General consensus on replacing the rear links / control arms?

[kodiakisland]

Yeah, mine is just like that, including the cracks in the factory rubber. I really can't remember if I cut inside or outside the bracket, but it was fairly easy. That was a new blade on the sawzall and you can see where the blade engaged the bolt.

Again, it's been over a year, so the memory fades a bit, but I thought I cut inside the bracket, between the bracket and the control arm. Doesn't seem like there's room for that though in your picture, but I know the blade fit, where ever it went. Does that bolt have a nut to loosen that would allow more space? I just don't remember without looking at a factory setup.

Sorry that's not alot of help.

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[cgv]

Yeah, mine is just like that, including the cracks in the factory rubber. I really can't remember if I cut inside or outside the bracket, but it was fairly easy. That was a new blade on the sawzall and you can see where the blade engaged the bolt.

Again, it's been over a year, so the memory fades a bit, but I thought I cut inside the bracket, between the bracket and the control arm. Doesn't seem like there's room for that though in your picture, but I know the blade fit, where ever it went. Does that bolt have a nut to loosen that would allow more space? I just don't remember without looking at a factory setup.

Sorry that's not alot of help.

No worries... And yeah, my thought is to loosen the nut and if necessary, hammer the cover out of the way when the time comes.

Of course knowing me I'll probably end up doing all 4 at once and just drop the tank.

 

[kodiakisland]

No worries... And yeah, my thought is to loosen the nut and if necessary, hammer the cover out of the way when the time comes.

Of course knowing me I'll probably end up doing all 4 at once and just drop the tank.

When I got mine, there were no uppers on the market yet, so it was less tempting to drop the tank. I think maybe I loosened the nut on that bolt enough to have room for the blade. Maybe I had a beer or two, and that helped with where to cut.

Dropping the tank and replacing all four, plus the track bar is the way to go. One of these days I'll replace my uppers. I did have to get a brake line extension bracket too.

 

[Arokcrwlr]

I just installed Rockjock uppers, lowers, and tracbar Saturday. Dropping the tank was not nearly as hard as I envisioned. I didn't remove it completely - there are four gas lines and an electrical connector on top of the tank. I unplugged the connector and disconnected all but one of the lines and was able to drop the tank about 12" - that gave enough space to remove the covers and get the bolts out.

 

[builtMIbronco]

What series of core 4x4 arms did you get?

Edit: Also, was there any necessary adjustment of the arms or are they preset to factory lengths?

Im running the crawl series with adjustable Jonny joints on both ends. I went with aluminum upper and lower arms and the track bar is steel.

You will have to adjust them to your bronco, the easiest way is to insert some long bolts through the old control arm and adjust the new one until you can slide a bolt into the other side. This will be a good place to start. The upper arms will adjust your pinion angle and the lower arms set your wheelbase, the track bar centers the axle left-to-right. The only significant adjustments I had to do were to the track bar.

Looks like you are running both an adjustable track bar, and track bar relocation bracket. Is the bracket from Rock Jock?

I've got the rough country bracket one on mine, but it looks almost identical to the rock jock one. I was told the bracket corrects geometry

 

[Yeti-X]

When I go to rear control arms I will go with Metalcloak. I had them on three of my jeeps their duroflex joints to me are the cats azz they have like 65 degrees of flex and they last and most importantly they are quiet and the arms are very strong

 

[Yeti-X]

Remember to try and keep your panhard bar near parallel to your axle to limit axle shift as the suspension travels

 

[Clydesdale2119]

I went with Core4x4 and did them all. I have the same concern as others w/hiems...not doin it on a street driven vehicle in the rust belt. Johnny joints, and keep the zerks easily accessible. Grease frequently and they will hold up. Doing lowers I guess is better than doing none, but doing all makes it super flexy. W/the shocks disconnected seems like mine would droop till the driveshaft pulls apart. One thing is for sure, 6g Bronco could use help w/rear articulation, so anything you do is an improvement!

Same here did core4x4 rear uppers

 

[Bentpushrod]

I had been running Core 4x4 uppers and lowers, along with their track bar. Very flexy, and well made. I ran them for about 10,000 miles. I pulled the uppers and lowers today, and reinstalled the stock bars. I liked them but couldn’t keep the locknuts tight, even with loctite. I kept the track bar, and track bar drop bracket on, as I am lifted, and haven’t had issues with that. My Bronco is my daily driver, and I put a lot of miles on it. Wheel it three to four times a year, so I can live with a little less flex. Now if I only wheeled it, I would have kept the links on.

