xp1ik05

here is my issue and im hoping to not get beat up over this but i recently had to replace my rear uppers when i swapped my driveshaft and all i could find in a pinch was a set of Rubicon Express, wasnt my first choice but honestly they are pretty well built and i havent had any issues with them after the month-ish ive had them and one good wheeling trip, now i just picked up a set of RockKrawler rear lowers for a good price and now presents my problem, RK is designed to push the rear axle back which i could honestly care less about as im not in the mood to be swapping out brackets and moving sway bars but they are quality control arms, how are these going to work with my RE uppers? i have my pinion angle set perfect with no vibes up to 80 MPH and really not looking forward to going through that all over again, will these things get short enough to not have to mover the uppers around? any info you guys could give me would be awesome, ive tried to look up extended and collapsed lenghts for the RE but no luck, also my lift is different so using RK recommended chart is kinda out the window as i have 4 Inch-Ish + Springs.........

Roryslife

I've always read that the RK arms won't shorten to stock length. I had a chance to pick up a set of 8 RK arms for a ridiculously low price, but the more I read about how they push things back causing other issues, I just declined on the deal.

I suggest you measure you stock lower arms, and then see how short you can adjust the RK CA's. If you can get them to shorten down to at least 1/2" over stock, then I suspect you are golden (no issues with sway bars etc). If they only shorten down to 1" over the stock length, then I would sell them and get another mfr's.

If they do shorten short enough, then adjusting your RE uppers to re-dial in the pinion should be fairly easy. Just make sure you take accurate pinion and driveshaft measurements before you start anything. I adjusted my rear pinion in my driveway and have no issues.

xp1ik05

ya im in the process of getting them as short as possible, we shall see, with only a half an inch though im worried about spring contact on the trac bar, i still get some now even with the RK wedges, i just dont want to have to adjust everything again cause like i said i literally did all that two weeks ago in the heat in the driveway ha ugh

familytime

At 4"+ you should adjust to bring the axle back center with wheel well.Are these long arms??

xp1ik05

Not long arms. Just regular length, part number for adjustable uppers. The axle is pretty centered in the wheel well. Obv this is just eyeballing but maybe with this much lift the inch will bring it back to factory specs?

Roryslife

I think a lot of people think they need to adjust axle back to center at ride height. That's not actually the case IMHO. What I did was adjust my rear CA's so that my tire would be centered in the wheel well at maximum stuff or basically when the CA's are level. This minimized the amount of metal I had to trim to fit my 37's up in there.

At ride height for me 3.5", this means that my axles are probably an two or three inches forward of the center of the wheel well.

Putting the tires centered at ride height will mean that the tire moves backwards as it archs up which leads to all the other issues.

Here is a picture that shows what I mean.

Captain Obvious

I bought a set of the RK arms but had to return them because they wouldn't fit without relocating the swaybar and shocks.

DunnyBunny

I have RK xfactor which includes the arms that relocate the axle back ONE inch. Not a big deal. I've had none of the issues mentioned here. I did relocate the sway bar back 1" but it took 30 mins total maybe. It's way to easy. My springs don't bow with the wedges. And I don't have trackbar contact issues.

What I will say is that RK makes different lower arms. The ones that come with the xfactor are longer and meant to relocate an inch back. The ones that come with the max travel are shorter and meant for factory uppers. Might want to look into swapping out for those. They should allow you to adjust to the length you are looking for.

xp1ik05

Well I have the ones for adjustable uppers which I do have, what xfactor do you have? 2.5 or bigger? Do you just have to redrill the holes for the sway bar mount? Does the stock hardware work?

DunnyBunny

I do have the 2.5" xfactor which might be why I don't have a lot of the issues. Check out the RK instructions for installing the lift. It tells you what size bit to use and what size self threading bolts to use. I used the 1" long ones and have no issues. Can find them at a fastenal.

However I do think you could use the stock hardware. Just drill the hole to fit the bolt and get new nuts for it. My frame has a square cutout in the side exposing the bolts and I think you could easily maneuver new nuts in there.