JBA Offroad Upper Control Arms And Suspension MEGA Thread BS thread

Jba’s offer an easy replacement by simply bolting on a new ball joint as opposed to having to press one in. The downside is you can only purchase them through JBA. Dobinsons uses a 555 ball joint which I believe is available at most auto parts stores. Dirt king may use an easy obtainable ball joint but I can’t recall for sure. Billsteins UCA is made by dirt king as well.

 

Fantastic info on ball joints. Altho I thought you could buy those JBA ones anywhere as they're technically a stock part for other rigs? What about bushings? I also don't want to be replacing or finicking with those! Not opposed to zerks on bushings, as I will lube every 5k, but I really don't wanna have to replace bushings and prefer OEM.

 

From my understanding the jba ball joints are designed after a specific gm 2500 ball joint. I do believe you can replace them with that. But they are different. The jba ball joints are manufactured in house to achieve specific performance benefits. The only way to retain that is to use jba ball joints only. Plus I imagine if you swap to anything not jba you probably void the warranty but I can’t say that for sure. Jba uses special poly type bushings. They work well but anything can wear out. I can’t recall which brand it is but someone uses OE style bushings which should last a while. I don’t see many people complaining about bushing issues with jba. Spc is having a ton of issues at the moment between bushings and ball joints.

 

I don't see why people will opt to buy a cheaper ball joint replacement to save a few dollars after spending hundreds for the UCA to begin with. Just buy an extra ball joint from JBA and keep it in the truck somewhere as a backup. Problem solved.

 

Replacement JBA balljoints and Bushings for cheap!
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fs-jba-offroad-uca-rebuild-kit.808333/

 

Got around to installing my new JBA HD upper control arms and some new OEM tie rod ends this past weekend. I replaced my SPC upper control arms with these JBAs since the SPCs developed play in the bushings at around 20,000 miles, which is ridiculous in my opinion. Did a lot of research when deciding on these new upper control arms, including reading through this thread, so figured I'd post my experience w/ JBA here as well.

The new JBAs are awesome - I really like their design w/ the greaseable & replaceable bushings and ball joints. I'm excited to test them out.

The installation was straightforward since I had already installed control arms before, but the driver's side was a PAIN to get the inner washers between the control arm bushing and the shock tower bolt path. I think that the gap b/w the two control arm mount points was slightly off with the driver's side arm and therefore made getting those inner washers in very difficult. I had to use a pry bar to open it up and tap the washer in. Passenger side was a breeze to install. Overall really happy with my purchase thus far, but I still need to get some miles on them!

 

Nice!! I love mine. My alignment is perfect and everything just feels good. My next step is to replace the 5100s/885 coils with 6112s.

 

That's awesome man! Happy to hear you're loving their product too! How many miles you got on your JBAs? About to pick my truck up from the alignment shop this evening. Can't wait to hit some trails!

Edit: Also, that's cool you're planning to upgrade from 5100 to 6112s. To be honest, I don't know that I would spend the money to upgrade to the 6112s unless your 5100s are shot. I think having the extra diameter is "nice" but I haven't noticed any difference in performance between the 5100s and the 6112s (ran 5100s on my 2nd gen taco and am running the 6112s on my third gen). If I were you, I would consider saving up and doing some kind of mid travel setup. My next big upgrade will be the Bilstein 8100 series. Here is a helpful link about mid travel and how the Bilstein 8100s are one of the leading options. Do some Youtube searches for "Bilstein 8100 testing" and watch them. They are incredible shocks.

 

Mine have only been on for a couple weeks now, so not many miles at all. Thanks for the suggestion about the 8100s, but I really don't have a need to upgrade that much for what I do. From what I've read, the 6112s have a little bit smoother ride than the 5100s due to the better dampening effect, and that they pair well with the 5160s which is what I have in the rear. My shocks are still in good shape and could probably sell them and the coils used.

 

I’ve been thinking of doing a 3” lift.
I was hoping to use some 5100 for that and a AAL in the rear. would this gain me three inches front and rear?not sure what springs to get for the front.

From my research these JBA (non HD) seem to be the most cost effective UCA.
Would you recommend this set up?

 

That's my current setup. I have OME 886x front springs. I have added weight and I still find them to be a little stiff.

 

I don’t have a winch or bumper. I will one day. But lift first. What sprigs would you recommend. Do you get 3” of lift?

 

will the jba clear the ironman FCP coilovers?

 

Do you Benefit at the 2.25-2.5 inch lift?
It’s oem good enough?

 

Definitely benefit. OEM is good enough that your tires probably won't wear unevenly but your steering will still suffer some. I'm only 2.25" and ai noticed a big difference after upgrading.

 

Whats the jba lifespans ,looking at a nice used set but they have 15000 miles.

 

I have a 2020, installed Nov 2020,.I have 43,000. Just a cple squirts of grease at each oil chg and all is like brand new still! Zero complaints.

 

Thats seems shady!
Is the quality improved on these?not paying 600 bucks to have to repair in a few years.

 

I just had my truck aligned (Lifted 2.5 and stock UCA). Toe and Camber are set where they need to be but caster is only at 1 degree per side (It's like driving a shopping cart). If I put JBA's on will I have to have camber reset? I'm assuming toe will change but unsure if JBA's change camber at all.

 

JBAs give an extra 3* of caster which will make a huge difference in your drivability.