 

[Smitty1979]

I had been running Core 4x4 uppers and lowers, along with their track bar. Very flexy, and well made. I ran them for about 10,000 miles. I pulled the uppers and lowers today, and reinstalled the stock bars. I liked them but couldn’t keep the locknuts tight, even with loctite. I kept the track bar, and track bar drop bracket on, as I am lifted, and haven’t had issues with that. My Bronco is my daily driver, and I put a lot of miles on it. Wheel it three to four times a year, so I can live with a little less flex. Now if I only wheeled it, I would have kept the links on.

Is your lift level or raked? I have a Eibach 2.0 coilovers at 3 inches at front and 2 inches rear for a level lift on a non sasquatch Black Diamond with 37's. My pinion angle level at rear diff is 10 degrees and the driveshaft is 14 degrees so difference of 4 degrees and I'm getting some vibration but washout floors amplifies it doesn't deaden it if I had carpet. Wondering if I should go metalcloak or Rockjock or if 4 degrees on flat ground isn't an issue??? Thanks in advance

 

[Merc4x4]

I had been running Core 4x4 uppers and lowers, along with their track bar. Very flexy, and well made. I ran them for about 10,000 miles. I pulled the uppers and lowers today, and reinstalled the stock bars. I liked them but couldn’t keep the locknuts tight, even with loctite. I kept the track bar, and track bar drop bracket on, as I am lifted, and haven’t had issues with that. My Bronco is my daily driver, and I put a lot of miles on it. Wheel it three to four times a year, so I can live with a little less flex. Now if I only wheeled it, I would have kept the links on.

I've been having an issue with the upper forward mount bolts not staying tight. I'm running the Icon arms. I just had all 8 nuts and bolts on the arms replaced (and loctite) thinking it might be because they stretched and are not holding torque. I need to put a bunch more miles on to see if it made a difference.
Have you had the issue after going back to the stock arms?

 

[Arokcrwlr]

I've been having an issue with the upper forward mount bolts not staying tight. I'm running the Icon arms. I just had all 8 nuts and bolts on the arms replaced (and loctite) thinking it might be because they stretched and are not holding torque. I need to put a bunch more miles on to see if it made a difference.
Have you had the issue after going back to the stock arms?

What's the symptom of loose bolts? What makes you feel the need to check? I have RockJock arms and have a strange issue when driver's side rear droops - there is a very abrupt clunk. I haven't figured out what is going on.

 

[Merc4x4]

What's the symptom of loose bolts? What makes you feel the need to check? I have RockJock arms and have a strange issue when driver's side rear droops - there is a very abrupt clunk. I haven't figured out what is going on.

Yep, clunk when getting the suspension to flex on the road, like when pulling into a parking lot.
I could also hear a rattling over rough pavement and feel the rear being "more sloppy" and harsher impacts over rough roads.
You can easily get to most/all of the bolts, except the passenger, upper, forward mount. It's behind the gas tank.
When I finally tracked down the bolt, it was the upper-forward mount on the drivers side. I could easily spin the bolt.

Ford Parts sites show nuts and bolts are one-time use. That is why I'm thinking they might have been stretched a bit and couldn't hold torque.
Or, it could be a symptom of these straight and/or solid-joint aftermarket arms.

https://parts.lakelandford.com/a/Fo...suspension-Suspension-components/ML21865.html

 

[Descent]

Rock Krawler is coming out with another option

https://rockkrawler.com/bronco-pro-x-triangulated-4-link-conversion/

 

[23BroncoWildTrak]

Better performance = more NVH. Some are better at keeping NVH at a minimum, but never as good as the stock rubber. I like the arms that use the Johnny Joint . Top notch and hard to beat, but I have been looking at the Carli control arms. They have a similar joint that is rebuildable. I hope someone can chime in and give us a review on the Carli upper and lower arms. They look promising!

https://www.carlisuspension.com/pro...s-ford-bronco/21-23-bronco-rear-control-arms/

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