JBA 4.5 Upper Control Arm issues...

Marlin from Jeepin By Al has to be one of the best people and companies we have ever dealt with in all the decades that I have been building vehicles.
PERIOD!

He stands behind his products 100%

We are having our front and rear ARB air lockers and 4:10 gears installed this week and while the mechanic was disassembling the front end of the heep he noticed that both the front left and right Gen 4.5 upper control arms had cracked on the mounting flange where the upper ball joint mounts to the A Arm.
That and the Moog replaceable ball joints are totally shot!
Even after regular monthly grease application and checking the torque on the mounting hardware.

They were installed for a little over 54,553.8 kilometers / 33,898.2miles ago!

The mechanic who works for a Jeep only garage BTW figures that the angle of the ball joint in relation to the upper control arm's position is too angled.
There is so much play in them that they are deemed unsafe for any further usage.

And before people here start lecturing me of the "this and that's" and other shit...
I'm not an idiot.
So spare the ********* comments.

Our KJ was built to go off road and not mall crawl like some I see here with four inches of lift yet never have posted photographs of actual off road adventuring...

My hat's off to Marlin Gehmen

He is shipping us a brand new set of Upper control Arms NO CHARGE, shipped over night Air freight, next day service. so we can get back on the road with a minimal delay in time.

I'd like to see or hear about that kind of excellent customer service from that fly by night outfit called Rocky Road Off Rippers!!!

We will continue to use, purchase, and recomend Jeepin by All products for our KJ and others Liberty's as long as we own it and long after it's gone!

Thank you Marlin.
You kick A$$!

Here are pictures of both left and right Gen 4.5 Upper Control Arms.









Ya, ok there is some surface rust on the actual ball joint.
I don't spend hours painting every little part of this truck and pretend it's a trailer queen and detail it to the ninth degree.
This Rig is a daily driver,used for what it was built for.
We enjoy it. That's why we dumped allot of hard earned money into it!

Not to be a poser like some of those pretty black and gold KJ's I see here on this site parked next next to a pile of sawdust or in a shallow puddle.

"Oh. it's dirty now... I better go and pressure wash it 'cause we're posers!"

Thank you again Marlin.
Your customer service is outstanding and First Class excellent! Your local BBB is going to hear about just how good you are!

Haha who has a gold kj that parks in small puddles.....

I got my some coils from jba and its one of the few times i was 100% happy with everything throughout the process

sent using the dark side of the force

I bought OME suspension parts through JBA and it was completely painless. I'm strongly considering his A-arms, we'll see how the Jeep handles with the new suspension first.

I made the mistake of buying a 3.5 lift from Rocky Road. That was when I first got my KJ and hadn't discovered JBA yet. I installed the kit and test drove it. one of the rear shocks were noisy as hell. The shock was bad. I called Rocky Road and told them about it. I asked for a replacement shock. they said they didn't do that. and told me I had to buy a new set.
I could possibly see that if the had a few hundred miles on them. but the shock they sold me was bad before it was even used. they won't stand behind anything they sell. At least they got their name right. because it's going to be a Rocky Road to travel if your doing business with them. I'm now saving up for the JBA 4.5 kit. I think I'll send the rocky roads back to them with a nice note

24hours after I called Marlin to let him know our control arms where cracked I have new ones ready to be pciked up at no cost to us, now that is excellent service!!

The set you get from him will be beefier where they cracked at. reason i know because mine did the same thing a year ago. I had one of the very first sets of 4.5s and they had about 70,000 on them at the time
And yes with in 48 hours mine were on and going again
and black KJs never go wheeling

Great to hear that there are still companies that stand behind products they sell. Seems JBA has great cred. I will be doing business with them if I do any upgrades to the KJ.

From my little experience with RRO, I wouldn't deal with them again if they were selling shade on the sun.

Good press. Ordered everything for mine through jba and he's done right by me. Even when ups is doing everything possible to mess up the order.

Grats on the new gears and lockers.

Is that crack on both sides? Is the inside of uca behind the ball joint gone brittle too?
Its a good reminder to most to check your ride, especially if you not gentle.

Dang! Will be checking. So when did he beef them up?

Not sure when he did but my new ones are over twice as thick in that area over the original 4.5s Also always check the bolts that hold your ball joint in, have seen them work loose on a couple sets before. All apart of good maintenance

Mine on October 2011. They appear a bit thicker but I would have to measure with my caliper to confirm. Relatively thicker then the ball joint top by comparison.

not the thickness so much as the amount of material between the outside edge and the ball joint looking down on it ( thats the part that is thicker )

WOW!
Those upper A Arms are broken right in two!
The only thing holding them together are the totally worn out ball joints!
And to think that had one of them decided to "let go" and come apart while on the motorway.

Jen and I might not be sitting here right now!

That's major law suit material!


I'm really wondering about the quality of these new ones that were just sent to us.

I'll post some photo's later tonight of the upper control arms

R&J,
I am confused:
"Thank you Marlin.
You kick A$$!"
or
"That's major law suit material!"

DJ

(popcorn)

DJSKJ said:

R&J,
I am confused:
"Thank you Marlin.
You kick A$$!"
or
"That's major law suit material!"

DJ

Click to expand...

No need to be confused.

Let's just hope it doesn't happen to anybody else and somebody gets hurt.
Or worse!
Because then it could very well turn into a legal matter!
I could end up getting sued had something very bad happen.
It has nothing to do with customer service. It has to do with product engineering.

Thanks for posting Ryan. Just another thing to check while doing routine maintenance. Really appreciate the pics. I dealt with Marlyn for my lift parts and ya he's good people.

I think what we have to remember is any part of any vehicle can and will wear out. Have seen and heard of plenty of stock UCAs failing over the years and these are no different.
I replaced mine and said nothing because for one there were a lot of miles on them, two they were replaced for free, threee like everything else the owner should be checking things like this on a regular basis along with oil, trans ball joints etc.

Glad to hear everything worked out alright and the JBA has provided excellent customer service. I too have the JBA 4.5 A Arms. Looking forward to reading how the re-gear and lockers go.

DJ

Sitting here like an impatient kid waiting for Christmas morning to come...
That's how I feel as far as having to wait for our KJ to get finished up!
Waiting for an intermediate shaft to arrive from Chrysler... Has to come
from Chrysler's Portland Or. warehouse!
Everything will be 100% brand new OEM or better parts up front when
finished. New CV Axles, all bearings, seals, etc.

As far as maintenance goes, I check everything every oil change. Grease
the upper ball joints, etc. so they broke sometime in the last two-three weeks...

Oh well, all is well. The new arms look thicker and stronger as well.

Oh, and I got Jesus Christ video included with the new arms!
I guess someone was watching out for us at the end of the day!