Lower Control Arms Comparison?

[DuneCruiser21]

Does anyone have an opinion on the AllPro vs Man-a-Fre (or other) lower control arms? Even Man-a-Fre offers two different models -- the newer one is called the 4+Plus and it's only $80 more per pair than the older one, but I'm not techie enough to see the difference (and their website, all due respect, has more marketing hyperbole than useful info. on why choose one vs. the other).

Interested to hear what others think based on their experience with replacement lower control arms?

Thanks.

 

[1911]

Any of them are way better than stock. I went with Icons myself. The only downside (to Icon) is the price.

 

[dukeofny]

Man-a-Fre, All Pro and Icon are some really good options. As '1911' said, anything is better than stock. I doubt that you're going to find anyone telling you about their aftermarket lower control arms that broke. But they'll be plenty telling you about how, after their first offroad trip, they could use their stock control arms for boomerangs. On the first rock strike they're done.

If you go to the Icon, AllPro or Man-a-Fre websites they tell you the material composition of the arms. They're all tough as nails. If cost is a consideration, I know that AllPro has theirs on sale right now. Specification wise, the AllPro's are in line with the Man-a-Fre arms.

Personally I went with the AllPro lower control arms. Maybe it was personal preference, but to me what was important was that they use Johnny Joints. Besides this, they are specifically mentioned as compatible with the TLC trailing arm skid plates (which I highly recommend as well). I didn't do the research to know whether these skids are compatible with other links, but I would have to guess that they may be.

I have nothing against Man-a-Fre or Icon. Both are excellent products. My choice was just a personal preference.

If you have questions about Man-a-Fre, just give them a call (ask for Steve). Not everything they have is listed on their website.

 

[SHAKE35]

hey guys right now i have no lift and want to put on 3'' ome lift the guy at the offroad shop tellin me i have to change the uca's is this true im goin to stay stock rim with bfgoodrich km-2 285/70r/17 any info would be awesome thankx

 

[joebob2586]

It is a good idea to change the ucas, that way you dont have to worry about spacers...you can also look into total chaos for uca's

 

[dukeofny]

hey guys right now i have no lift and want to put on 3'' ome lift the guy at the offroad shop tellin me i have to change the uca's is this true im goin to stay stock rim with bfgoodrich km-2 285/70r/17 any info would be awesome thankx

That's a lot going on here to be able to answer that question. Besides added spacing, UCA's give you other benefits such as caster and camber. And that, is a very indepth conversation.

Look...I have 33 x 12.5's on 9 inch rims, with a 3" OME. Besides the body mount chop (which you may not need with 285's), there is no need to change out the UCA's. I see a lot of guys changing them out with bigger lifts or coilover's, and that's mainly because they seem to have a lot of problems with alignment issues. I have not yet encountered any alignment problems.

I was once told by an offroad shop that if I wanted bigger tires that I would need a lift, new rims, and it would cost around $3K. All of that was false. It's best to bounce around, what you are told by a shop.

 

[Niner]

hey guys right now i have no lift and want to put on 3'' ome lift the guy at the offroad shop tellin me i have to change the uca's is this true im goin to stay stock rim with bfgoodrich km-2 285/70r/17 any info would be awesome thankx

I have that exact setup and have had no problems with tire rub or alignment.

 

[REKCUT]

Checkout Red line Motorsports. I think they have a link in the vendor section. I saw there new control arms at Flat Nasty and they are huge. Great guys and there fj55 is incredible.

redline motor sports

 

[NCFJ]

I built my own LCAs Johhny Joints on the frame end, urethane bushings on the axle end with 1.5" .250 wall DOM tubing. WOrking well so far.

 

[NE07FJC]

I decided to buy a set of the AllPro arms that were on sale (as mentioned above).

 

[karpi7171]

I took mine off, cut the ends off, cut a 2"x2"x3/16 piece of tube, welded the ends on, undercoated the reinstalled and never have to worry again,,,,,,,

 

[karpi7171]

oh and by the way it only cost me $36

 

[Tools R Us]

The other way to go, simply weld a piece of angle iron on the bottom of the rear arms. Been doing this on the 80's for years, works great! On the FJC it will need to be notched to clear the e-brake bracket, but still easy to do.

 

[Romanski]

The other way to go, simply weld a piece of angle iron on the bottom of the rear arms. Been doing this on the 80's for years, works great! On the FJC it will need to be notched to clear the e-brake bracket, but still easy to do.

