SPC vs JBA UCAs

I don't know, man! I have seen too many complaints about rusting ball joints. Maybe that's why is so easy to replace.

 

Don't think you can go wrong with either...lots of both being run

Good luck, hope it all works out for you

 

Dude, you live in Ft. Lauderdale. The guy with the rust issue lives in New England. You won't have rust issues on the JBA's. I have had mine on for over a year with no problems.

 

old version had that issue, new ones are specially coated!

 

Yes, you got a point! But I wasn't sure how bad they rust and why. Is because of the salt or just because they made this part from cheap metal?

 

Unfortunately brother after 1 Winter mine are already rusting out.

 

Plastic will rust in the Northeast after a winter of salty snow and ice.

 

I sent them 3 emails about this issue and nobody has an answer yet. Let's see what they have to say about this.

 

1.5 years old. No rust issue n Texas. Everything in the north rusts

 

Clearly you can’t get over the “issues” with the JBA’s. Just get the SPC control arms and form your own opinions. I love my JBA’s and wouldn’t trade them for anything. I have 3.8* of caster on both sides. Zero rust after 2 years. It all depends on whether you live up north where they salt the roads or not, which you don’t.


/thread

 

Sure I can get over the "issues" bro. But I am not rich and I don't want to spend almost $500 on parts that are going to rust in a few months. I'm just trying to get the best bang for my money. Anyway, some friends told me that the SPC is a pain in the ass for some technicians, because of the adjustable ball joints. So, the JBA could be a better choice again.

 

JBA customer service has been great in my limited experience.

 

You are going to be hard pressed to find any alignment shop in south Florida that understands aligning with the SPC's. The Tire Kingdoms, Firestones, and TiresPlus's of the world have guys that graduated a half day course on how to use the machine but have no real world automotive knowledge. We simply don't have any legit 4x4 shops. However, if you get the SPC, I would recommend driving up to Stuart and go see Josh at CTM customs. He gets it and they are the only shop that I will let align my truck.

 

The SPCs are easy to adjust in your driveway using the instruction sheet they come with (or download it off their website). All you do to adjust the caster and/or camber is loosen the top nut, then with the tires off the ground you can turn the ball joint by hand and that will change your caster. On the instructions they have a diagram showing which position the ball joint should be in to get different specific numbers. There's a slot for the ball joint to slide toward or away from the truck as well to adjust the camber. Once you get it in the position you want you tighten the top nut and you're good.

Afterward it would be wise to have an alignment shop check your numbers just to make sure you got it even on both sides but it's not hard to do yourself.

FWIW most people just install SPCs on the normal setting and keep them that way...with the SPCs and the JBAs you automatically get better caster and should be able to achieve 3 degrees via the lower settings at an alignment shop without even touching the upper ball joint. I keep mine on the normal setting and my local shop was able to give me 3˚ easily.

 

I don't know where in FL you are, but we have a few 4x4 shops around here. Champion4x4 for example, one is located in hialeah and the other one in Fort Lauderdale. But anyway, usually I do my alignments in a small shop in Miramar with more than 50 years of experience. But the SPC could be complicated to adjust and they have a lot of customers (just 2 old guys doing suspension repairs and alignments) And as you should know, time is money for these small shops.

 

Awesome! I need at least 4˚of caster. I don't really like the way my truck is running right now. The truck has 5.5" suspension lift plus 1' of BL.

 

Might be able to get close to that with the lower settings and the SPCs at normal, I'm not sure...either way with the adjustability of the SPCs it will be possible.

I rubbed bad with the ~1.8˚ caster until I had them put it at 3˚ and boom, no more rubbing.

 

Did you remove your grease zerks on the poly bushings? And say fuck it about the inside washers?

 

Zerk fittings on the bushings is the one thing I wish the SPC's had...I guess it wouldn't be hard to drill them but still. In 2 years I haven't had any issues with my bushings making noise so maybe it's not all that necessary, but I do like how you have the option to grease them on the JBAs.

 

Trust me when I say there are no true 4x4 shops in south Florida. Anything close to a 4x4 shop is accustomed to working on Jeeps or diesel bro trucks. CTM knows what’s up and charges $100.