Radious arm rescue kit

[Rebel JK]

Got some time to get some work done this weekend.
Removed lower fronts and crossmember. Cut and ground down excess metal from stock brackets. Fitted new upper brackets and made relief cuts in crossmember to allow for added 1/4" bracket on each side. .
Welded up the relief cuts as well as a couple of small spots needing some love on the crossmember.

 

[Rebel JK]

Oh yeah, removed any trace of those pesky old radious arm brackets

 

[Rebel JK]

I think Eddie called it on this side effect on the radious arm setup. Cracked/broken factory weld on passenger upper control arm bracket.

 

[Rebel JK]

Got the lower arms on Thursday. With a little help from a floor jack and cheapo ratchet strap I was in business.

 

[pvanweelden]

:thumbup: nice work with the strap Wes!

Sent from my SM-N900V using WAYALIFE mobile app

 

[Rebel JK]

Thanks Paul. Hoping for a little break in the rain today to get the uppers on.

 

[Rebel JK]

Like pignajeep said above, the FK heims are no joke. These guys are legit.

 

[Rebel JK]

Made a little more progress today between the rain showers. Got the new upper adjustable arms set to ballpark length.
Needed a boost again with the strap and after using some anti seize on the bolts, had the driver side bolted up.

 

[Rebel JK]

For anyone interested, here is the old front radious arm setup that was on my jeep when I bought it.

The rescue kit will return the front 4 link design while keeping the long arm lower ca's and crossmember.

 

[Rebel JK]

Finished bolting up and round 1 on the torque run through. Couldn't resist taking it around the block and everything seemed fine, but as I kind of expected was squirrelly as hell. Got back and after the damn rain stopped again I referred to Eddies alignment/ caster check.

First I confirmed the driveway was a couple of degrees out of level.

Next, using a 2' framing square I set and held it on the upper ball joint to make it easier to see the protractor in front of the tire, was able to verify I had zero positive caster and now need to get to 4*. Was able to get closer than I thought I would on presetting the new arms.

 

[Rebel JK]

A few "after pics" of the new arms and brackets.

 

[piginajeep]

Looks good!

 

[Rebel JK]

Looks good!

Thanks and thanks again for the help on the front end of the project. It was a lot of fun and I learned a bit more (patience) along the way.

 

[naysjp]

Rebel JK did you ever get those rubber bushings that you needed. I sent that link to your phone when I was over there Saturday during the BBQ to see if you could get those Currie bushings?

 

[Rebel JK]

Havent got anything yet. Had my hands full getting everything back together to get back on the road and ready for the next run. Will be getting back to those soon.

 

[Rebel JK]

Didn't really know how many turns per degree to get what I needed so spent a few minutes putting together a jig to rotate axle with upper arms disconnected. Was able to adjust axle to desired degree caster and then rotate adjustable arms accordingly to match bracket holes. Figured out I needed 2-1/2 turns to gain 1 degree of change. Probably didn't save any time overall but always up for trying a new idea.