting bolts temporarily cures the clunk? Says to me that something is wrong with the hardware. Quite possibly the torque.
I'd put a torque wrench on all of it, at those specs you listed (they are correct) and see from there. You shouldn't need blue loctite if they are torqued correctly.
Also possible, the mounts themselves are ovaled out. I've never heard of it in an LCA mount but it could happen. Especially if they've been clunking...
Click to expand...


OK thank you. Always try to make sure my numbers are right. I don't have a chiltens Manuel yet so I don't fully trust Google. And I will when I get home to one.

And it being ovaled out is what I'm worried about. The way my suspension is set up it has put the front axle in a weird angle. Need to figure out those right LCA lengths.

Thanks man
 
You ALWAYS need to tighten/torque suspension items with the full weight of the vehicle on the ground. As far as control arms, leaf springs, etc. I just tighten them snug-ish. If you have not already, since your LCA mounts are fubar'd, basically, I recommend cutting them and replacing them. Poly performance has the least expensive ones I have seen. Our heeps use the 5 degree mounts. So left and right are different. I had one of my local offroad shop guys weld mine, as do not have access to a welder. The PP LCA mounts are solid and bent to shape. The shop that I had do them they installed them "upside down" which gives them built in skids. Other parts will break before these do.
 
alright. can i replace the ones on the "frame rail"? cause i think i can just replace the axle with a new one I'm getting. and if i replace the frame mounts i will get new lca's.

and good to know that there are specific sides. might be where i went wrong in installing the lca's themselves.
 
Unless you really fubar'd something, the frame side mounts should be fine. If you do a front axle swap and the stock LCA mounts are good, get some skids welded on to keep them good. Otherwise go aftermarket.

The LCA's are "straight" the reason that the axle side LCA mounts are angled, is because the arms are mounted slightly inward from the factory for clearance. `LCA's with bends would clearly be meant to be mounted inward for more clearance.
 
Last edited:
Just weld some washers over the wallowed out holes
 
Ooohhhh OK cool. Thank you. That's why I posted up is ta learn all this. Hopefully the mounts are good.

And thanks john that's not a bad idea, gonna try to fix it first.

And I crawled under it before my dad narrowed it and the bushing that are in the lca's on frame side are pretty chewn up. So I'm wondering if I used the wrong bushings and that could have affected it.
 
you'll need good bushings and non wallowed out holes.
 
Once you pull the bolts you'll know right away if they are wallowed out or fine.
 
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