Long Travel BS Thread

DJ would probably perform fine in the upper control arm, but as you saw from Jambo, the lowers need to be as strong as possible. Here’s some pics of my upper on the side that took a hit. If you look closely, you can see the bolt is bent. Also the gusseted spindle, you can see where to tie rod arm bent.

 

brutal. what was the actual failure mode here?

 

Hit a tree.

 

but what actually broke?

 

Interesting to see how/what failed.
TBH, I think I'd rather lose a LBJ than a LCA based on replacement cost? But OTOH bending a LCA won't leave you stranded on a trail while a LBJ would.
What do you/y'all think?

 

The LCA Uniball bolt sheared. That’s what ripped the wheel out of place. Which in turn pulled the CV out of the inner cup. Also upon impact, the spindle bent at the tie rod arm. Also the pictures above show the UCA uniball bolt is bent and the spacer is cracked. Other than that, front bumper bent some, but did its job protecting the body.

 

brutal. I almost lost the LBJ adapter bolts going down the freeway. Same thing happened to me in a parking lot making a tight turn, right after getting off the freeway.

 

at least for uppers, my experience is non PTFE lined units last much longer than PTFE units

Which lower kit was this?

Did it still run a basket on an axially loaded uniball?

 

I think just surface area to spread the load of hits yea. Also yea more angle because it rotates around a bigger sphere basically but that's typically limited more by the misalignments anyway.

I think it's just a cost thing. This is just a stock length UCA from when they first started selling them(not lt up front yet, possibly ever), was like $100 more than any competitors and that 1.25 uniball + being boxed is the only reason i could see why there was a price difference. But like i said, holds up wayyyyy better. I do my uniballs every other year even with the weather, mud, and road salt here. Take that with a grain of salt tho, my truck is light and i think thats the biggest difference there