JBA Offroad Upper Control Arms And Suspension MEGA Thread BS thread

Sweet ! That is what I was hoping for. They just made the best even better! Thanks guys for your replys. Much appreciated!

 

What is the torque spec of the upper control arm bolt on these? I have been through two sets of bushing now and both times the washers mushroomed out. Yes, I greased them with the bolt loose, but it still happens. I went to factory spec (~85 ft/lbs off the top of my head) but I am wondering if these have a different spec.

 

I just looked it up on the sheet they send you. 85 ft. Lbs is correct. Not sure why your are doing that. Might want to give them a call.

 

Its happened twice now on both sets of bushing and washers. I am going to replace them again with the kind you dont have to loosen the bolt for and hope for the best. I have talked to Marlin and he "cant explain it".

 

Hey guys. Just curious about how this might play out. I have a Bushing that has almost completely walked out. The kicker is I am 6 hrs from home in Moab Utah. So will it be road worthy to get home? Or do I get to work and fix it in the parking lot?

 

Yep. Youve got to loosen the bolt before you grease them.

Is the back half still in there?

 

So...I am the idiot here. This problem really doesn’t reflect JBA. I have had no issues with this until I got crazy with the grease gun. I put so much in that I pushed the bushings out. On JBAs website it says one or two pumps depending on if your just starting out or doing maintenance on the truck.

I did get the bushing back in by backing the bolt out a bit and the help of a friend, a zip tie and a few laughs in the condos parking lot it went back in. I had to take the zerk out so the excess grease had somewhere to push out of.

 

Glad to hear you got it back together. Yeah I have red 1 to 2 pumps is all you need. What I didn't know was that the bolt has to be loosened every time you grease them.?.?.

 

Hmm.. good idea seeing I was able to push one out with a grease gun. I don’t think I will loosen the bolts every time I grease though. And just watch them instead. I used way to much grease and used a bit of force as well. I know better but just got dumb. I’m glad I didn’t loose the bushing all together.

 

Hey guys, I read on here that with aftermarket UCAs you should tell the alignment techs to max out the LCA cam bolts? I never did that with these and just told them to give me 3 degrees caster. Not sure what they did technically but they were able to get the numbers I wanted. Is that good enough? Things have seemed fine so far.

 

No need to fix something that aint broke...

 

Agreed, but next alignment I get do I need to tell them that about the LCA cam bolts? Or just the alignment numbers I want?

 

That depends on if the place doing the alignment is a good one. Some techs are robots and dont really know what they are doing and telling them what you want is a waste of time. Some techs care enough to do what needs to be done and then it might be of benefit. Most shops most likely go by whatever the book says for that vehicle and go with that regardless of what you tell them. You might have to ask around to find the best place for the job. Not all techs understand the dynamics of an off-road truck with aftermarket UCAs.

 

So then people who don’t know what they are doing just set the caster but if you want more caster they don’t know to max out the lower cam bolts? So in other words, it’s just another adjustment but not needed.

 

I actually just got my 33’s on. It rubs on the cab mount at close/full lock. So I need to take it in. Do I just ask for 3.5-4 degrees caster and remind them if they need more adjustability to max out the LCA cam bolts? Hoping that will push them forward a bit. Right now I’m at about 3.

 

No. You need to cut the cab mounts. It’s a common Tacoma thing with 33s. We all do it.

 

Sorry, should have said next week I have an appointment to get a CMC and any trimming necessary. I was just thinking putting more caster would make it even easier.

 

Only SPC's need maxing out at LCA due to adjustable camber on the UCA itself. JBA and others that have fixed geometry will need to be aligned normally from the cam bolts. The techs may have been following the factory recommended ranges. Doesn't hurt to ask for more caster.

 

Got mine installed today. Took all of an hour. Worst part was getting the thin inner washers in.

 

Well since I asked for 3.5-4 degrees today they said they had to adjust the LCA cams, but I believe that’s normal operation. They didn’t say if they maxed out or not. I got 3.9 caster.