JBA UCAs

[16RedRunner]

I sent them some pictures and an email of my ball joints (both are loose after ~10k miles) and never got a response. They are adjustable - so you tighten the top cap to keep the right preload on them. It's a good design. But they're so rusty after a year that they're not adjustable anymore. The whole point of ball joints is low maintenance and long service life, so I'm not going to replace with the same ball joints. I'm going to try the mevotech offroad series. Hopefully they have a little longer lasting boot on them. I was surprised I didn't receive any response. Otherwise I don't have much complaint. They're a well designed product that uses easy to source parts. I'd still buy them again.

This is my boot currently (I touched up the red paint so that's why there's overspray on the bolts holding the ball joint in)

Wow for only being a year old they look terrible.

 

[Jetboy]

Wow for only being a year old they look terrible.

I think so. I installed them November of 2017.

I really don't care about the rust - it's mostly surface rust, but I do care that the joints didn't last very long and the boots especially didn't last long at all. They should be rubber and pliable like the OEM boots if you expect them to last a long service life like OEM ones do. FWIW I do not have the extended travel shocks, so they certainly should not be damaged by extending beyond the normal range of motion.

This is what the tops look like:

 

[Jetboy]

[MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] do you consider this an abnormal amount of rust? Do you think a more expensive brand would have not rusted this much?
I've never had aftermarket UCAs so I don't know what to expect.

I am somewhat surprised by the amount of rust. But in reality - it's mostly cosmetic. I do care that the joints are loose. That's a real problem that has to be fixed. Generally the biggest issue with uniball joints is the uniballs last around 1-2 years, so there's a lot of maintenance. The OEM ball joints were still tight on my old 4Runner at 210k miles. 200+k miles on a set may not be reasonable to expect from aftermarket joints, but 10 or 15k miles is WAY too early to be replacing them. At least the set I have are not good quality joints. I would not pay $60/ea to replace with the same thing. If the mevotech ones don't last longer I will probably modify the arm by welding in a cup that accepts OEM toyota ball joints.

These are two bolts I've pulled from skid plates of the same vehicle. In this case the rust is a problem. A big fawking problem in my opinion. I don't know if I'm experiencing abnormal corrosion, but my 1996 4Runner that I had until 210k miles didn't have similar rust issues in the same environment. I don't totally know what to make of it. Other hardware underneath looks brand new. Like the suspension mounting hardware - no corrosion at all. The two parts aren't really related other than being exposed to the same conditions generally. I park in a garage at home and a heated parking garage at work.

 

[16RedRunner]

After seeing those after a year and more important seeing the ball joint failure after only that many miles I think I am going with the Dobinson's when I get mine.

 

[atalarico]

I sent them some pictures and an email of my ball joints (both are loose after ~10k miles) and never got a response. They are adjustable - so you tighten the top cap to keep the right preload on them. It's a good design. But they're so rusty after a year that they're not adjustable anymore. The whole point of ball joints is low maintenance and long service life, so I'm not going to replace with the same ball joints. I'm going to try the mevotech offroad series. Hopefully they have a little longer lasting boot on them. I was surprised I didn't receive any response. Otherwise I don't have much complaint. They're a well designed product that uses easy to source parts. I'd still buy them again.

This is my boot currently (I touched up the red paint so that's why there's overspray on the bolts holding the ball joint in)

The pictures aren't showing for me. Anyway, that's crazy considering what I just happened where I'm getting the ball joint replaced after just a month because it has excessive play. Part of me wonders if I can actually just adjust the side that has too much play and get rid of this clunking sound?

Mind posting a pic of what part is adjustable?

Also I'm completely with you on being annoyed that these don't seem to require less care and feeding than uniballs. I mistakenly misbelieved that they were like an OEM + style that was better suited for corrosive ice melter environments.

 

[Jetboy]

The pictures aren't showing for me. Anyway, that's crazy considering what I just happened where I'm getting the ball joint replaced after just a month because it has excessive play. Part of me wonders if I can actually just adjust the side that has too much play and get rid of this clunking sound?

