Upper Control Arm and a few other Questions

[richbrown]

Good Day To Everyone... I'm new to Jeeps so please excuse my ignorance but I have some questions about my 05 Jeep Mountain Edition??

I live in the Caribbean so getting parts for my Jeep is not easy and I have a cart full at the moment from RockAuto.. Good Mechanics down here are also hard to come by and the one I have chosen tells me the upper control arms need to be replaced. I did check and the joint is in fact SHOT.. Do I need to replace the entire upper arm or just the joint? I see on RockAuto they have just the joints for half the price. Both sides are stock arms, at least they look the age of everything else

Another question #2.. The power steering seems to work fine, when the jeep is idle I can turn the wheel with ease. However, when driving it will not go back to center and the mechanic tells me this is due to the upper control joints being so bad. Is that a reasonable assumption? I ask because I would rather make a lump purchase then have to ship parts a second time...

Question #3.. While replacing the upper, should I replace the lower joints and/or whole lower control arm? Lower looks ok..

Question #4.. The stabilizer bar bushings have almost 1cm of stretch to them. I have new ones in the cart but would that cause the jeep to clunkety clunk (sound) when going over bumps? All bolts are tight.

Question #5.. Every time I stop or am on a hill the OIL light dings.. No engine lights come on and it goes off briefly after being stopped or driving again. This problem occurs regardless of oil filter/oil change. Bad Oil Pressure Sensor??

And Last #6.. Is there an all around bushings kit I can buy? I don't need "the best" just equivalent to OEM is fine but Jeep wants a fortune and I have no idea which ones to buy from Rock.. There is like a list of 30 from different brands...

Sorry for the list of questions.. But I love my 05 Jeep ME.. and I want it to run a bit smoother.. Best Wishes to you all..

Rich Brown

 

[richbrown]

Answer for Question 1

Good Day again.. I found my answer to question 1.. I dont have a press that's needed to replace the joint so the whole arm it is..

 

[eyehatetofu]

Replace the whole control arm. I recently bought Raybestos UCA's and they looked identical to the stock ones; have been good so far and seem solid. They come with new bushings too, so you don't have to worry about replacing those as well. If you decide to replace your lower ball joints, don't buy Mevotech ones. They are garbage; I had one fail in less than 500 miles. Sway bar bushings are cheap and easy to replace; might as well replace if they look worn. As far as brands go for bushings, I went with Moog when I replaced all mine. High quality, good price, and great reputation.

 

[4x4kayak2112]

Replace the whole control arm. I recently bought Raybestos UCA's and they looked identical to the stock ones; have been good so far and seem solid. They come with new bushings too, so you don't have to worry about replacing those as well. If you decide to replace your lower ball joints, don't buy Mevotech ones. They are garbage; I had one fail in less than 500 miles. Sway bar bushings are cheap and easy to replace; might as well replace if they look worn. As far as brands go for bushings, I went with Moog when I replaced all mine. High quality, good price, and great reputation.

Good info

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[richbrown]

Any answers to the other questions?

I purchased the whole arm.. Anyone have any insight to the other questions?

Thanks for the response.

Rich Brown