Swapped to jba high caster uca - more rub

Back story - I had camburg ball joint upper control arms but one of the ball joints went. Instead of paying the 300$ to replace both ball joints I went with JBA high caster upper control arms.

With the new jba control arms my passengerside camber is at a minimum of -3 degrees, I can't bring it in anymore. In addition I rub full lock now on my previously chopped cab mounts whereas with the camburgs I didn't.

I was wondering if anyone else experienced this situation... With my camburgs I was able to dial camber in fine and I had minimal to no rub on the cab mount chop... Another member mentioned a similar issue with more passengerside rub after swapping in the jba control arms...

Setup is 2.5-3 inches lift on kings ext travel with stock lca and gusseted OEM spindles. Tires are 285/75/16 Cooper ST Maxx (been running these for 40k miles) on SCS F5's with 1.25" of spacer.

Thanks for any input.

 

Who are you getting to align the truck and are you sure your alignment cams aren't seized? Increasing the caster will move the tire up a bit in the wheel well but won't completely eliminate rubbing if the tire is too big. -3 degrees of camber sounds a bit much, you want to be close to zero on toe and camber for a stock setup.

 

Uh let's see here, '08 from NH and RF camissue. Can you post the before and after alignment numbers? Like ^^^^^^ said, I suspect a rusted cam and the alignment guy just gave up. The RF seems to often be the first to seize.

 

I just rebuilt the LCA's and can confirm all the cam's adjust freely. My cam's are pushed all the way outward (bringing the LCA closest to the center of the truck) and cannot get anymore out of them. Toe is dialed in at zero. I can't find my before numbers sheet but I had 1.5 camber on both sides a year ago when I got my last alignment (pulled up a convo with my buddy when I got the alignment). I don't recall what the caster was before.

 

Sub'd, I'm in the exact same boat. Replacing lowers and getting another alignment soon. Very odd I'm having the same problem

 

Higher caster UCAs move the front wheels back towards the firewall, not away from it.

 

High caster control arms move the top ball joint further back which moves the tire back, that's the only way a UCA can change caster.

 

Just installed mine as well, haven't gone to get it aligned yet but it sure looks like I dont have enough camber adjuatment on the lower control arms.

Any ideas?

 

My left upper ball joint has gotten sloppy and has play in it. I called JBA Offroad (very helpful people!) to figure out the best possible repair/replacement. I mentioned that their high caster UCA's for Tacomas use full size Chevy truck ball joints and the reply was (loosely qouted) "although technically that stock Chevy ball joint will bolt in that UCA it would lose 60% of its downward travel. If you choose to install a stock Chevy ball joint definitely replace them both sides of the truck. Our ball joints are machined in-house and we're constantly testing and upgrading them as we go. The ball joints we sold 3 years ago aren't as good as the ball joints we sell today." I ordered a new JBA upper ball joint.

 

You installed high caster UCA. The only way a UCA can create caster is by moving the tire towards the firewall and the cab mount, hence your issue.
This is why caster-increasing UCA are a bandaid and a scam. They belong in the same category as spacer lifts. The correct way to increase caster on a lifted, offroad vehicle is to shift the LCA forwards.
There are multiple ways to do so:

• Cut a stock LCA apart, shift it, reweld and reinforce. Only for competent welders/fabricators
• JD Fab lower pivot kit
• Some aftermarket LCA

 

Scam because it doesn't satisfy you? LMAO!


Easily does 95 mph (on a closed course of course), tows 6,800 lbs, stops on a dime, 37's, rides like a Cadillac, and JBA high caster UCA''s. Scam indeed.

 

I run 285/75/16 -25 rhino wheels with jba high caster uppers. I have also done cab chop and installed total chaos reinforcment tabs with bison off rd stop cam bolts. I was running 4.5 on drivers side and 4.3 on passenger side of caster with very slight negative camber and toe. Those are important to clearing cab chop. Also spacers and more offset wheels don't help rubbing. I have no rubbing at full lock and fully stuffed none. Truck rides great and handles superb. I have now installed total chaos expedition series lowers with duel shock. I was able to get 5 plus caster after lower install but have since gone back down to the 4.5 4.7 range. I run vertex 3.5. So I will add when I had the jba and my caster was below 3.7 I rubbed very little but I did rub with caster less Bo rub with caster more. I can't explain it but that's how it has been for me. More caster the better clearance.

 

I love jba upper control arms they took a bit to figure out but once I found the sweet spot they have been nothing but good to me. It's the geometry of the built in caster. The more you have the less rubbing you will get. What I have learned with having them on my truck. I had a mechanic put things back to stock geometry and had so much rub I took it back and they told me he bent my tabs so he wasn't seen by me again and my mechanic installed the reniforment tabs for 500 bucks. I will note I did run a 1 inch spacer for 30 thousand but have since went with an offset rim. When my caster was low I rubbed with high caster 4.2 plus no rub

 

I just don't see how high caster would cause more rubbing, jba comes with 3 degrees of caster built into them so going less would be no good. I would think bringing the upper towards the cab mount and the lower away from the cab mount would help with the rubbing. Thats exactly what high caster arms do.. someone correct me here. QUOTED from jba themselves I know I have had no problems

 

Your spindel will not allow you to move the wheel closer to the cab mount with jba your moving the upper toward cab mount right away 3 degrees witch means you now have the ability to ajust the lower arms outward creating more caster. Your not bring lower in and upper out. It's total opposite jba welded their ball joints closer to cab .mount to allow lower outward adjustment.

 

You’re exactly correct. Anyone who can’t get the numbers right with high caster uppers doesn’t know how to align a truck or there is another suspension issue.

 

Holly revival Batman!

 

Just replaced my UCAs with JBA STD High Casters and felt like I got a lil run-around from the alignment shop. Additionally, I replaced the CV Axles, wheel hubs & sway bar linkages for context. For the more knowledgeable folk, are the alignment results (attached) something to be worried about for a 2" lifted front end?

 

Caster looks good, RF camber seems a little high but probably not enough to worry about.

 

if you are having doubts about an alignment shop then they are probably not a shop.

Why is there no before and after.

my alignment shop I can talk to.

I have been a technician. You could sit in a camping chair while I align the vehicle I would not care. It would be you the one going without pay for hours of your time.
Whether I have worked on cars with people sitting near or in the car for I will not say.