JBA Offroad Upper Control Arms And Suspension MEGA Thread BS thread

Also for reference here’s the old and new ball joint assembly (2 years with 25k)

 

It’s more of a height issue than width. A 31.7” tire sits below the UCA. So anything bigger on a +25 rim would hit. I’ll try and get a picture so you have a visual.

 

This is 265/75/16 on stock TRD OR wheels with a little over 2” lift.

 

Ahhh. Thanks for the pic. That helps.

 

2nd Gen Tacoma with JBA UCA's and Kings.

At slow speeds, mostly with turning, I can hear a clunking/grinding noise coming from the front end. I can hear it and also feel it under my feet. Sounds like something is loose or binding.

Put it on a lift, checked everything. No play in wheel bearings, bushing on shock is good, didn't hear anything from the LCAs with movement, and didn't hear anything with UCA movement. Although it was pretty tough to get the UCA to go up. Like it was catching. But, as soon as the weight of the truck is on the front suspension, every time the UCA moves you can hear the noise. At crawl speeds, you can have someone put their hand on the UCA and as the UCA moves up and down, you can feel the noise through the UCA. Which makes me think UCAs, but not sure what it could be.

One thing to note. I have the older style UCAs, prior to the zerk fittings at the bushings.

Any thoughts, or anyone else had this issue?

 

Did you tighten the UCAs with weight on the front suspension or no? You could be binding up the bushings a bit if you made them tight while the wheels are in the air. Can try loosening them up while lifted, drop it down, bounce the front suspension a bit to help it settle, then tighten.

That's the way it was with my Jeep. Could be different in this case.

 

Initially tightened on lift. Since getting the clunk, loosened them and tightened with wheels on ground. No difference.

 

This is what I would do also.

Since I'm new to the Truck world..... Would this be the normal method for setting the suspension so that the bushings are in a "neutral" position?

 

I am in need of replacing my ball joints in my JBAs do they have to be the JBA ball joints or can I use any of these ones listed in the photo.

I have to make a trip this weekend through a snowy mountain highway and don't feel comfortable with not fixing it first but can't get the JBA ball joints in time

 

Were they well greased before install? Everything else you took apart is reinstalled correctly like sway bar end links, etc?

 

Hope this will help anyone trying to decide or get a visual...

The alignment shop was really impressed with how easy they were to work with.
No clearance/fitment issues for me at all.
No noise/clunking/binding of any sort.
Just a smooth uca, doing its job.

Here they are installed and I have a little over and inch between the tire and the uca, plenty of room!

2004 Tacoma, 3" OME (882), scs 16x8 wheel 4.0 backspace -12 offset. 285/75r16 tire.

 

Awesome!

If you have a chance can you get a picture of your clearance on the UCAs at full lock with that wheel/tire setup?

 

I'll try to this weekend for ya.

 

Hmm. Not sure then. I wonder if the bushings are still good.

That's right. Need to make sure the arm is in the "resting" position before torquing down.

 

Just came in 5mins ago! Going on my '03 in the next couple weeks. After going through this thread I learned that there was a rust issue with the older jba ball joints. After looking at some of the pictures the ones I received today look like they might be the older style. Can anybody confirm?

I do live in Southern Arizona so salty roads won't be a problem here LOL. If they are the older ones should I contact jba asap? I don't want to run into any rust issues if I can help it.

 

Those appear to be the newer cerakote version but I guess you could call or email Marlin at JBA and ask him. Since you just purchased them new I would be surprised if they aren’t using the latest version he has.

 

Sorry, here's a better shot. Thought I saw somewhere in this thread where someone said they'd look yellowish. That's not the case at all with mine at all, lol. I guess they do look cerakoted.

 

Here is a pic of mine before I installed them. They seem to be a little yellower now that I’ve had them on for over a year. I don’t have a current pic of them installed or I would show you to compare. Maybe I can take a pic tomorrow and show you that they do appear more yellow after time.

 

Wow! What color did your paint them? Looks really good!! I'd probably keep mine red though. Goes with my mystic gold truck well and since I have a few subtle red accents on it. Wonder if there's anything I could spray them with to protect the red? Seen other peoples red on here chipping off :/ and yes, that'd be nice if you could get a pic. Thx!

 

Here's the yellowish color pic I saw also from here in the thread. Maybe they weren't cerakoted yet idk.