Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Front Suspension Rides Great, Back Does Not

Schyler

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Mar 29, 2025
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Location
Pensacola, FL
2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. I just replaced the springs and shocks on a four inch rough country long arm lift that came with the jeep when I bought it with 4 inch rock jock springs and metalcloak shocks. As the title says, the front rides incredibly. Can barely feel most bumps. The back is a different story. I had the doors off yesterday to watch the articulation as I went over bumps and the rear suspension looked like it barely moved and all of the jolt just went straight to the frame. I think the problem may be attributed to the control arm bushings as I can physically wiggle some of the joints from under the jeep. Everything for the front control arms is nice and tight. I just wanted to confirm that this may be the culprit because I feel like there are lots of mixed reviews on this forum about control arms and what they contribute to ride quality and what not. I've thought about replacing the long arms with short arms. I don't really have much time for offroading being a full time engineering student with a job although I wish I could get out more so I'm not really too worried about offroad performance issues between both kinds of control arms at the moment. I also understand that rough country bolt on long arms, or any bolt on long arms for that matter, are less than ideal. The passenger side rear control arm is hitting the muffler when the suspension cycles anyway. Tire psi is 26 with load range E 33 inch tires. I would prefer to get load range C but don't want to spend the money right now.

I'm attaching a video of the wiggling. The first joint was hard to do while recording but the second one was very obvious.
 
2005 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. I just replaced the springs and shocks on a four inch rough country long arm lift that came with the jeep when I bought it with 4 inch rock jock springs and metalcloak shocks. As the title says, the front rides incredibly. Can barely feel most bumps. The back is a different story. I had the doors off yesterday to watch the articulation as I went over bumps and the rear suspension looked like it barely moved and all of the jolt just went straight to the frame. I think the problem may be attributed to the control arm bushings as I can physically wiggle some of the joints from under the jeep. Everything for the front control arms is nice and tight. I just wanted to confirm that this may be the culprit because I feel like there are lots of mixed reviews on this forum about control arms and what they contribute to ride quality and what not. I've thought about replacing the long arms with short arms. I don't really have much time for offroading being a full time engineering student with a job although I wish I could get out more so I'm not really too worried about offroad performance issues between both kinds of control arms at the moment. I also understand that rough country bolt on long arms, or any bolt on long arms for that matter, are less than ideal. The passenger side rear control arm is hitting the muffler when the suspension cycles anyway. Tire psi is 26 with load range E 33 inch tires. I would prefer to get load range C but don't want to spend the money right now.

I'm attaching a video of the wiggling. The first joint was hard to do while recording but the second one was very obvious.

You can get x joint rebuild kits and might can even get a Johnny Joint that fits these-

You need good connections to avoid rear steer,

check the rear track bar ends and also put a tape on it to check for square axles and centered axles and check all the sway bar connections in back-

Go slow, spend a little at a time and get that degree.

Often small improvements really add up on these.
 
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I had the same issue as you and I went with custom tuned shocks from Alltech to try and correct this problem. Even with the newly tuned shocks, it felt like the front absorbed the bumps while the rear was trying to throw me out of the car. It wasn’t until I had 4 people in the jeep that I noticed how much better it road. When I talked to Alltech about it, they said that they tuned my shocks for max weight capacity but could change it to my liking but did not recommend it.

This problem is just a shock tuning issue. They rather have it be too stiff so you don’t bottom out when fully loaded than too light.

Those joints should be rebuilt but they will not change the ride quality. Shocks will control that.
 
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Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts