JBA Offroad Upper Control Arms And Suspension MEGA Thread BS thread

Let me give you my experience with my JBA's since I have a 2013 double cab long bed (That I DO off road BTW lol), and have had my JBA's on for the past four years. The need for aftermarket upper control arms is to basically give you the articulation that you would need for the suspension to work properly. You are really not going to "feel" anything different on the road. They also allow you to have more options regarding putting on bigger tires, for your lift, mainly due to the geometry that are built into them to help you align your truck correctly. The SPC UCA's are actually a very good UCA. "Gimmicky" or not, they do allow for more adjustability for whoever does your alignment. If the person knows what they're doing and knows how to adjust the SPC's because they have previous knowledge and experience on how to do so, that is a great thing. If they don't, it can actually make things a lot worse. I went with JBA for a number of different reasons. I knew that they were "rock solid", had 3 degree's of caster built into them ( I have 285/70/17's so it definitely helps), they come with a lifetime warranty, both of the upper bushings are greaseable with Zerk fittings as well as the ball joint, outside of the icon "Delta joint" in my opinion the ball joints are some of the toughest around as well as very easily replaceable by the common man without a press, and they are backed with a lifetime warranty. I do off road my truck a lot, even though it is a "trail limo" and it allows the suspension to fully cycle instead of getting hung up on the geometry of the ball joint. Keep in mind, that any 2nd gen truck with 2.5"+ of lift in the front ( even though I tell people 2" still makes a big difference) Will be necessary to make sure that your suspension is working correctly and you are not putting undue stress upon a ball joint stretched to the limit. Are they absolutely 100% necessary? The true answer to that is no. Are they 100% absolutely recommended? The true answer that is yes. I did have the old ball joints in my truck and they never once failed on me. I changed them out after three years, and 50,000 but not because the ball joint failed, I wanted to replace them because of how hard I can be on my truck. People are going to try to sell you on whatever they feel is going to be what is best for them, but maybe not you. It basically turns into a "Ford versus Chevy" debate. There's going to be pros and cons to each UCA you put on. My personal experience, if I had to do it all over again, I still would choose my JBA's. This is just my two cents.

 

Much appreciated @Texoma and @crashngiggles . You’ve given me something to think about.

 

Edit: ordered them, can’t wait for these and the coilovers to come in!

 

Question about alignment with these since they have 3* of caster built into them does that force the alignment tech to automatically have to adjust the lower control arm forward to correct alignment or do you still have to let them know to push the lower control arm as far forward as possible for tire clearance?

 

@Vst Specs provided with purchase of my HC arms was stock toe and camber, and 4.5*caster. My alignment guy will get the numbers you ask for, so just tell him what to shoot for, a good tech will get it.

 

I had my JBA UCAs installed sometime last year by a professional since I don't have the skill set or time to do it myself. I don't drive my truck much so I recently had my first oil change since having these installed. I decided I would run my first grease through it and noticed an issue that you can see below. I highlighted in red that one of the bushings popped out. I then noticed, after looking at pictures of other JBA UCA installs, that it was installed without washers on the inside of the bushing (yellow circle). Could this have been the cause of the bushing being pushed out? Also, I don't know how long this has been pushed out like this so I don't know what kind of damage it might have caused. Can anyone give me some advice on this?

 

That really stinks. It needs to be done correctly or it will continue to happen. Thin washers in the middle. Big on the outside. Personally I would purchase new bushings and have them installed.

 

Wow, a professional.

 

At the very least, that shop owes you a new set of bushings. Honestly, you should get your money back AND new bushings, so you can pay a different shop to install them properly.

 

Go get your money back from the jackass who charged you to install those. That's the first thing you need to do.

 

Seeing if I could get some advice for a possible JBA control arm upgrade. I'm currently running OME 884 with Bilstien 5100 up front and Dakars with an overload removed in the rear. I've posted my latest alignment specs below.

Would JBA UCAS be necessary to get me closer to the often recommended 3/0/0 alignment specs, or would these give too much caster for my 2-inch lift up front?

 

Don't touch it and take it back to that so called "Professional" and make them correct their mistake! Make them pay every penny of the repair!

 

https://youtu.be/huMztKaHsUE

 

I just got my alignment specs back after installing JBAs with a 2.5” lift. I know JBA suggests 3* of caster. Is is bad to have more than that and is the disparity between the left and right sides indicative of any issues. I am currently sitting at 5.1/6.1.

 

Does anyone remember if JBA ever came out with a recall on their paint flaking? I know mine are quite a few years old but I thought the powder coat would hold up better. Any info on the matter would be appreciated, thanks!

 

Sorry, I don't know. My 2 cents... I would just e-mail them and complain and see what they will do. In my experience they are a good company to work with. Or just clean them and rattle can?

 

I know he had problems with the silver coating on the ball joint rusting very quick but I wasn’t sure about the red powder coating. I had the off to do the new EZ lube bushings and theyre back on the truck now so I’m not going to worry about it lol

 

Indirect answer: Caster is also a product of frame angle, if the truck has a rake forward/backwards caster can be different, just as it changes when you have a load in the bed or a trailer causing squat.

More direct answer: are you noticing any pulling? Caster pulls to the lower #. Unless you are noticing any front end shimmy on the highway, it really shouldn't be an issue. I usually try for the 4.5° mark on our trucks when I align them. Your return to center at low speeds must be amazing though lol.

 

JBA running any TW discount or just order straight from their site?

 

They generally dont do discounts. I tried when i attempted to order two sets.