I have posted up before about my problem with my upper control arm mounts being wallowed out on my Cherokee, but my problem has gotten worse. So with the wallowed out bolt holes and worn joints, I noticed that the passenger side arm has play where the joint threads into the other piece. The joint isn't falling out yet but I want to fix it before it reaches that point. My arms are made out of 1 1/2" OD 5/16" wall D.O.M. threaded for 1" shank Johnny Joints. I'm thinking since the threaded portion is most likely shot, could I just weld in a threaded insert with a 1" OD into my arms and use a heim joint with a 3/4" shank and run it? Then drill out my control arm mounts to fit the 5/8" bolt for the heim. Would that be a safe option to do? I'm not a welder so I'd have to farm that out to somebody else. I want to put long arms on my jeep eventually, but that's not in the budget right now. This is my daily driver so it needs to get fixed.
General Tech Control Arm Fix
- Thread starter Tebbsjeep
- Start date
gatchmo5710
Active Member
You will lose some strength by going from 1 to 3/4 inch shank... but 3/4 is plenty strong for uppers. Properly installed and welded threaded inserts will work well. Stepping up bolt size or using "weld washer" (google) would help to fix any play at attach points.
