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JBA UCA's arrived/ install

Discussion in 'Suspension' started by OBXTundra, Oct 18, 2017.

  1. Oct 18, 2017 at 9:13 AM
    #1
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    These were delivered yesterday. Not much feedback from Tundra owners, but all other Toyota guys seem to love these. My friend with a '15 4R is what prompted me to take the leap and go with the JBA's.

    Email contact that I had with Marlin (owner of JBA) was also prompt, professional, and gave me a lot of confidence to go with a product that I couldn't find much about in the Tundra community.

    The ball joint is what really sold me. It's range of motion and use in 1 ton trucks were selling points. It's also a ball joint that you can find anywhere, at any part store in the USA. Greasable bushings and ball joints all around. They have the little tab for the ABS line as well. These really checked every box that I was looking for in a daily driver UCA.

    I plan to install these on Saturday. I will post some pics of the install and follow up with a post-install review.

    The end-game for the front end includes Toy-Tec/Eibach 3" lift Coilovers. Those will be next months play money.
    20171018_114003.jpg 20171018_114036.jpg 20171018_114134.jpg
     
    equin, Mountun Goat, aperezsh and 6 others like this.
  2. Oct 18, 2017 at 9:38 AM
    #2
    TXRailRoadBandit73

    TXRailRoadBandit73 YOTAS,RAILROADER,RÖKnRÖLLN',BEER,MAX/GEMMA

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    Work with a 6" lift with extended knuckles?
     
  3. Oct 18, 2017 at 9:49 AM
    #3
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    Probably worth a call to JBA. If your lift with extended knuckles would work with any other 0"-3" lifted Tundra UCA, then I would assume these would work as well. These are designed for 0-3" of lift with stock knuckles and stock LCA's. You might run into some lift-specific clearance issues.
     
  4. Oct 18, 2017 at 10:53 AM
    #4
    TheBeast

    TheBeast The Beach

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    looks good. tell us how it feels after you installed them
     
  5. Oct 22, 2017 at 6:00 AM
    #5
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    Got them on yesterday. Piece o' cake. Fit and finish are excellent.

    A few things that I personally took away from the UCA install.
    -I didn't have to remove the battery, as many have stated. I unbolted the harness from the body and slid the bolt right past it.
    -I used a floor jack to apply very slight pressure to the LCA, helped hold everything in place and made the ball joint stud easier to align.
    -Bungee cord kept the spindle held upright throughout the process.
    -The UCA pivot bolt is TIGHT, holy shit.
    -Leave the ball joint nut partially threaded when you break it free of the spindle, very little fanfare.

    Now I need an alignment.
    20171021_083128.jpg 20171021_084427.jpg 20171021_090607.jpg 20171021_153339.jpg
     
  6. Oct 22, 2017 at 6:35 AM
    #6
    UTTundra

    UTTundra New Member

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    Looks awesome!
     
  7. Oct 22, 2017 at 7:18 AM
    #7
    TXRailRoadBandit73

    TXRailRoadBandit73 YOTAS,RAILROADER,RÖKnRÖLLN',BEER,MAX/GEMMA

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    Awesome Sauce!
     
  8. Oct 22, 2017 at 10:45 AM
    #8
    TheBeast

    TheBeast The Beach

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    nice ! now coilovers... :)
     
    OBXTundra[OP] likes this.
  9. Oct 22, 2017 at 10:54 AM
    #9
    Black Wolf

    Black Wolf Bigfoot Hunter, Sasquatch too, but not Yeti

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    Cool!!!
     
  10. Oct 22, 2017 at 4:23 PM
    #10
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    Coilovers will be sometime before the end of the year.
     
    Rica25 and TheBeast like this.
  11. Oct 23, 2017 at 7:06 AM
    #11
    250rdave

    250rdave like I told the guy on ABC DANGER IS MY BUSINESS

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    Nice thinking about doing this set up with some king cos.Found out about these from a friend that put them on this 4runner.Really like the idea I can get a balljoint from a local auto parts store.
     
  12. Oct 28, 2017 at 7:41 AM
    #12
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    So I ordered the Toytec/Eibach coilovers and they should be here today. Started disassembly this morning. If you're swapping coilovers and need to take some pressure off of your LCA's check out my ratchet strap method. Worked really well and the coilovers slid right out. If someone has already come up with this I apologize for taking credit, this came to me after about 30 minutes of trying pry bars and bottle jacks.
    20171028_102849.jpg
     
    dittothat, Sundog, equin and 7 others like this.
  13. Oct 28, 2017 at 9:03 AM
    #13
    250rdave

    250rdave like I told the guy on ABC DANGER IS MY BUSINESS

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    Thanks for the info keeping all your tips for when i do mine :thumbsup:
     
    OBXTundra[OP] likes this.
  14. Oct 28, 2017 at 10:11 AM
    #14
    TheBeast

    TheBeast The Beach

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    those coilovers better be delivered today :)
     
    OBXTundra[OP] likes this.
  15. Oct 28, 2017 at 10:34 AM
    #15
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    They're here. But that little red Matrix in the background is my DD.
     
