New control arms and tires!!

Socalboarder · Post by **Socalboarder** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:58 pm

So last weekend was spent doing my wheel hubs, this weekend will be for upgrades.

General Grabber X3---37x12.5r17.
Thuren high clearance control arms.
and changing all the fluids aswell, oil, transmission, transfer case, and diffs.

I'll post before and after photos of the arms and tires once finished.

Colibri · Post by **Colibri** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 1:26 am

Badass! Really curious about those x3's. you have to do a review of them once you've got some miles on them.

You're going to love those control arms! Do a write up on install please! You seem pretty good with the step by step and we're getting a lot of new wagon owners around here lately, I'm sure many would appreciate your efforts.

LumberZach · Post by **LumberZach** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 4:53 pm

Subscribed. I'm curious how those x3's hold up as I've been looking at them myself. What year pw?

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Socalboarder · Post by **Socalboarder** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:47 pm

So today did not go as planned. It was one of those days where nothing went right. So, what happened was...

I went to my auto hobby shop to rent a stall and do all the work. I was only able to get my control arms in today. I started to take pictures of each step, but just as soon as I started, I ran into issues. The control arms are not hard to install, let me just say that right now. There were a lot of....user....complications today.

I started on the passenger side today. The lower arm is simple to remove, unbolt both ends and it comes right out. You cannot get the new lower arm in unless you unbolt the upper arm, FYI. The axle side of the upper arm comes out just as easy as the lower arm does. The frame side, not so much. Not sure if its the same for all 4G PWs, but on the passenger side, the exhaust is in the way when it comes to removing the frame side upper arm bolt. You have 2 options at this point. Option one is to cut the bolt off, as Thuren supplies a new bolt just for this reason. They even recommend this route as it is much easier. Option two is to loosen the 2 bolts from the exhaust coupler right above the upper arm bolt in question. I went with the first route. This is where the problems started.

The auto hobby shop had an angle grinder, but no wheels. They had nothing else to cut trough a bolt. So, I got one of the workers to drive my to my house (I live less than a mile away) and I picked up my sawzall. All my batteries were dead, so I had to charge them. So while waiting for the batteries to charge, I stated the driver side.

So, as stated above, remove the bolts from the lower arms and remove the arm. Next, do the same for the upper arms. To remove the upper arm, you'll need to push the axle forward by rolling your tire forward. This will allow you to remove the upper arm. This is also how you'll install the new upper arm. install the bolt on the upper arm axle side first. Them you will need to roll your tire forward/backward to get the other side aligned with the hole on the frame side. Install bolt, and start the lower arm install. You may have to move the tire some to get the lower arm bolts in. Once all 4 bolts are in, 2 upper, 2 lower, go ahead and tighten them all down. Thuren list recommended torque specs for everything(you get a sheet with the arms with tips and quasi-directions). The driver side took just over an hour, including the time I had to wait for the incompetent workers at the shop to find some sockets and correct size ratchet driver I needed.

Back to the passenger side. Long story short, It took over an hour the cut through the bolt. 4 batteries and 3 blades later, it was cut. As stated above, Thuren includes 2 new bolts for the upper arms, one for each frame side. One bolt comes with 4 washers, so I used one washer on the side facing out from center and three on the side facing the center. I did this because the upper arm bolt on the inside is recessed into the frame. The rest goes in just like the other side.

So the shop was only open for 5 more hours when I got there. And, their tire machine was broke, so I couldn't do my tires if I wanted to. Since the arms took so long I was not able to do any of my fluid either.

Now I'll need to go into town and get the tires mounted by someone. I need an allignment anyways, so two birds, one stone.

I'll take some photos later once the tires are on, and some of the installed arms. Right now I have 35s on, and there is no rubbing anywhere.

aheiser · Post by **aheiser** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:59 pm

Wow what a debacle! This is relevant to my interests as I'm looking at doing a CA/track bar/coil install on my 2012 soon. I'm still trying to figure out the best order of operations as I read these threads of folks installing the different parts.

Stupid question. I assume to do the arms you obviously leave the tires on to roll the axle forward and backwards. I also assume you support the truck's weight by the frame to take most the load off the axle and springs? I think the washer thing mostly makes sense. I'll have to sketch these notes down and see what things look like when I do it!

Definitely post some pics when you're done!