Alright! I just did that. I picked up a used set of LCAs from blue forums member for $50 bucks and welded some 1/4" angle iron to the bottom. Haven't had a chance to mount these but gotta do it soon as my passenger side is slightly bent. I don't think I'll be bending them any more. Now I need to make some armor for the LCA mounts. Ohh yeh, 1/4" thick x 1" angle iron cost me $20 and didn't need to notch.

 

[Tools R Us]

... I picked up a used set of LCAs from blue forums member for $50 bucks ...

I don't even go that far, put the bent arm in the press, push it kinda straight and weld on the angle!

 

[Romanski]

LOL.... I hear Ya Kevin. I bought the extra arms before I discovered the wonderful world of welding!

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

You guys need Wild West Off-Road to take you a step further.

Problem with FJC, 80 and 100-series Cruisers? Weak arms and poor location. Putting on a stronger arm helps though the main drawback still exists...bad placement and you hit or hang on the arms.

Solution...these new arms for my 100/80-series. Call Wild West OR now! Their arms are extremely strong AND they almost eliminate contact in the first place. They eliminate the worst trouble spot on the 80 and 100. They can for the FJC as well.

Entire info: John Shotts (shottscruisers) : photos : Wild West Off-Road 2nd Generation High-Clearance Lower Rear Control Arms- powered by SmugMug

Before (think of the cooler as a ledge or rock):

After:

Quit hanging on your FJC arms. Get Wildcat OR arms!

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

The other way to go, simply weld a piece of angle iron on the bottom of the rear arms. Been doing this on the 80's for years, works great! On the FJC it will need to be notched to clear the e-brake bracket, but still easy to do.

This did it for me for about 5 years as well. Pyeatte Draw though took them out and easily. Bent them both directions up and down and side to side. One looked like an S when I was done. Bent one on the 80 as well and it was angle ironed.

So yes...I was all for this idea though now we have a true solution...get the arm OUT OF THE WAY first, then make them extremely strong in case they still make contact. So far, Wild West is the only solution like this. If they made them for the 80/100 I'm sure they can make them for the FJC.

 

[Blues Dawg]

The forward braket on the FJC is part of the problem - as John identified. it hangs low and is a rock catcher. I have 1/4" DOM tube LCAs which are sufficient to act as sliders. But I also had the brakets built up w/ 1/4" steel plate reinforcements shaped as a ramp. I ride up, over and off obstacles with little more than noise (and I've run them on Payette 3 times - only thing I bent was budbuilt skids and and a front upper control arm).

 

[Tools R Us]

Bent arms is in some ways a good idea that is far from new, have seen them on heeps, rovers, etc for years. My original plan was to make a set, it’s easy, bend a tube that’s large enough to fit over the stock tube, cut the stock arm with a couple of inches of tube sticking out from the bushing holders, weld the ends into the new tube. But after watching several rigs on the trail with them, I decided to go with stronger straight arms, for these reasons:

1, I have never hung on the arms, always the brackets, have always slid nicely on and off the arms.

2, On a few occasions I have seen heeps get hung by the arm sliding on a rock until it got to the bend and not being able to pull over the steeper angle at the bend. In one of the cases, part of the rock hit the axle tube, if he had a straighter arm it would have lifted the axle enough to clear.

3, The relatively shallow angle of the arm raises that corner of the rig and/or compresses the suspension as it slides up on an obstacle, helping to lift the tire onto the obstacle.

4, On my rig, there is a sway-bar next to the arm and a shock near by, both are much more exposed with bent arms. They take enough of a beating now, but are be pretty much defenseless with a bent arm. I would rather beat a stout arm on the rock, than an expensive shock.

5, Why bother? My stockers were bent almost like yours and like you say when bent they don’t hit as often, so aren’t very likely to bend more? Yes, I know, it was a joke, when bent that bad, the stock arm becomes too short, pulling the axle forward, this became a clearance issue when the 37” tire went on and my sway-bar and shocks were taking a beating, so had to do something.

Yours were 1”x 1/8” angle that didn’t go to the ends, mine are 1.5”x1/4” angle, full length, welded to the bushing holders on both ends. They probably aren't bomb proof, but have taken a beating, Moab, at least 3 Payette Draw runs, 2 with small groups where plenty of optional obstacle play happened and tons of other trails. They are beat-up but not bent, tested and will support the rig on them. Not a bad result for some scrap angle and an hour of time.