JBA Upper Control Arms

[hoaxci5]

I received them today, but I won't be able to start the install until I get back on Mon/Tue..

https://theultimatejeep.com/notfound.png

[Sal-XK]

That's sweet bro! especially because how much you wheel it's money well spent I think.

[hoaxci5]

My drivers side ball joint is shot, so I assume the passenger side isn't far behind. Figured I might as well upgrade instead of install OEM again and have it fail..

[Matt]

Very cool. How long did they take to come?

[hoaxci5]

I ordered them on the 16th and they shipped the same day. So no delay on JBA's part, just UPS ground shipping time from PA to CA.

[Omelet]

Awesome! Congrats Bud! I am wanting to hit the Miller Jeep trail again sometime in Feb, will you be around? It has been too long since we have wheeled!

[hoaxci5]

I should be around, Marylou deploys sometime in early Feb I'm pretty sure though.. so as long as it's not on "that" weekend I should be good.

[Omelet]

Cool! I will keep you posted. There will probably be a few of us! That sucks she is deploying again already! Mine is still up in the air.

[CmmdrDan]

I don't know what we will do if the Omelet mods stop! Hope If you do get deployed its a short and uneventful one. Same for the wife Jake!

[Omelet]

Hahaha! Who says the mods will stop :D

[naidib04]

How many miles til your ball joints went?

[hoaxci5]

I'm at 78k I bought it with 48k and put the 2.25" Rocky Road lift on almost immediately.. Then I offroaded it quite a bit..

[pjmjr508]

I think mine is about blown too & I'm @ 44k.

[TrialByFire]

Good choice Jake. I'm very happy with my JBA UCAs.

[Sal-XK]

Just waiting for mine to go out so I can get a set as well.......

[pjmjr508]

just make sure that I am right, if the UCA is bad it can pull to that side & the camber would be off right?


I had my alignment checked and it is pulling to the right & the camber is off. So I am thinking that mine is on the way or pretty much toast.

Not trying to hijack your thread, just was thinking about it when I saw the thread

[naidib04]

Yeah I only have 36k on my 06 WK but when they go I think I will upgrade from the day star to OME and JBA UCAs

[hoaxci5]

just make sure that I am right, if the UCA is bad it can pull to that side & the camber would be off right?


I had my alignment checked and it is pulling to the right & the camber is off. So I am thinking that mine is on the way or pretty much toast.

Not trying to hijack your thread, just was thinking about it when I saw the thread

It got moved from the Tech Staging area anyways so it doesn't matter :p

I don't have any pulling, I'm not sure on camber issues, but the Jeep seems to be driving just fine. The only reason I was inspecting and ended up at ball joints was that I had a popping sound over bumps sometimes, so I jacked it up and started moving things around to see what the problem was..

This is a video in this link
http://www.theultimatejeep.com/showthread.php/1520-Front-end-popping?highlight=

[Matt]

just make sure that I am right, if the UCA is bad it can pull to that side & the camber would be off right?
I had my alignment checked and it is pulling to the right & the camber is off. So I am thinking that mine is on the way or pretty much toast.
Not trying to hijack your thread, just was thinking about it when I saw the thread

When the control arm is "bad", that either means the control arm bushings are bad or the balljoint is bad. These conditions result in popping/knocking noises; and bad control arm bushings can sometimes result in pulling while braking.

Your camber being out is more of an issue of the limited adjustability of the camber/caster on these vehicles and running a 2+ inch spacer lift. First things first, make sure the tech actually adjusted the LCA. Sadly, i've seen many cases where shops just don't bother adjusting them on these vehicles (either by negligence or laziness).

[hoaxci5]

Well I got them installed.. I didn't do much with write up or pics. Reason being I was pissed at how long it took me.

Here is why..
1072

The bolts to remove the UCA's were blocked by the springs. So I had to basically remove the struts.. which also meant disconnecting to sway bar to get everything to line up without fighting it too much. Overall the instructions are good, but depending on what lift you have or what position your springs are in, or how the moon and sun is aligned may change the difficulty. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 difficulty. If you aren't comfortable installing a budget boost lift kit, I wouldn't attempt this just because of the issues that I ran into, not huge to overcome, but might be more than some would be willing/able to overcome without help.

Additionally since I had to loosen the struts, I ended up tearing on the of boots on my passanger side CV.. awesome.. so another job grew out of this one, thats no ones fault but mine, but just another reason to put it at at least a 3 wrench difficulty.

[07JeepXK]

Any pics of them installed?

[hoaxci5]

I'll make sure I grab some tomorrow, still trying to hunt down some clunking.. and dealing with being frustrated about the CV..

[pjmjr508]

thx for the heads up on how much of a PITA is to replace, might just have it done to save the hassle.

[TrialByFire]

I remember a thread on "that other site" that talked about reversing the direction of the bolts when reassembling to make it much easier the next time.