Post by **DamageWagon** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:11 pm

Frankly if you're doing the Trackbar, coils and CA's all at once, that is perfect! You have to remove your Trackbar to get coils in. It helps to remove the CA's to get coils in. Heck, you might as well just remove the axle, put it on the table, clean it and truss it!

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Reloaderguy · Post by **Reloaderguy** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:26 pm

May as well regear the axle while you're trusing it.

Post by **DamageWagon** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:27 pm

At that point you should consider cutting off the coil buckets and running coilover/bypass up front as well.

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Socalboarder · Post by **Socalboarder** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:49 pm

I didn't use the lift too much. With the truck off the lift, and the tires on, once you get the upper and lower arms off on one side, it's pretty easy to roll the wheel, which in turn moves the axle in/out.

Socalboarder · Post by **Socalboarder** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:51 pm

I used the lift to make it easier to get to the bolts. Once loosened, I'd lower the truck to get the arms in and move the axle.

Socalboarder · Post by **Socalboarder** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 9:17 pm

So I got the X3s on the truck finally. My wallet was raped in the process! Since the auto hobby shop's tire machines were down I had to have them mounted and balanced in town. Because I did not buy from any of the retailers in town, I got the privilege to pay the premium, full price for their services. The only place in town here that was willing to mount and balance 37's was discount Tire. All the other places said their machines could only do 33's and a few said 35's. I even asked if they could just unmount the old tires and mount the new ones and I would balance them later, and no takers on that. So $200 dollars later, my truck has new shoes on. I did pay for the lifetime balance, rotation, repair, which is extra if you didn't buy the tires from them. So saving a couple bucks on the tires cost me in the end. Again, only because the machines at the auto hobby shop were down.

Before:

After:

The only rubbing I have is a slight rub on the upper arm at full lock, and some on the swaybar at full lock. If you look at the photos, my front bumper is a little bent in/up on the ends. Sliding down slick mud into a dirt wall is a sure way to stuff your bumper a little! When I hit speed bumps at normal speed, the tires rub the plastic at the bottom of the bumper. Once I pull my bumper out some, I should have no problem.

Having the tires on only a few hours now, one thing I can say is they are a lot quieter than my old tires. I can actually hear cars pass me on the road vs before I just heard the hum of my tires. I can listen to the radio at a lower volume!! I'll provide some feedback once I get off-road and run them through their paces.

Colibri · Post by **Colibri** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 10:43 pm

That looks fantastic man!

olyelr · Post by **olyelr** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 10:59 pm

Yea i never cared for the dang red letters on some of the generals, but have to admit they fit your truck well with all the other red doodads. Looks good!

ramv · Post by **ramv** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 11:33 pm

Truck looks good.

aheiser · Post by **aheiser** » Tue Feb 07, 2017 9:09 am

Sweet looks great!

BTW, I'm laughing at the comments about trussing and re-gearing. Talk about job scope-creep lol

2011TXPowerWagon · Post by **2011TXPowerWagon** » Wed Feb 08, 2017 7:36 am

Truck looks great. Love the camper shell.

PWAMatt2012 · Post by **PWAMatt2012** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 2:33 pm

In reference to your control arms an my 2012, which I believe to have all stock components in, the lower arms are tubular, the uppers are a squared or rectangular arm. I looked at both a 2009 Standard cab Power Wagon and a 2016 Power Wagon and both had very similar appearing arms.
Both of those were much larger in diameter than mine. Both of them were also squared upper and lower. My truck also has a 1 1/4 lean to the drivers side and appears to sit lower in the front than many others I have seen. Speaking to the dealer I bought it from it is a one owner with 35k on it and to there knowledge it is all stock.
Thanks

Post by **DamageWagon** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 3:27 pm

PWAMatt2012 wrote:In reference to your control arms an my 2012, which I believe to have all stock components in, the lower arms are tubular, the uppers are a squared or rectangular arm. I looked at both a 2009 Standard cab Power Wagon and a 2016 Power Wagon and both had very similar appearing arms.
Both of those were much larger in diameter than mine. Both of them were also squared upper and lower. My truck also has a 1 1/4 lean to the drivers side and appears to sit lower in the front than many others I have seen. Speaking to the dealer I bought it from it is a one owner with 35k on it and to there knowledge it is all stock.
Thanks

That doesn't sound right at all. 2003-2013 arms are exactly the same, identical. Tube lower and rectangular fabricated sheet metal upper. 2014-present should look massively different.... It's not even the same suspension type. They use much much larger radius arms.

Front sag happened to mine as well. We have soft springs, and having the battery, driver and fuel tank on the drivers side causes that side to dip. My Thuren 3" springs gave me a 4" lift above standard PW springs which is mainly from sag.

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Post by **Pit Slave** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 3:46 pm

DamageWagon wrote:
PWAMatt2012 wrote:In reference to your control arms an my 2012, which I believe to have all stock components in, the lower arms are tubular, the uppers are a squared or rectangular arm. I looked at both a 2009 Standard cab Power Wagon and a 2016 Power Wagon and both had very similar appearing arms.
Both of those were much larger in diameter than mine. Both of them were also squared upper and lower. My truck also has a 1 1/4 lean to the drivers side and appears to sit lower in the front than many others I have seen. Speaking to the dealer I bought it from it is a one owner with 35k on it and to there knowledge it is all stock.
Thanks
That doesn't sound right at all. 2003-2013 arms are exactly the same, identical. Tube lower and rectangular fabricated sheet metal upper. 2014-present should look massively different.... It's not even the same suspension type. They use much much larger radius arms.

Front sag happened to mine as well. We have soft springs, and having the battery, driver and fuel tank on the drivers side causes that side to dip. My Thuren 3" springs gave me a 4" lift above standard PW springs which is mainly from sag.

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Tube lowers didn't start until late 2009.

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PWAMatt2012 · Post by **PWAMatt2012** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 3:53 pm

Ok, this makes more sense. As far as the lean I have the same lean front and rear, I have looked into several aftermarket control arms and fairly positive I will swap them out to allow clearance for a larger tire. I really want to correct the lean. I have sat and stared at it pondering how goofy it looks.

Post by **DamageWagon** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 4:10 pm

Thanks Pit. Thought I remembered seeing them on an '04, but you would know.

I think the Wagon springs sack out somewhat easily. I got this picture from a guy on DTX. left to right: 1500 Mega springs, my used Wagon springs, Thurens 2" springs

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Ramajama · Post by **Ramajama** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:29 pm

Wow! Those tires transformed the truck! Nice!

Socalboarder · Post by **Socalboarder** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:41 pm

So I finally got around to pulling my bumper out to help clear the tires. I used a tractor trailer cargo strap and hooked it to by buddies rear steal bumper. We tried to ratchet it but it was too hard to get it to where I wanted it. I ended up just putting it in 4 low, put the truck in reverse and slowly eased off the brake. I didn't want to apply any gas if I didn't have to, as I didn't want to bend the bumper too much. Turns out that letting the truck in 4 low reverse as much as it could while idling was just perfect.

Here is the truck now.

You can see the added space between the front bumper and the tires.

I'd post the before picture from earlier in the post, but my laptop died on me 2 weekends ago. Using my work computer at the moment.

Figured it out!

: rsz_imag0146.jpg (25.57 KiB) Viewed 4034 times

Also, the X3 perform amazingly, at least in the snow. I went up this last weekend with a jeep wrangler, ram 1500 eco diesel, and a Toyota 4runner. I watched how all of them were sliding in the snow as the PW just plowed through like a knife through butter. Granted I have a couple K on them weight wise and brand new tread. I had to pull each one out once and the other ram kept getting stuck in the deep snow(x3). The Jeep owner want a PW now! Having pulled 7 people out of the snow in since the beginning of the year, there are a few people here (NM) that appreciate the PW abilities!

Each time we stopped I did notice that the other vehicles tires were always full of snow in the tread. The X3 do a fantastic job of shedding the snow. Each stop my tires had almost no snow in the tread!

I'm going to be buying a portable air compressor soon, so after that Ill be able to comment on how the tires do under lower PSI. I ran the trail at 30 fronts and 22 rear.

After driving on the tires at 30 PSI front and 22 PSI rear, I have changed my pressures to 40 front and 35 rear. Much better ride on pavement.

Post by **DamageWagon** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:48 pm

That's great your tires are doing so well! Keep us posted!

30/20 off-road and 40/35 on road are what I'm doing right now on the 285's. I like the 30/20 Offroad for steering grab and I think it gives the front tires/wheels more survivability if I hit a rock at speed. I've never had an issue with flotation.

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