Mind posting a pic of what part is adjustable?

Also I'm completely with you on being annoyed that these don't seem to require less care and feeding than uniballs. I mistakenly misbelieved that they were like an OEM + style that was better suited for corrosive ice melter environments.

This is what is inside of the JBA ball joint:

On the top you can see the two pin spots where a spanner wrench is used to tighten the top cap. That cap adjusts the pressure down on the bushings you see as the two metal rings in the picture above with the 4 slots in them. Those are on top of the ball. By tightening the threaded cap it should tighten the ball joint. The result should be a long service life. I don't know why some of them seen to get loose very quickly. Most typical ball joints use some type of internal spring to adjust as they wear. Often that's something like a rubber piece that is under pressure and keeps the joint tight as the surfaces wear. To me the JBA design looks like a pretty good product that does require some adjustment over time. If I could adjust mine I'd probably just find some better boots and run them. If I were starting with new ones - I'd make sure to coat them heavily with some type of rust prevention - either oil based or even a thick coat of paint on top.

One nice benefit of the JBA arms is that I can just buy some relatively cheap HD ball joints and replace them fairly easily for not a lot of $.

Toyota ball joints are made to a higher quality standard than any aftermarket I'm aware of. And usually it's not even close. While there were some OEM lower ball joint failures on earlier models that had a recall - generally OEM is a grade better than anything aftermarket regardless of the claims of any aftermarket manufacturer. The highly polished balls used in Toyota OEM are the key to very long service life. The "gusher" machined ball is a way to paint a pretty face on an inferior quality product. A proper ball should have a mirror like finish.

 

[Agent_Outside]

if your ball joints are over a year old they are the old style. The current ones are ceracoated to prevent rust.

 

[atalarico]

This is what is inside of the JBA ball joint:

On the top you can see the two pin spots where a spanner wrench is used to tighten the top cap. That cap adjusts the pressure down on the bushings you see as the two metal rings in the picture above with the 4 slots in them. Those are on top of the ball. By tightening the threaded cap it should tighten the ball joint. The result should be a long service life. I don't know why some of them seen to get loose very quickly. Most typical ball joints use some type of internal spring to adjust as they wear. Often that's something like a rubber piece that is under pressure and keeps the joint tight as the surfaces wear. To me the JBA design looks like a pretty good product that does require some adjustment over time. If I could adjust mine I'd probably just find some better boots and run them. If I were starting with new ones - I'd make sure to coat them heavily with some type of rust prevention - either oil based or even a thick coat of paint on top.

One nice benefit of the JBA arms is that I can just buy some relatively cheap HD ball joints and replace them fairly easily for not a lot of $.

Toyota ball joints are made to a higher quality standard than any aftermarket I'm aware of. And usually it's not even close. While there were some OEM lower ball joint failures on earlier models that had a recall - generally OEM is a grade better than anything aftermarket regardless of the claims of any aftermarket manufacturer.

Oh interesting! Thanks for the pics and the explanation. Since they're sending me a new ball joint I'll just tighten up the new one with the spanner wrench and maybe the driver's side that's staying on there. Do you think I need to disconnect anything to tighten the one I'm leaving on there?

I really hope this is the source of my clunks anyway, or I'm going to be miffed.

 

[Jetboy]

Oh interesting! Thanks for the pics and the explanation. Since they're sending me a new ball joint I'll just tighten up the new one with the spanner wrench and maybe the driver's side that's staying on there. Do you think I need to disconnect anything to tighten the one I'm leaving on there?

I really hope this is the source of my clunks anyway, or I'm going to be miffed.

No. You should not need to disconnect anything. If the cap is still adjustable - you should probably unscrew it a slight amount to break the threads loose, then tighten enough to remove all of the slack. I'd guess there's an optimal pre-load to set them to, but I have no idea what that would be. I'd either call JBA or just tighten until all of the play is gone, then maybe a small additional amount? They don't need to be overly tight and they could wear fast if they are. I think there is probably a thrust washer inside that acts like a spring, but I don't know for sure.

 

[Jetboy]

Update for my ball joints:

I decided to try to contact JBA again. This time I got a response in about 2 hours. Long story short - they'll replace my ball joints free of charge including return shipping on the old ones. The process is I order new ones. Ask for a return label. When I get the new ones installed I ship the old ones back and they refund the cost of the new ones. Hard to argue with that customer service. I'm not sure why my last email wasn't answered. I double checked and it was the same email address.

I suppose the conclusion is to just try again if you haven't heard back. If these one still wear quickly I'll probably replace with the Mevotech ones. I don't need the longer travel. I do want low maintenance.

 

[Bayou_Pro]

My real concern is why do your ball joints look like that in 1 year, and you're in a dry climate?

 

[Jetboy]

My real concern is why do your ball joints look like that in 1 year, and you're in a dry climate?

I have the same concern. I debated whether it was worth even trying to replace with the same ones. Apparently they had the manufacturer coat them and the first production run were bad. I think they had them powder coated in a clear color and it didn't stick well. I think the rust potential here may be worse than it would seem. I do spend a lot of time in wet conditions in the mountains, meaning snowy weather. Utah - being that it's basically the salt capital of north america (Morton salt, salt flats, great salt lake...) salts the shit out of the roads. It's essentially free for the DOT here, so they use a TON of salt all winter. I would think it would still be far less corrosive than the typical coastal conditions though.

Even so - it costs ~$100 just for an alignment each time, plus at least let's say 2 hours of time to swap them. Is it worth it? I think I'd rather have some high quality sealed joints rather than high maintenance ones that offer extra travel. The OEM ones are basically a PTFE uniball that's sealed in and combined with a spring mechanism to adjust over time for wear. They may not be as strong, but I'm not really using mine very hard where I need HD joints. Or at least I don't think I am. 95% of my miles are highway.

 

[Bayou_Pro]

Utah - being that it's basically the salt capital of north america (Morton salt, salt flats, great salt lake...) salts the shit out of the roads. It's essentially free for the DOT here, so they use a TON of salt all winter. I would think it would still be far less corrosive than the typical coastal conditions though.

I guess that makes more since. Being from the deep south I wasn't thinking about the natural salt up there. Explains your skid bolts looking like they do.

Even so - it costs ~$100 just for an alignment each time, plus at least let's say 2 hours of time to swap them. Is it worth it? I think I'd rather have some high quality sealed joints rather than high maintenance ones that offer extra travel. The OEM ones are basically a PTFE uniball that's sealed in and combined with a spring mechanism to adjust over time for wear.

Maybe I'm wrong but there is nothing adjustable on the JBA arms right? If so why would you need an alignment when you change them?

If you got some time to kill and haven't seen this video it's a good watch. I found it interesting and helped me decide on which arms to go with.

YouTube

 

[Jetboy]

Maybe I'm wrong but there is nothing adjustable on the JBA arms right? If so why would you need an alignment when you change them?


YouTube

It may not need it. They're not adjustable, but the ball joints aren't a precision fit in the arm like a press fit ball joint is. I don't really know how much play there is - I've never taken one out - but I can see that the lower part of the ball joint isn't a tight fit in the hole in the arm. It might be close enough not to matter. You can see in the picture below how much room there is around the actual joint part of the assembly. I think the bolt holes are what really aligns it and I don't actually know what size they're cut to.

From memory, I think 5mm of movement in the upper joint is equal to about 1 degree of caster. So I think they should fit back within under 1 degree of caster because there's something like 1-2mm of room to move I'd guess. I think the result could be a slight drift or pull one way or the other. Normally with 0.25* of cross caster and .25* or so of negative camber on the driver's side - those fine tune sort of alignment specs could be within the margin of error in replacing them.

I also don't really know how much variation there would be if you are switching brands.

I probably won't get an alignment right away replacing with the same joints. I probably would plan on it with a different brand. I'll drive it and see how it feels at first.

 

[Bayou_Pro]

Makes since. Just making sure I want missing something on the jba and.


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