When I first got my XJ I had initially installed a simple “3 lift kit as at the time I had a limited budget to lift so I had chosen to do fixed lower control arms and keep the uppers stock so I could do full leaf springs. Well almost two years later and I sit at “4.5 lift now. I have been swapping out parts here and there to slowly accomplish my ultimate master plan.

One of the things I had not address yet was my upper control arms which the OE versions are not known for their incredible strength, but now the time had come to address their deficiency.

I had two options; build my own or buy something off the shelf.

Option one; Fabbing up my own would be cheaper, but my problem is this. It is very hard now a days to do any sort of fabbing work on a short time frame simply for the fact with a child under two and the wife half way along with our second child, almost impossible.

Option two; I found myself tied with which to choose, as there are many brands on the market that are all really the same just different style flex joints and if they are adjustable or not. Definitely wanted something adjustable even though “4.5 of lift according to many charts show the upper arms stay the same length as stock.  Then there was the cost, OUCH! (Your kidding right, you want that much for a set?)

I found a perfect moment, Rough Country recently re-designed their controls arms to use a Johny Joints style end instead of their old style which copy Tera Flex’s original design. This was simply 1/2 the arm was  male threaded and screwed into the other 1/2 of the arm that was female threaded. Creating the adjustability and a lot of unrestricted flex.

Now in my personal opinion I really like the idea behind the old style Tera Flex arms simple because you have no restrictions on the twisting of the arm unlike a flex joint’s limited 32-35 degrees. There is a drawback with the design. You have to keep grease packed nice and tight in the arm threads or they will eventually wobble and become loose creating a popping clank sound.

I called Rough Country and since they are a big supporting vendor on NAXJA board they give you a great discount as well. Called the main contact person through the board and asked him since they are releasing the new designed X-flex arms if they have any of the old design laying around and to my joy they did. Got a set shipped to my door for around $115, which is a killer deal! (even cheaper than fabbing my own.)

Took me all of a couple hours to install them and the biggest issue  was while I was replacing the arms I figure I would replace my bushings in the axle end as well. That was a nightmare! Suggestion for anyone planning on doing that just take apart the front axle, coils, trackbar, etc.  Will save you cuss words and a lot of headaches ahead of time.

I did find a quirk that didn’t really effect me in the end though. Screwing the arms down to the recommended length of “15 for the height I found the arms had bottomed out. In other words making the twisting flex useless for one direction. So backing them back out a 1/4 of an inch would fix that but now my upper arms are at “15 1/4 instead of “15.  I really didn’t have a choice in the matter as I would like to use the full potential of the twisting flex the arms were designed to do.

Since installing them three months ago I have managed to get several hundred miles on them and I have noticed that my street ride seemed to improve including responsiveness to turning the wheel as everything felt really tight and smooth. The 1/4 more in length has not affected anything that I can feel.

Now to the wheeling to which I managed to get a couple trips in as well. I have had no issues and now my axle definitely likes to twist and flex but created a minor problem as now I get an increase in noise on the coils as they drop farther down the upper stem and bump stop. I also have lifted a wheel now, as I bottomed out my shock.  I will have to look into  a fix for that and also make sure I follow my monthly routine of packing grease in the arms along with all my other grease able parts.

Overall I am very pleased with them and the fact I got such a killer deal  made it a definite BIG BANG for my buck!