    TheBeast[QUOTED] likes this.
  16. Oct 28, 2017 at 10:36 AM
    #16
    TheBeast

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    take pictures during the install..we like pictures :)
     
  17. Oct 28, 2017 at 12:07 PM
    #17
    Mr. Rogers

    Mr. Rogers New Member

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    Toytec/Eibach 3"coilovers, JBA uca's, 1" rear blocks with bilstein 5100's, Nitto RG's 295/70/18
    yep, about to join the club too. just waiting on my toytec/eibach coilovers to get here. cant wait to ditch the RC spacer lift.
    upload_2017-10-28_15-5-58.jpg
    upload_2017-10-28_15-6-48.jpg
     
  18. Oct 28, 2017 at 4:36 PM
    #18
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    All done. Easy Peazy. Fit and finish of the Eibach's are excellent. Truck sits at the EXACT same height as when I had the spacer up front, previous setup was a 3-1 leveling kit with spacers. Tomorrow i will drive it 10-15 miles and then check torque on all bolts again. It will be going in for alignment on Tuesday and then I will do some on and off road driving. Clearance between UCA and coil is good, as well as coilover and LCA. 20171028_151443.jpg 20171028_145805.jpg 20171028_145749.jpg 20171028_145738.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2017
  19. Oct 29, 2017 at 10:58 AM
    #19
    TheBeast

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    looks good.
     
  20. Oct 29, 2017 at 2:41 PM
    #20
    TXRailRoadBandit73

    TXRailRoadBandit73 YOTAS,RAILROADER,RÖKnRÖLLN',BEER,MAX/GEMMA

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    How big is your lift?
     
    Rica25 likes this.
  21. Oct 29, 2017 at 2:43 PM
    #21
    TXRailRoadBandit73

    TXRailRoadBandit73 YOTAS,RAILROADER,RÖKnRÖLLN',BEER,MAX/GEMMA

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    Nice setup!
     
    OBXTundra[QUOTED][OP] likes this.
  22. Oct 30, 2017 at 5:36 AM
    #22
    Mr. Rogers

    Mr. Rogers New Member

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    current lift is a rough country 3/1 spacer level, im replacing the front with toytec/eibach 3" front coilovers.
     
    OBXTundra[OP] likes this.
  23. Oct 31, 2017 at 4:28 PM
    #23
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    Alignment.jpg Alignment numbers. Drives perfect. High speed, low speed. No rubbing at all lock to lock.

    I used these numbers as a compromise of all the alignment threads and posts that I have read between all the Tundra forums. Some say +1 camber, some say -1 camber. Some say .1 Toe, others say .15 toe. I knew I wanted my high caster number over 3.0 and have that high number on the passenger side.

    I ended up with exactly what I asked for and I'm very happy with how it drives. I am lucky enough to have an excellent local alignment shop that is willing to listen and understand what I was asking for, and why I was asking for it. Once I showed him the UCA's and told him the front was lifted 3" he was good.
     
    Ltd17, Jra8, aperezsh and 3 others like this.
  24. Oct 31, 2017 at 4:45 PM
    #24
    TheBeast

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    looking good !..now time for some :mudding::mudding:
     
    OBXTundra[OP] likes this.
  25. Nov 10, 2017 at 5:50 PM
    #25
    vol375

    vol375 New Member

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    Thanks for the write ups! Keep us posted on the JBA UCA's. I think those are what I am looking for. Just haven't seen much info about them on the Tundras.
     
  26. Nov 11, 2017 at 5:56 AM
    #26
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    @vol375 I've got about 300 miles on this setup now and I'm very happy. I'm happy with the ride and alignment was easy. Install was a breeze and fit/finish of the UCA's was perfect.

    The real test will be 15k, 20k, and 100k down the road. But with having a Toyota Matrix as my commuter it will take me 10 years to put 15k on this truck.
     
  27. Nov 11, 2017 at 7:02 AM
    #27
    UTTundra

    UTTundra New Member

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    Did you have much trouble getting a torque wrench in when tightening the UCA's? I recently loosened the thru bolt to hit the bushings with some grease. I can kind of get a torque wrench and extension in on the passenger side, but that brake line on the driver's seems to be right in the way.
     
  28. Nov 11, 2017 at 7:47 AM
    #28
    OBXTundra

    OBXTundra [OP] Member

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    @TundraUTAH loosen the bracket that holds those lines and just flex them out of the way. I was able to get a torque wrench on each side. The bracket is behind the mud guard, kind of out of site.
     
    040Tundra and UTTundra like this.
  29. Nov 11, 2017 at 9:17 AM
    #29
    mphatrik

    mphatrik New Member

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    I want!
     
  30. Dec 9, 2017 at 10:39 PM
    #30
    BlueBottle

    BlueBottle not a PRO

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    @OBXTundra how’s the jba uca’s? Can you get more caster if you wanted to? Is there a reason you used the stock washers on the outsides of the uca bolt?
     
    040Tundra likes this.

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