JBA Offroad control arm question

Hello fellow tacoma nuts I have a quick question about the JBA OFFROAD control arms. So I need to change my upper control arm but instead of putting OEM one I was thinking buying and installing aftermarket upper control arms i was seeing the JBA OFFROAD one but my questions is does my truck really need to be lifted to use these upper control arams? My truck is a 2003 4x4 double cab no lift regular hight. If you guys think the would be good I would buy them if not any other ideas of aftermarket upper arms?

 

Stock height to 2" of lift, I'd stick with OE Style control arms.
2.75"+, then you should run some aftermarket control arms.

 

@Taco critter is your tacoma lifted or stock hight?

 

They make factory Spec’d UCAs if you don’t have a lift.

 

If you do not plan to lift, or already lifted, just go OEM...

 

You can not go wrong with
JBA Offroad control arm ...

 

I went with JBA UCA's on my OME 882 coils, straight forward install.

The original alignment was my best attempt after the Lift (I also replaced the lower balljoints and tie rods).

 

Awesome thanks for the advice I think im just gonna bite the bullet and lift my truck a bit it need a suspension overall anyways lol

 

Got a link to that?

 

What metrics are you using to come up with those numbers? It would be nice to see the geometry of different UCAs plotted out.

Lets say you used these at stock* height. What would the issues be?
*What is stock height anyway? Is a TRD SR5 a different height then a non TRD SR5 tacoma?

I'm new to this and in no rush to decide on UCAs but want to make an informed decision that would let me lift a few inches down the road if I want to.

 

Sure
https://jbaoffroad.com/jba-stock-re...plus-4runner-03-plus-fj-cruisers-07-plus.html

 

I'm not seeing them for 95-2004

 

https://jbaoffroad.com/toyota/tacoma/jba-upper-control-arms-ucas.html

 

I'd only recommend them if you're lifted due to the difference in caster that's meant for lifted vehicles.

If you're at stock height, then there's no need for anyone to replace their UCAs unless they're rusted out bad.

 

Spend your money on beer and a nice steak. No reason to put aftermarket UCAs on unless you're lifted.

Get a can of rustoleum if you want the look...

 

These https://jbaoffroad.com/toyota/tacoma/jba-upper-control-arms-ucas.html are cheaper then OEM and my upper control arms are pretty beat up. Frame and lowers got replaced but the uppers have almost 20 years of midwest winters on them. I could buy some nice steak and beers with the price difference and don't want to drop $750 on OEM if JBA will work AND give me flexibility to lift later. No one seems to have a straight answer to this question and my upper control arms aren't completely falling apart so for now I'm just going to do my LBJs, have it aligned, and figure out how much room I have to work with. Hopefully JBA or someone here can provide the geometry change vs stock and I can figure it out.

 

$750? where are you getting ripped off to spend $750 on OEM uppers?

https://parts.camelbacktoyota.com/v...4-gas/front-suspension--suspension-components

$230 each. Same as the set of JBAs.

And that's if you buy new. I wish I still had my take offs when I did my UCAs, I'd have sold you my rust free ones for $40 each. Hell, a six pack and we'd call it even.

 

I was looking at complete assemblies with ball joints - https://parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com/oe...hY29tYSZ5PTIwMDImdD1iYXNlJmU9My00bC12Ni1nYXM=

Closer to 700. Not quite apples to apples since the complete assy has the other HW as well. The JBA comes with bushings and ball joints. so a better comp would be UCA + Ball joint which runs ~564 total at the site you linked. Still more then the JBA. I'd rather just buy a whole part with bushings then spending time pressing them out/in.

I'd really rather understand the geometry of the JBA vs OEM and make a decision as to wether this part will work or not.

If points U (upper pivot) and L (lower pivot) are the two points of your camber line, when you lift the truck, point L moves down in a straight line which obviously decreases the camber angle. I assume that the JBA must move point U backwards somewhat on the truck to counter this. The question is how far back? If I know that delta I can check my current alignment and measure how much camber adjustment I have to work with and then calculate what range of camber I can get with the JBAs. if it is more the 4 degrees then I'd say they won't work. Less then I'd likely go with them.

 

Or for $90 each just order MOGG ones (

$61 rk640609 front right upper suspension control arm for toyota tacoma

rk640609) and throw some OEM ball joints in at $50 ea for now. Won't hurt as much if I decide to lift it later and scrap out the parts.

 

Fair enough. Not that you always need to replace the BJs, tho. Or just get the Moogs if you want to save some money.

Sure, if your UCAs are jacked up the calculus is different. But unless they're rust buckets, that's pretty rare.

I still say that even if you're lifted, you may still not even need them depending on how much lift you have.

Most will recommend doing your lift, then getting it aligned and let the numbers decide if you need UCAs.