Control arm question?

[alaskanhawkeye]

I have a 96 Grand cherokee, 5.2L V8. I did a 4.5" lift, with 33x12.5.and adjustable front and rear track bars. T case drop, and rear track bar drop. It was recently aligned and new rims and tires balanced. I knew I was going to run into problems with DW, and I was right. So i have decided to break down and get some control arms. My question is.... Can i just buy the front lower control arms or do i have to buy the uppers also? and would it be better to buy the adjustables or buy the fixed for my lift. I occassionally off-road but i mostly stick to the highway, being this is my everyday vehicle. Which brings me to my next question, I need to re-gear this thing bad, i am getting 8-10 miles a gallon, anybody have suggestions on gears i should get for my set-up.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

With that much lift you should have longer lower control arms on both ends, fixed length are fine as long as they are longer. Then go with adjustable uppers to adjust your caster and pinion angles.

When installing the control arms on the front axle, replace the upper bushings on the axle end of the control arms, they are pressed into the axle housing.

New bushings all the way around go a long ways to preventing death wobble.

 

[alaskanhawkeye]

Hey thanks Bounty, last night i ordered adjustable control arms for the front uppers and lowers, i also ordered a dual steering stabilizer set up, a drop pitman arm, and a new inner tie rod end. Hopefully i can get rid of this dw. I ordered the stuff from Rusty's offroad so I hope it is good. I will get the control arms for the rear eventually, but i have spent about 3 grand on this thing in the last month so i might wait a little bit. Thanks for th advice, i appreciate it.

 

[Bounty__Hunter]

Don't forget the front upper bushings that are pressed into the axle housing. They are available at most parts stores.