JBA Offroad Upper Control Arms And Suspension MEGA Thread BS thread

I'd just order raw and spray myself. How much cheaper are they raw?

 

What are the ideal numbers for alignment when lifted 3"?

 

10 bucks according to the website. so not much

 

Still worth it not to have to try and scuff up the powder cost so it can be painted.

 

I'd think everyone would want their truck to drive straight. Any idea what the ideal camber adjustment is for this?

 

So I recently did a modest lift consisting of 5100s in front set at 1.75 and re-using the stock TRD sport coils. In the rear, 5125s and Headstrong Offroad 3 leaf progressive add-a-leafs. These parts netted roughly 2" of lift front and rear. I did not have the JBA arms at that time.

Since I work at a shop, I do my own alignments. I basically had to max out the eccentrics and still didn't get anywhere near a decent alignment. It ended up being roughly 1* caster and +0.4* camber on each side. I immediately ordered the JBA arms.

I installed the arms this Saturday. During the install, I put all 4 eccentrics at roughly the straight up positions. When I got it on the alignment machine, I was expecting to have to fiddle with the eccentrics quite a bit. To my surprise, the only adjustment I had to make was setting the toe. Part JBA quality arms, part my lucky eccentric placement. This netted a 3.3* caster and 0* camber.

My tires rub the arms a bit when I turn sharp but I expected that due to the low offset of the TRD sport wheels. I have Bora spacers on the way from the recent group buy so just no tight u-turns for a week or so.

Took my kids to the Houston rodeo carnival today and the truck rides great. Ever tried fried butter balls? Fried cheese cake? WTF will they fry next?

JBA upper control arms =

Already got em dirty. Not sure why some don't like the red. I don't mind it, myself.

 

Here are my specs from today's alignment. Drives very well, straight, no bump steer and just overall smoother on the road compared to the OEM UCAs. I did notice my tires are rubbing on both sides of the mud flaps. So I removed the flaps. I didn't have any rubbing before on the stock UCA's. Should I have another alignment done? Anything in particular I should have the tech tweak?

 

What size Bora spacers? I will have the factory TRD sport wheels for a while until I switch to my first gen 16x7 wheels. Is there going to be that much rubbing with the sport wheels that I'll need to get spacers in the interim?

 

Depends on the tire size probably. My 275/70/17s rub the arm on tight turns.

JBA recommends 4.5" backspacing. I think the stock 17x7.5 TRD sport wheels have 5.5" backspacing. So I ordered 1" spacers.

EDIT: Check out this pic you can see I circled where it rubs and the finish is rubbed off.

 

Sorry forgot to say that I'm running 265/70/17's.....I guess I'll try them first and if they're rubbing that much I'll have to order some 1" spacers. If I was closer to changing my wheel/tires over I'd just do that but I'll still be running what I have for 1.5-2 years. Damn it....

 

Wheels? Tires? Spacers?

 

Thanks for the info. I'll eventually be running 255/85R16 tires on 1st gen 16x7 4.25bs wheels so that set up should have no issues.

 

This is what I used to base the spacer size needed from:

http://jbaoffroad.com/toyota/jba-std-high-caster-upper-a-arms-for-2005-14-toyota-tacoma.html

 

Mine are 0.9" smaller diameter, but 0.75" wider than the above quoted size and they rub. There's just one data point for comparison.

 

Once I get the spacers on I should be golden.

I wanted to give the truck a wider stance, but didn't want aftermarket wheels to get the backspacing. Spacers to the rescue!

I'm ok with the look of stock wheels and prefer to keep the beefy flanged lug nuts.

 

I hope not....from what I've read, the Cooper ST Maxx tires aren't true 33's. Guys running these tires on TRD OR wheels (5.25bs) have slight rubbing. Some have used a .75" spacer (to equal 4.5bs) with positive results of no rubbing after. The reason I found the 1st gen wheels is because they already have a 4.5bs which gets me to where I need to be without using spacers. One less failure point...

 

Yea, can't remember the last time I walked by a truck and thought to myself, "Man that looks good except for those hideous colored UCAs".

 

I just hate seeing color like that. Painted my red coils black also. Left my Bilstein shocks the silver the come in. Just my personal opinion.

 

Can paint the UCAs too.

 

That's the plan. Order raw, use a good quality primer and black paint. Simple problem to solve, just wish they were offered in black as an option. Powder coat is better than even the best paint job but it is what it is.