Upper control arm recommendations

JBA

 

JBA +1

 

Been waiting 2 months?

Rock Auto has SPC UCAs repackaged under the Mevotech brand for about $100 less than SPC. Mine have been performing well through multiple wheeling trips. Nice and quiet.

 

I have the downsouth UCAs and I've never greased them. Mainly b/c every time i've tried the old grease had no where to go. I'm not sure they were worth the hype initially.

 

Oh you know.. life.

 

On Mevotech/SPC and JBA ball joints, the boot is a slip fit on the stud pin. Just pump grease in until the boot inflates a little. As the suspension cycles, excess grease is worked out from the bottom of the boot. Just wipe off the top of the spindle if you see grease there.

The good thing about this design is the joint will last a long time if you grease it on a regular schedule (say once a year), as new grease continuously flushes out old grease. The bad thing is contaminants can get inside the boot more easily, so the joint will fail quickly if you don't keep up with the greasing.

 

JD Fabrications... uses OEM bushings and greaseable uniball

 

The upper ball joint on these is a uniball design and that’s no problem to maintain. It’s the frame side of the control arm where that super long bolt goes through. There is a zerk on each side on the bottom but no place for the grease to push through from what I can tell. Unless I’m doing it wrong!
Pics for reference. Kinda dark this am but you get the idea.

 

This is why I have the setup I do...no bushings to every lube and the arms never make noise!

 

JBA because they have LESS adjust-ability. You probably don't need it and the last thing you want is to confuse your alignment tech or have another thing to get tossed out of whack. Also they use an off the shelf ball joint that you can replace with a parts store ball joint for a chevy pickup that any parts store will have in stock for cheap.

 

This thread hasn't helped me at all.
I'm more confused than before I read it. I think I should get SPC, JBA, TC and JD Fab UCAs and just rotate them out every 6 months to be sure.
They all sound great for one reason or another.
Good thing I don't have the cash yet...this is going to take awhile.

 

Loosen the main long bolt before greasing to allow for room for grease to flow.

 

Yea, I did that once or twice initially but really a pain in the ass design, no? I'm sure theres gotta be better ways.

 

Bolt the JD fab arms on and you are done, there is zero maintenance and zero adjustment needed

 

Do they even make UCA for 2nd gens...?

 

Yes, this is their upper arm on my second gen

 

Ah, there. I thought you were referring to the ball joint.

Loosen the long bolt to get some gap between the end washers, then give a few symbolic pumps with the grease gun. If you put grease in during initial installation, the inboard bushings don't need frequent repeat greasing. I had All-Pro UCAs in my old truck. Didn't grease the inboard bushings for 5 years - no noise from there (though the uniball squeaked a lot). The urethane aftermarket sway bar bushings in my Subaru are still running quietly on the original grease packet with no maintenance over the past 6 years. The Mevotech-packaged UCAs don't even have zerks for the inboard bushings

 

Special order? not seeing it on their web site

 

They have them available, not on the site yet.

They are also very affordable... you will be surprised