has anyone ever seen an upper control arm break at the welds

1996xj · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:51 pm

tjkj2002 said OEM arm's broke often aswell, I have never head or seen a factory upper control arm break, has anyone else ????

ken · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:06 pm

I have not seen the OEM broke either. But they are also a cast iron product vs. raw steel. Cast iron can take a whole lot more heat/ pressures that are common to our suspension. The steel that was ordered to make the JBA arms could in fact have alot to do with it's failure rate as there are very different processes and guidelines in different production plants. Another thing to consider is the proper handling and storage of welding rod and age of rod too. To conform to the types of welding I do for Hospitals the rod must be kept in ovens to preserve its coating. And can only be of certain types. I don't have my panties bundled but maybe, JBA unknowingly "got what he paid for" on material types and batches etc. As far as the companies size and ability to afford replacements, well to me that was a gamble/risk he took in pionerring aftermarket parts for our Kj's. Nobody forced him into that.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:58 pm

Inc wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

RRO copied the better JBA's design and good luck getting any type of warranty from RRO if there arms fail,they will just laugh at you and gladly take your money for another set at full price.

Also you have got to remember that adding aftermarket parts does not guarantee nothing,maybe JBA should have a "Off Road Use Only" type of warning like 99% of all other offroad companies.

Who cares if the design is copied, that is completely irrelevant. I can only hope RRO improved the quality when they copied it because JBA ones are breaking on people left and right. Why anyone would be such a fanboy of a product that has failed on people as many times as these have is beyond me. They are plain, flat out dangerous. And because RRO customer' service sucks, people should be grateful that JBA isn't charging them full price on a replacement set? JBA is lucky no one has been seriously hurt or died from a failure yet, so he should be replacing all of them for free because the product is not safe for use, which has been proven many times. If JBA is going to tout, "long lasting off road durability", and "you will never need to replace your upper A-arms for the life of your KJ" he should stand by that. His customer service is pretty amazing but when a product of that you are selling is failing left and right and could cause harm or death to your customers, you need to replace all the problem products without question.

They copied the new design that does not have tube welded directly to a bung that has been failing.I'm not supporting JBA just saying nothing is perfect and will not break,you take a risk everyday you get in your vehicle,any vehicle.

And agian the OEM UCA's are failing at the same rate or more then JBA's and those with JBA's are a little harder on the KJ's then most with OEM UCA's that are failing.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:00 pm

1996xj wrote:

tjkj2002 said OEM arm's broke often aswell, I have never head or seen a factory upper control arm break, has anyone else ????

There's a local guy here in CO which I can not remember his name that has had 2 OEM UCA's break on his KJ,he also broke a JBA UCA also for a total of 3.

Boiler · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:39 pm

"Some breaks are expected" is not acceptable for control items on vehicles that transport kids. Its different when carrying one man at 5 mph.

What if a company's brakes just went out on 1 in 50 cars. Is that acceptable? From what I ready on JBA's website, they've got "hundreds" of sets of arms out there. Even if only 20 have failed ever, thats 1 in 50 if they sold 999 sets. I fear the % is higher. 1 in 50 is few enough to go moderately unnoticed, but often enough that I'd be concerned about trusting the lives of my family members to them.

I also believe that though offroading can generate high forces, the dynamic forces arent near what you'd see driving down a really rough road at medium high speed, or hitting a suprise pothole at 55. It is the road driving that I'd be worried about. You probably cycle load that joint hundreds of times just going to work.

I would really like to know about their testing methods and hear their position on this topic.

durangotang · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:08 pm

Boiler wrote:

brakes just went out on 1 in 50 cars. Is that acceptable? From what I ready on JBA's website, they've got "hundreds" of sets of arms out there. Even if only 20 have failed ever, thats 1 in 50 if they sold 999 sets. I fear the % is higher. 1 in 50 is few enough to go moderately unnoticed, but often enough that I'd be concerned about trusting the lives of my family members to them.

I also believe that though offroading can generate high forces, the dynamic forces arent near what you'd see driving down a really rough road at medium high speed, or hitting a suprise pothole at 55. It is the road driving that I'd be worried about. You probably cycle load that joint hundreds of times just going to work.

