Anyone try JBA A-Arms?

[Nightglow]

JBA UCA's with OME BP-51 suspension

OK - I did a lot of research and hope that I made the right decisions. Marlin and his team just sent me my new JBA UCA's to be installed with the BP-51 suspension that came from ToyTec. I am trying to set up a new Overlanding rig for trail use and mild crawling and will be installing these components this week. As both these items (UCA and BP-51) seem to be in the minority of items selected for our T4R's throughout this and other forums, I would be happy to answer questions and give feedback to anyone interested in how these components work to improve the ride and off-road abilities of an already great 4-wheel drive.

:banana::boxer:

Epilog

I had my OME BP-51 suspension installed along with new JBA UCA's on my 2016 Trail Premium T4R. The install, with breaks and the follow-up alignment, took about 8 hours. It was straight forward, though the instructions (still only FJ/Prada) were a little confusing at times for the brackets. The included sway bar and radiator relocations kits all fit with no issues. The kit did not come with a spanner wrench so I could not adjust the coil over preload and left it at 20mm. In the end, it worked out fine as the lift ended up about 3.75 in the rear and 3.25 in the front. You cannot visually see the rake, and the T4R looks level, so I was happy with the results. As for the Compression and Rebound settings, after talking with David at ToyTec, I set the front C at 2 and R at 5 and the rear was C at 2 and R at 4 as I used the OME 889 medium springs. His recommendation for a rig with mild weight (sliders and skids) was C at 1-4 and R at 4-8. I went on the lighter side, and the ride is good for a lifted vehicle. The ride is firm but not harsh. Gone is the body sway on turns and the hood bob when breaking. Bumps are felt but not as harsh on rough roads as pre-lift and handling is tighter and improved at highway speeds (75 mph as it is Colorado). The JBA UCA's work great with this lift and the alignment came in great after a few readjustments after the installation. (See the pictures) Respond if you have any questions and I will see if I can give you the answers.

lane:

 

[5thGenTrail916]

My setup

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[classicinjection]

I rubbed, I had TE wheels with 285/70 Falken A/T3w and rubbed bad. I add a 3/4 spacer and had about 3/8 of an inch clearance. After talking with the guys at FN wheelsi I went with the Countersteer because the BS was 4.1 which was be the same as my TE/ spacer set up. Maybe a different tire would work with a 4.5BS but I don’t think the Falkens will.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

You guys are rubbing the arms with 285's on a 17x8 with 4.5" BS wheel? I have the FN Pro wheels which are 17x8 4.5 BS and 0 offset and i'm running a 295/70 Ridge Grappler. Concerned about rubbing these arms.

 

[Agent_Outside]

You guys are rubbing the arms with 285's on a 17x8 with 4.5" BS wheel? I have the FN Pro wheels which are 17x8 4.5 BS and 0 offset and i'm running a 295/70 Ridge Grappler. Concerned about rubbing these arms.

Did you ever get an answer to this?

 

[TeeDub21]

I have FN Verge that are 8.5” 4.5 backspace and my 285/70-17 Ridge Grapplers are no where near rubbing my JBA UCA’s.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Did you ever get an answer to this?

Nope but i'll be ordering soon as long as I can get the arms in black. If not, Camburg or Dobinson will be on order. Staying will ball joint, no uniball arms for me.

 

[cd4pro]

Has anyone had their JBA balljoint surface rust on them?

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Has anyone had their JBA balljoint surface rust on them?

Yeah, everyone. Whatever coating on the BJ is junk and they rust up pretty fast. Best thing to do is paint them before install.

 

[2016 4Runner SR5]

Hmm, now another arm thrown into the mix to make decisions more difficult lol

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Uppe...ash=item3f73097bd8:g:7zUAAOSw-0xYb5XF&vxp=mtr

 

[T4Ronner]

Been running the JBA UCA’s for 3 weeks now. Mine have the newer style bushings and man are those a PITA trying to get on with those washers. In fact I couldn’t get one of the inner mounted washers on. Try as we might we couldn’t do it but we did get the other side on. We ended up mounting it without it on the one side. But now the sleeve is backing out of the bushing as you can see in the pic. It’s obviously not right. Made me start to wonder if my passenger side arm is out of spec. I’m seriously considering replacing these bushings and just going with the OEM Toyota ones. Do you think I’ll be OK to reuse the ones out of my stock arms? Or should I replace with new ones? Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[ayeyothisiskyle]

Those washers were definitely a PITA. What I ended up doing was using a breaker or pipe to pry the rear of the UCA just so I could start wedging the washer in. Then, I tapped it into place. Wiggle it to get the through bolt in and they were in. I have only put these last night, so I couldn't tell you how they perform. From the test drive though town and local speed bumps, everything feels fine.

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[eelliiss]

Been running the JBA UCA’s for 3 weeks now. Mine have the newer style bushings and man are those a PITA trying to get on with those washers. In fact I couldn’t get one of the inner mounted washers on. Try as we might we couldn’t do it but we did get the other side on. We ended up mounting it without it on the one side. But now the sleeve is backing out of the bushing as you can see in the pic. It’s obviously not right. Made me start to wonder if my passenger side arm is out of spec. I’m seriously considering replacing these bushings and just going with the OEM Toyota ones. Do you think I’ll be OK to reuse the ones out of my stock arms? Or should I replace with new ones? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I think you'd be very lucky if you were able to get the bushings out of the stock UCAs without damaging them. As the last poster mentioned, you'll have to use someting for leverage to pry enough room to insert the second washer. I just happened to use the handle of the ratchet.

