Rock Krawler rear suspension 1" "Stretch"

[CrazyLarry]

Also does anyone have a good starting length for me to set the Currie upper arms with factory lower and 3.5" RK coils?
Just so I'm not taking a shot in the dark first try

and advice on what I should replace my chewed away factory bump stop with?

Glad you like the arms. Everyone has their own way of installing and aligning their arms. I just did mine and it came out pretty good so I'll just tell you what worked for me

Step one with all wheels on the ground install both rear lowers one at a time. Don't tighten just get the bolts through

Step two remove both rear uppers

Step three put a floor jack under your pinion and jack your pinion up to where you want it. I set mine 1.5 degrees lower than my driveshaft. Remember the driveshaft tilts up slightly on acceleration

Step four measure the distance from the center of the mounting holes on your upper control arm mounts and set your uppers that length.

Step five install your uppers. You may have to shorten or lengthen them to get them to line up to the holes exactly. It is very important that they are set the same length.

Step six torque to spec

Step seven return your sway bar to its factory location

As for your coils touching your trackbar you may or may not have that problem with your stock lowers installed but if you do try rotating your springs. I moved my axle back 1/2 and it rubbed slightly on the trackbar but after rotating my spring they no longer rub. You have my number in the email if you need anything else

 

[desertrunner]

Got all the old stuff out got my sway bar moved to original got the factory lowers in and I'm about to measure for the Currie uppers. How does my angle look on the drive shaft?

 

[desertrunner]

Also question on the Currie uppers do they bend to the outside? and I'm assuming adjustable end goes on the axle?

 

[desertrunner]

Am I wrong in trying to set my drive shaft angle with the tires off and it all up on Jack stands or does it need to be under vehicle weight to set that?

 

[JKbrick]

Adjustable end on axle, I would think you would want it at ride height to set the angle

 

[desertrunner]

yup just googled it im gonna have to put it under vehicle weight to set the angle. looks like i just found my stopping point for the night. :beer:

 

[CrazyLarry]

Also question on the Currie uppers do they bend to the outside? and I'm assuming adjustable end goes on the axle?

Bend in towards the frame with the adjustable end on the axle you want the Zerk facing down. Put the tires back on with the weight of the vehicle to get a true axle position

 

[desertrunner]

Ok went out of town for the weekend but I'm back at it so got it under vehicle weight with just the lowers in and rotated the pinion to look like this. Look about right?

 

[olram30]

Here's a picture of my pinion angle. Not sure if it's if any help.

 

[desertrunner]

Mine is a little harder to see due to that skid plate. I tried to angle it slightly down to account for that little up torque when you accelerate. I don't really think it is going to matter much as long as it isn't way off. Gonna measure out and put my uppers in after work

 

[desertrunner]

Definitely a noticeable difference in the location of the tires in the wheel well

Before



After

 

[desertrunner]

Quick question should the brake lines be on the outside of the sway bar or inside??

 

[olram30]

I could see them getting hung up on the bolts, Frank has a write up on moving them and some zip tie them to their links like this. (Photo cred to jags)

 

[desertrunner]

Welp I'm almost finished I got all the arms in and adjusted I already posted the pic of the wheel shifted forward, here is a pic of the way the coils and track bar mount sit now. I haven't done the bump stops yet just because I'm going to 're measure when I get new tires and figure out exactly where I want them.

I opted to keep the coil pucks under there to help with the bowing per crazy larys advice and they look pretty straight to me with plenty of room to clear the track bar



The track bar mount next to the shock doesn't look too much different than before but maybe a little more room. I haven't flexed the suspension yet so I might just still grind off the corner



Moving the sway bar back to original position didn't seem to change anything other than there are new bolts in there after I sheared 2 off.

So we will see how this set up works and if I like it better than the RK kit. I already like the way the coils look. Also the polyurethane bushings on my rear arms were just as bad as the ones on my front suspension



And finally my pinion angle as it sits right now

 

[olram30]

Definitely a noticeable difference in the location of the tires in the wheel well

Before

View attachment 135711

After

View attachment 135712

You have to remember this it's standing still, at full bump the tire will sit perfect in your wheel well.
Rear track bar bracket is a horrible design by rk, and yeah, those bushings look like toast.

 

[desertrunner]

Yeah exactly since it moves on an ark so it should tuck in there nicely and finally not eat away my tires on my rear bumper. I just need to figure out a way to flex my suspension out and get my number stops figured out front and rear then should be good to go.... For now

Yeah not sure what to do with the RK arms now guess clean them up and try to sell them but who would want to buy them if they have caused all these problems for ppl? Maybe some set ups make it work?

 

[flomingo]

I'm running into these same issues myself right now. Wish this thread existed a year ago! I'm going to ditch all my RK CAs, go all factory arms for now since I am running the factory rear DS, and reinstall my AEV geometry correction brackets until I can decide which adjustable front LCAs to go with.

I wish I'd know the rear RK trackbar bracket sucked before I had it welded on!!! Luckily I went Synergy (high steer/raised trackbar bracket) in the front!

What kind of issues can I expect with the rear trackbar bracket?

 

[desertrunner]

I'm running into these same issues myself right now. Wish this thread existed a year ago! I'm going to ditch all my RK CAs, go all factory arms for now since I am running the factory rear DS, and reinstall my AEV geometry correction brackets until I can decide which adjustable front LCAs to go with.

I wish I'd know the rear RK trackbar bracket sucked before I had it welded on!!! Luckily I went Synergy (high steer/raised trackbar bracket) in the front!

What kind of issues can I expect with the rear trackbar bracket?

Some people have talked about it failing but I had mine welded on and after 2 and a half years of a DD and some pretty good wheeling it's held up fine

 

[CrazyLarry]

Welp I'm almost finished I got all the arms in and adjusted I already posted the pic of the wheel shifted forward, here is a pic of the way the coils and track bar mount sit now. I haven't done the bump stops yet just because I'm going to 're measure when I get new tires and figure out exactly where I want them.

I opted to keep the coil pucks under there to help with the bowing per crazy larys advice and they look pretty straight to me with plenty of room to clear the track bar

View attachment 135851

The track bar mount next to the shock doesn't look too much different than before but maybe a little more room. I haven't flexed the suspension yet so I might just still grind off the corner

View attachment 135852

Moving the sway bar back to original position didn't seem to change anything other than there are new bolts in there after I sheared 2 off.

So we will see how this set up works and if I like it better than the RK kit. I already like the way the coils look. Also the polyurethane bushings on my rear arms were just as bad as the ones on my front suspension

View attachment 135853

And finally my pinion angle as it sits right now

View attachment 135854

Everything looks good. May want to take an angle finder to your driveshaft and your yoke to see what the difference is. If you dont have one download the angle pro app. Also, make sure your frameside tracbar bolt wont hit your bumpstops when you get them installed. I fiexed this by putting the bolt through the backside of the bracket

 

[jkwebbie]

Well after reading into this thread, I really don't want to get the 2.5 X Factor kit now...