JBA Offroad Upper Control Arms And Suspension MEGA Thread BS thread

@Blackout14 Nope, both (as in driver and passenger side) LCA bolts were free to be adjusted. Watched the tech loosen and move/adjust them around.

 

10-4. Got a good lead on a shop that deals with lifted vehicles so I'm hoping to get something squared away this week with it all. Will also post an update once I hear from Marlin. Never dealt directly with him but based on everyone else's positive dealings with him, I expect I'll hear from him soon.

 

I've got new tars arriving Thor'sday. I'm going to try and get them mounted / balanced and get a new alignment next Saturday. Marlin offered to replace the a-arms I have now, but I said that I want to be certain before hand. It's a lot of work swapping a-arms.

 

Ooooo. These UCAs look gorgeous! Been looking at light racings but found these.. the red factor and the last 18 pages of reading is making me lean towards these... I know what to save up for once my 5100s are installed and when I purchase deavers for my taco...

 

Been following this thread for a while and the lack of complaints recently and the customer service has convinced me! Purchasing now.

 

Sub'd

 

Oh I thought that was for a few specific trucks not a general statement...

 

Ordered already and will post alignment numbers when I get them on in a month or so.

 

Anyone know the cheapest UCA's for 2.5" lift?

 

I went to another shop today and got it aligned. For anyone in the central VA area I went to Balch Alignment and Frame in Colonial Heights. I asked for a printout and apparently they're old school and don't use computers to do the alignment. They couldn't even give me the alignment numbers so I can say that I'm a little disappointed. They didn't mention anything about not being able to get it into a good alignment, but I guess in my older age I'm not as trusting of people. I plan on going back to Firestone and seeing if they'll put it on their machine just to get numbers but reiterating to them not to touch anything. I can say the truck drives great, not "twitchy" or "wandering" at all. But long story short, I can't post any numbers bc those yahoo's at the alignment shop don't usually give them out to people. Anyhow, I'm hoping to get the numbers posted up tomorrow or Thursday.

On a related note I heard back from Marlin and while appreciated, I didn't feel it was extremely helpful. More like a Wikipedia page of alignment terms and such. I'm willing to assume that perhaps it was some of my fault for possibly not asking direct questions but I did mention that I was concerned that I wasn't able to get in the 2-3 caster range. If the numbers at Firestone still show a low caster I'm going to have to assume they're not possible with the current setup and then I'll have to make a decision about asking for a refund from Marlin and getting something that's proven to have increased caster ability or living with the JBA arms and their decreased caster.

Anyhow, I agree that the more of these that get out there then the higher the probability that if there's an issue with the arms that it'll get worked out, but I feel like if that's the case, the price point should reflect a R&D scenario, not full 100% retail.

 

Perhaps the alignment number with the caster isn't needed as high? ^Big Tea says the truck drives great so even if his number is lower than factory then maybe it isn't necessary? IDK i'm just spitballing, mostly because I just bought this product..

 

I'm not sure about this one. I bought aftermarket UCAs bc I wanted to be able to get higher caster with my lift. I put my lift on (OME with 885x coils) and drove with the original UCAs for about a month before I pulled the trigger on some wheelers 3/8" top plate spacers and the JBA arms. I can tell you that with the lift and original UCAs, the truck drove like crap. Best I can describe is that it was twitchy.

So I put the top plate spacers (for rake adjustment) and JBAs on so that drivability would be better. I know the JBAs do that bc immediately after installing them and prior to alignment, it drove much better. So they do indeed do something, I can't and won't argue about that. I'd just like to know that the JBAs I bought, which were advertised as adding caster back after a lift (enough to get back in the 2-3 degree caster range), is capable of doing that.

Call me crazy, but I like to get what I pay for. Not saying that I didn't bc I don't have the numbers to back it up, but so far I haven't seen it. Yes, the truck drives better. But am I sitting at the advertised caster amount? Guess that's what this debate is all about. Caster was added, but just not sure how much. With other aftermarket UCAs it seems that folks can get in the 2-3 caster range with minimal issues at alignment shops. So far that has not been my experience with the JBA arms. Fingers crossed I'm proven wrong. This is one instance I'd love to be wrong.

 

A loss of a Saturday, a failed alignment, and hopefully a full refund! All jokes aside, I see what you mean. He released this product a bit too soon but his customer service has been great so heres to hoping his uca's improve!

 

I agree completely with you. By no means do I want to come across as bashing Marlin or his product. I may just try this method https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-do-an-alignment-at-home.252256/ of getting my own numbers and depending on what they are, maybe trying my hand at getting the 0 toe,0 camber, and 2 to 3 caster numbers everyone wants.

I will say this, in the "home alignment" instructions, the OP states to do toe last. I can vouch that the Firestone tech did not do that. He was adjusting caster/camber when I was watching prior to calling it "as good as it's gonna get".

 

Toyota's sequence is camber then caster then toe

 

So what's the word on alignments with these arms now? I really like the design of the JBA arms but the whole reason I'm getting UCA's is to correct my caster angles. I want these to work but it seems like every time I come back to this thread there are more people complaining about alignment issues. I'm starting to think more and more about just getting camburg ball joint arms b/c I want something that I can bolt up and just works. I like that Marlin has great customer service but I don't want to go through multiple sets of arms paying for a half dozen alignments, that stuff adds up. So what's the latest word?

 

mine came out fine, but I only have about an inch and a half of lift. true test will be when I go higher. Marlin did sat he would work with me on making adjustments if I have issues

 

^ wonder why you got -1.1* camber?

Not good news on my end. I had a third alignment and, no dice. So, last Friday I pulled the JBA a-arms out, and I put back stock. They'll be shipped back this weekend. Marlin offered to make me a custom set, but I declined. His commitment to customer service is admirable, but I'm not willing to do anymore testing with my daily driver. My wife was pretty pissed when I told her I had to work on the suspension for a third time.

I was super concerned that I had something else bent on my truck from the first round of UCA coil bucket hitters. Like a bent spindle, or coil bucket towers. But I did a little research and according to this post here which I will quote:

If what the quoted anonymous poster above wrote is true, and you take my alignment numbers below (SAI & IA), you can see that the left and right side match perfectly so nothing on my truck should be bent. This then points to the set of UCA's I got as being the culprit. This was a relief.



I'm going to wait 8-9 months before I try something else.