Bushings or "Johnny Joints"?

[Mike]

Well ProCrap wants almost as much for bushings as Currie and Ballistic sell their specialized joints for. I am thinking about refitting the front upper control arms with Johnny Joints or similar.

I know Mike (mkjeepers) said on another thread that he didn't have good luck with them, but I know many of you use these types of joints. What's the good, bad, and ugly on these?

[RAT]

Well ProCrap wants almost as much for bushings as Currie and Ballistic sell their specialized joints for. I am thinking about refitting the front upper control arms with Johnny Joints or similar.

I know Mike (mkjeepers) said on another thread that he didn't have good luck with them, but I know many of you use these types of joints. What's the good, bad, and ugly on these?

I haven't seen the front (axle) ends of the control arms on Mr Green but if they are similar to the back (skid plate) ones it might be an adventure converting to JJs. But that's what we're all about right? Adventure? I'm wondering if Heim joints might be easier.
A HOLE FAB is here for ya buddy!

[JK08]

I haven't seen the front (axle) ends of the control arms on Mr Green but if they are similar to the back (skid plate) ones it might be an adventure converting to JJs. But that's what we're all about right? Adventure? I'm wondering if Heim joints might be easier.

x2 I was gonna Suggest Heim as well.

[mkjeepers]

I know Mike (mkjeepers) said on another thread that he didn't have good luck with them, but I know many of you use these types of joints. What's the good, bad, and ugly on these?

The Currie JJ's are a very strong and long lasting joint. I have the Currie adj track bar that has been remarkably long lasting and shows no sign of needing replaced even after nearly 10 years of hard use, but it recieves grease.

I didn't have any failure issues with the arms, I just had to pull them off and dissemble them to grease. They squeeked like a 62 Impala and drove me crazy LOL......I had them on my Cherokee 8 years ago, they may have improved them by now.

My Cherokee had open dif's at that time and It "seemed" to me that when I installed them my articulation was limited some and getting a lot of wheel spin etc. - and it "seemed" to be better when I changed them.....but a lot of people use them.

I like the Teraflex/JKS style one's a lot - they don't have any binding point at all....just my preferance....BTW they have been on my TJ for nearly 10 years w/o any issues......well,.. the TeraFlex have to have the neoprene bushings replaced every few years, but the JKS use the OEM rubber bushings.

I have to say I don't have the JKS units, but they are the same design, and JKS makes a good product.

Link to the arms
http://www.quadratec.com/Assets/Imag...4/40094-lg.jpg

http://www.jksmfg.com/default.htm

Note: they shorten or lengthen by screwing them one way or the other. Just my 5 cents.

[aw12345]

on the rh side you can whittle the hole out a bit and weld the 2" barrel style JJ right into the control arm
On the left they use a 2" barrel style JJ that is machined down a bit so it fits in the ear on the diff housing
Or you can buy the fancy kit from Currie. I would try to just buy the machined down JJ/ barrel and a stock 2" jj for the rh side.
My yeller put put has had JJ's upper lower and on the axle housing for years, hardly ever lube them, they hold up great and give the little beastie decent flex. By the way the Ballistic joints are not anywhere near the quality of the Currie JJ's

Here is a link to the fancy kit

http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...t.aspx?id=1277

Here is a link to a 2" barrel style JJ. I welded one of those on ole purple barney then assembled the joint after welding in the barrel

http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...t.aspx?id=1167

[HookandLadder]

When I modified my RE arms, I changed all the ends to johnny joints except for the lower arms where they mount to the front axle. For those joints have a rubber bushing set up. From what was descirbed to me is you want something to absorb highway speed vibrations/impacts and have flexablity to articulate on the trail

The links Art posted are what I have done to my joint ends

[Mike]

Good comments! I'm not so sure about heim joints. All the ones that I am aware of require the joint to be inserted into a threaded section. I don't think that these upper control arms are a thick enough walled to work well. The arms look like this:



I'm leaning towards the type of JJ that Art shows here:
http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...t.aspx?id=1167

I think that I can cut off the loop at the end and weld on the barrel of the joint in it's place. It would replace this piece:


Since ProCrap wants $33 for each bushing, it seems to me that if the JJs have a long life, I am going to save some cash with the investment. I tend to go through the ProCrap bearings about every 2 or 3 years.

[inVERt'D]

Bushings suck

I like the Teraflex/JKS style one's a lot - they don't have any binding point at all....

That's been my experience. Who needs control arms binding up and limiting flex? That's what fenders are for.

TeraFlex have to have the neoprene bushings replaced every few years

You know that little ol' lady from Pasadena? She had to get the neoprene bushings replaced at least twice a year.

I was lucky if the poly bushings lasted a few months, and I greased the crap out of them (literally). I tried marine grease, synthetic, moly-lithium. Admittedly, I wasn't gentle on them.

By the way the Ballistic joints are not anywhere near the quality of the Currie JJ's

Are you talking about the bushings, or overall? If overall, please elaborate. FWIW, Ballistic just changed over from "Nylatron" to polyurethane.

[aw12345]

The cheap ones they sold were outright junk. Their better ones the chrome on the spherical part flakes. They do not hold up as well as Currie joints, those are simple, work well cheap to repair if need be and very durable.
Have worked them hard in both my Jeeps with very good results the yellow one has had Currie joints for 5 years now with any hassles or excessive wear. had 1 pair of Terraflex arms on it in the beginning bushings didn't last 6 months and were more expensive than the Currie inserts

[aw12345]

Good comments! I'm not so sure about heim joints. All the ones that I am aware of require the joint to be inserted into a threaded section. I don't think that these upper control arms are a thick enough walled to work well. The arms look like this:



I'm leaning towards the type of JJ that Art shows here:
http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...t.aspx?id=1167

I think that I can cut off the loop at the end and weld on the barrel of the joint in it's place. It would replace this piece:


Since ProCrap wants $33 for each bushing, it seems to me that if the JJs have a long life, I am going to save some cash with the investment. I tend to go through the ProCrap bearings about every 2 or 3 years.

They have that style JJ also, don't know it the thread size is the same, they would probably cost more though

http://www.currieenterprises.com/ces...t.aspx?id=3754

[curtis]

Mike this is what I used to fix the bushing on my RE lift 5 years ago and they still work great.

http://www.4wd.com/Fabrication-Tools...=R%2fERE3791-1

[ECV Jeep]

Mike...I left you a voice message. I have a solution you should consider. We have been using this set-up on RE kits for some time with great results. We can post the info on the board once I can confirm pricing and availability.

[dirtman13]

I have had good luck with the Ballistics with the Nylatron GS races.

Plus this is in the description.

Designed to be a drop-in replacement for upper control arms on TJ / XJ jeeps using the 1/2" bore.

http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/...nt_p_1722.html

[Mike]

So what you folks think about these joints?:
http://www.metalcloak.com/2-OD-x-2-W...ing-p/7302.htm

Looks like the options are all about $40 per joint. This one looks like it might be a better ride.

[aw12345]

Seen those, look cool, don't think they will hold up as well or as long as some good JJ's my money is on JJ's at both ends of the upper control arms. Takes a bit of work, but is well worth the effort to give the axle the freedom to move where it needs and wants to go to follow the terrain. Your lift uses short upper arms right? That means they need all the travel they can get, to keep up with the lower long control arms.