[Omelet]

Ya that sucks Jake! The first time I removed mine I reversed the bolts. :D

[hoaxci5]

I ended up taking to the mechanic for other issues, so I haven't had it for a few days.. I'll update with pics when I get it back.

[hoaxci5]

As promised.

http://www.theultimatejeep.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1082&d=1326334457

[pjmjr508]

How do you like them?
Looks like I will be ordering these with in the next 2 weeks along with a full OME HD setup.

[hoaxci5]

I'm sure they are great, but I'm still hunting down and dealing with other issues, so I'm not super happy in general.

[07JeepXK]

hoaxci5...Just curious if you have the same problem with your new UCA's as I do. When the front end is off the gound, do your steering knuckes contact the spring/stut or spring isolator? Mine does and im not sure if this will effect anything when off roading. I love these UCA's but hope this isnt going to be an issue.

[hoaxci5]

Yes they do and I contacted Marlin about it and he said its normal.

[Sal-XK]

Is it the opinion then these were designed for larger lifts?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[hoaxci5]

Is this at full droupe?

We designed a coilover strut for these reason needing more strut to steering knuckle clearance at full droupe.
Marlin Gehman

Yes it is at full droop in the pictures. So are you saying it's normal (but obviously not ideal?)

Yes, with how tight everything is on the IFS, the coil spring needs to be smaller and then suspension can drop more.
Marlin Gehman

(Email exchange from when I installed them)

[Omelet]

If you don't like the idea of them contacting, you could install limit straps to stop the down travel right before contact. It is a fairly easy thing to do.

[07JeepXK]

hoaxci5, how close is your steering knuckle to the spring/strut at normal ride height? Mine is extremely close. I can barely fit a finger in between. Think you could take a picture at normal ride height so that i can compare it to mine?



If you don't like the idea of them contacting, you could install limit straps to stop the down travel right before contact. It is a fairly easy thing to do.

Omelet, Im going to have to take a closer look at the suspension in the next couple days. I could be wrong, but think it might make contact prior to the tire being at full drop. I'll have to check it out. If this is the case and I add limiting straps Id lose a lot of down travel. I wouldnt care if my XK never left the pavement, but as well all know its off road almost as much as it is on road.

In the mean time can you point me in the right direction to where I can get my hands on some limiting straps that will work perfectly for my XK? Also where exactly do you install each end of the limiting strap?

[Omelet]

So you are thinking the arm are limiting your down travel by a good bit? Any chance know what your hub-fender measurement was at full drop before? I guess you could ask another XK owner with the OME and no JBA UCAs to measure theirs. Then compare that to your measurement at full drop to see the difference.

I got mine from a local off road shop. You could get just an adjustable strap and run it from one bolt to the next, or get a little more complicated like I did :D I got an adjustable clevis and a weld on mount to have fine adjustment in length. It is the more excepted way to do it. Also be aware that straps will stretch over time and the longer the strap the more it will stretch. I know some people here don't like certain other forums, but here is a link to my instal:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f67/limiting-straps-1247555/

[07JeepXK]

I'm not sure if the control arms are limiting travel or not. I guess it could be possible since the steering knuckle is hitting the coil stopping it from going down any farther. I dont have any down travel measurements proir to the install.

[hoaxci5]

hoaxci5, how close is your steering knuckle to the spring/strut at normal ride height? Mine is extremely close. I can barely fit a finger in between. Think you could take a picture at normal ride height so that i can compare it to mine?


You'd have to ask Jon, I'm in Michigan for the next month and a half and left my Jeep with him. I don't remember to be able to even guess..

[Omelet]

Well you would need the measurements from a XK with the OME lift without the arms to compare to yours with the arms. You and Jake both have the arms so you need someone else. Or spend some time and swap the OEM arm back in on one side just to compare it to the other side.

[07JeepXK]

Well you would need the measurements from a XK with the OME lift without the arms to compare to yours with the arms. You and Jake both have the arms so you need someone else. Or spend some time and swap the OEM arm back in on one side just to compare it to the other side.

Oh there will be no swapping oem control arms back on this XK...lol I made the mistake of putting the bolts back in the same way it took them out. Didint realize it until I was totally finished with the install. That means the struts would need to come back out again. Im going to mess with it tomorrow night after work and see what I can figure out. There might be limiting straps in my future.

[Gulf550]

So what I gather is, you have to purchase his coilover setup just so you won't make contact?

[07JeepXK]

So what I gather is, you have to purchase his coilover setup just so you won't make contact?

Pretty much. I wonder if the RRO UCAs have the same problem.

[hoaxci5]

As I recall the OEM ones hit with my RRO lift, I'm not 100% on that though.

[07JeepXK]

I don't believe my OEM uppers hit with my OME lift. If so I had a lot more down travel then I do now.