JBA Offroad Upper Control Arms And Suspension MEGA Thread BS thread

@Blackout14 point taken on new products in the market place. I actually held out until after the bending issue got taken care of, hoping that the major issues had gotten hammered out.

I definitely want these to work and want to help out the "small business owner". Don't want to ruin his reputation bc looking at the arms they are well built and high quality.

I'm glad he's working on getting better caster numbers and dialing them in, unfortunately it leaves me and possibly a few others with sub-par parts and unless we spend additional money on a part that is supposed to give us good alignment numbers (as the original parts we bought were stated to do already) we're left with 3 choices:

1. Deal with our current setup,
2. Buy the updated parts at FULL PRICE, or
3. Buy a different aftermarket UCA at FULL PRICE

I for one don't have $400-$500 laying around to just throw at another set of UCAs so I'm stuck with number 1. Unless Marlin wants to do something about pricing number 2 to the folks who bought and installed the original UCAs (after the bnding got fixed) then I'd say most of us won't bite on the "high caster" arms. Like the old saying, "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me".

Or hell, if he needs another rig to test them on he can ship me some and I'll install and report back, I'm just not willing to pay for the opportunity to do his testing for him again. I mean, Christmas is coming up you know...lol

 

I just ordered a set of the high caster arms. Will he confirm the design of the arms on your truck before he starts sending out the new ones? I'm not in a rush to receive them.

Edit: didn't type fast enough. Got my question answered before I could ask it.

 

You the real mvp! Seriously, thanks for helping with this. I enjoy marlin and his products, it's great to see he's willing to work with us. I wear my JBA flair on my truck, proud, because I believe in his products

 

@Blackout14 Thanks a ton for talking to Marlin and pass along my gratitude to him for doing this. Really restores my faith in doing business with individuals rather than large companies. I'll be patient and wait until you update with some of your numbers prior to proceeding with contacting Marlin. If he has any particular request for me (after next weeks fitment confirmation) let me know.

Thanks for your assistance with this, definitely appreciate it a lot.

 

Jumping in here a bit late but, do the original version provide any adjustment or are they basically a stock replacement as far as caster goes? I'm sitting at the mid-lower end of the Toyote spec and wouldn't mind bumping it up a bit.

 

Sitting at 1.5 on the left and 1.9 on the right. I've got a very slight pull to the left but nothing crazy. Other wise it feels pretty good.

 

That's the plan. I was hoping to get new control arms in my truck before I left for a short road trip but it looks like we will be rolling with these numbers. Thanks.

 

@Blackout14 can you tell me the difference in the high caster UCAs and the regular ones? In other words, is Marlin using different ball joints, redesigning the arm end to allow more articulation or what? I checked out his webpage and can't really tell what's different with the new ones (if the pics are representative of new arms of course). Thanks

 

So your camber is just like mine bro. You are good with that

 

WRONG! LR ucas ftw.....

 

Damnnnnnnnnnn right on that

 

Time to call Marie and get a real UCA made for 3 inch lifted applications. 600.00 for barely anymore Caster than my stocks.

 

what did ur 887 and 5100 measure out to height wise and what did u do in the rear?

 

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah

 

Right now I am at 23 inches in the front and 24 in the back. Went with a Icon 1.5 progressive AAL in the rear and Icon 2.0 shocks

 

did u do a lean spacer?

 

yup

 

I have been watching this thread from near day 1. I was attracted by the balljoint design and the price point. I called and spoke with Marlin about the arms. He seemed like a genuinely great guy. Fortunately, I held off on purchasing and the alignment issues started popping up, then the bent coil buckets. I was glad to see he was planning to correct the issues. I am certainly happy to see that the alignment issues seem to be worked out based on your specs. I would like to say that I'm all in and ready to order now, but that's not the case. I hope everyone with the new arms is able to get similar numbers as you did. I also want to hear a report after someone wheels the hell out of them to make sure there are no clearance issues with the new design. Until then, I'll be lurking. Good luck to all.

 

Well I couldn't take it. I called and spoke with Marlin again a minute ago. He seems confident that the issues have all been resolved. He also said new sets are being welded as we speak, and a batch will be sent to powder coat today. Now to wait for the reviews to start coming in................For those of you with the old design, is he replacing yours with new ones?