 

[TexasTEQFan]

Guys 2014 TEP here and just installed the FJC Bilstein TRD Pro kit last week with Daystar 1.25" front isolator and T13 rear springs. Gained a little of 2" up front and 1" in the rear. My wheels are the stock trails with 275/70/17 KO2's mounted.

I have these UCA's on the bench and ordered them because the lift was such a screaming cheap deal and I wanted get the benefits of aftermarket UCA's. Not building a heavy wheeler, more of a sleeper that's capable when pushed.

Question, anyone have the stock trail wheels with these arms? Any rubbing issues with these arms? Don't really want to add spacers or buy new wheels and I'm hesitant to throw the JBA's on there to find out I have a problem since its my DD. Thanks.

 

[sschaefer3]

Those washers were definitely a PITA. What I ended up doing was using a breaker or pipe to pry the rear of the UCA just so I could start wedging the washer in. Then, I tapped it into place. Wiggle it to get the through bolt in and they were in. I have only put these last night, so I couldn't tell you how they perform. From the test drive though town and local speed bumps, everything feels fine.

You have to pry over and and slide the washer in on most arms I have installed, that actually indicated they are made correctly they should be tight.

 

[Nightglow]

JBA with stock Trail wheels

I have had my JBA UCA's with BP-51 suspension of over a year and have had zero issues or rubbing with stock wheels. Note that I have Durtrac 255-70-17 tires.

 

[TeeDub21]

Those washers were definitely a PITA. What I ended up doing was using a breaker or pipe to pry the rear of the UCA just so I could start wedging the washer in. Then, I tapped it into place. Wiggle it to get the through bolt in and they were in. I have only put these last night, so I couldn't tell you how they perform. From the test drive though town and local speed bumps, everything feels fine.

I'll second this. Did the install by myself and getting everything lined up, washers in and that uuuge bolt inserted was a pain. Also had to use a prybar to get everything in with the washers.

 

[2012sr5]

Just installed JBA high caster UCAs

I had the morning off today. I set up an alignment appointment yesterday and gave myself a couple of hours this morning to swap these in. It went a lot better than I was expecting. I want to say up front that if you are going to tackle this job by yourself, I think you'll be ok. The lubricant that JBA includes with their UCAs makes it pretty easy for you to slide that one difficult washer in there if you make a tiny bit of space with a pry bar. These are a tight fit! My only other hiccup during the install was that I had to detach some brackets on the passenger side (AC lines and power steering reservoir) so I could get that long bolt reinstalled with the new UCAs.

Here are my alignment numbers. I paid for a lifetime alignment at Firestone several months ago. This is probably my 4th time having it aligned. The tech was not happy that I put new UCAs on my truck. He said he had to start from scratch instead of make minor adjustments. He also said this was the best he could do with "damn near new everything under there" (his actual words). In reality, the only new parts were the JBA UCAs, as I had swapped in my suspension before getting the lifetime alignment from them.

I'm out of spec on the drivers side "SAI" and "Included Angle." Is this a big deal? Do I need to give it another shot at a different Firestone?

 

[borfoo3]

I had the morning off today. I set up an alignment appointment yesterday and gave myself a couple of hours this morning to swap these in. It went a lot better than I was expecting. I want to say up front that if you are going to tackle this job by yourself, I think you'll be ok. The lubricant that JBA includes with their UCAs makes it pretty easy for you to slide that one difficult washer in there if you make a tiny bit of space with a pry bar. These are a tight fit! My only other hiccup during the install was that I had to detach some brackets on the passenger side (AC lines and power steering reservoir) so I could get that long bolt reinstalled with the new UCAs.

Here are my alignment numbers. I paid for a lifetime alignment at Firestone several months ago. This is probably my 4th time having it aligned. The tech was not happy that I put new UCAs on my truck. He said he had to start from scratch instead of make minor adjustments. He also said this was the best he could do with "damn near new everything under there" (his actual words). In reality, the only new parts were the JBA UCAs, as I had swapped in my suspension before getting the lifetime alignment from them.

I'm out of spec on the drivers side "SAI" and "Included Angle." Is this a big deal? Do I need to give it another shot at a different Firestone?

Drive around for a bit to let things settle in. Take note for any weird behavior. Take it back for round 2 in a week

 

[2012sr5]

Drive around for a bit to let things settle in. Take note for any weird behavior. Take it back for round 2 in a week

Never really noticed any weird behavior after round 1, but after round 2 today, all of my numbers are good, and the truck feels even smoother.

Camber: -0.5º/-0.2º
Caster: 3.9º/3.7º
Toe: 0.08º/0.10º
SAI: 12.4º/12.1º
Inc. Angle: 11.8º/11.9º

Those are with a 2.5" lift up front (OME 2883 and Bilstein 5100 set at 0).