I would really like to know about their testing methods and hear their position on this topic.

It seems that we are their testing method...

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:12 pm

...SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!!

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:32 pm

ThunderbirdJunkie wrote:

...SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!!

Thank goodness for stupid people to lighten the mood....

I would also like to add that the Honey BBQ boneless wings from Wendy's are pretty darn good!!!

Inc · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:50 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

I would also like to add that the Honey BBQ boneless wings from Wendy's are pretty darn good!!!

I'd like to try those. Thanks for the review. :wink:

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:04 pm

Inc wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

I would also like to add that the Honey BBQ boneless wings from Wendy's are pretty darn good!!!

I'd like to try those. Thanks for the review. :wink:

Any time... Food is my other hobbie.... :wink:

ken · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:40 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

Inc wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

I would also like to add that the Honey BBQ boneless wings from Wendy's are pretty darn good!!!

I'd like to try those. Thanks for the review. :wink:

Any time... Food is my other hobbie.... :wink:

I'm kind of hungry now. Do they come in different flavors, I'm not a big fan of honey bbq :shock:

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:46 pm

ken wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

Inc wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

I would also like to add that the Honey BBQ boneless wings from Wendy's are pretty darn good!!!

I'd like to try those. Thanks for the review. :wink:

Any time... Food is my other hobbie.... :wink:

I'm kind of hungry now. Do they come in different flavors, I'm not a big fan of honey bbq :shock:

Yeah but they aren't good... the asian one has a horrible after taste.... and the hot n spicy are not as good as arby's.... :wink:

Inc · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:48 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

ken wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

Inc wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

I would also like to add that the Honey BBQ boneless wings from Wendy's are pretty darn good!!!

I'd like to try those. Thanks for the review. :wink:

Any time... Food is my other hobbie.... :wink:

I'm kind of hungry now. Do they come in different flavors, I'm not a big fan of honey bbq :shock:

Yeah but they aren't good... the asian one has a horrible after taste.... and the hot n spicy are not as good as arby's.... :wink:

That last part reminds me of a quote from the Simpson's...
"I'm so hungry I could eat Arby's".

I'd still like to try all 3.

ken · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:53 pm

Inc wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

ken wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

Inc wrote:

03CDKJ wrote:

I would also like to add that the Honey BBQ boneless wings from Wendy's are pretty darn good!!!

I'd like to try those. Thanks for the review. :wink:

Any time... Food is my other hobbie.... :wink:

I'm kind of hungry now. Do they come in different flavors, I'm not a big fan of honey bbq :shock:

Yeah but they aren't good... the asian one has a horrible after taste.... and the hot n spicy are not as good as arby's.... :wink:

I'd still like to try all 3.

That's it I'm on my way...... I will report my findings shortly

XC204 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:18 am

I posted links to this thread and the break closeups on weldingweb.com at
http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?t=31906
a good site for welding info. One of the moderators thinks poor prep and pretty much no penetration on the weld. I agree.
As for anybody copying "A" arms they are "A" arms! so did JBA copy stock car "A" arms or hot rod arms? No I do not think so in either case RRO or JBA. You can buy the parts and weld yer own if you are capable and have $500.00 for a bender and about the same for a welder.
http://www.tabzone.com/#Tabs[/url]

Rudy · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:36 am

03CDKJ wrote:

Generation 4 Failure.... Again at the welds.... I'm not sure about the 4.5's or the 5's...

The 4.5's have and extra piece of angled metal welded to the joint. Where the arm meets the ball joint. I didn't notice them on the 4's that broke. Hopefully they hold up now. I know now I'm going to check them religiously.

sprsonic · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:52 pm

i recieved the new 4.5 arms today and they look to be a better design, the more i think, i could have been going faster than 40 mph and could have had my family in the jeep the madder i get. and i'm going to check these newer control arms alot more now, seriously guys this jeep has never been offroad, two years of street driving only and drive over a dip in the road not even a thump of a pothole or ridge in the road and it gave out. i have to get my bumper painted now too. this is the first time this thing will get new paint, was also kinda dissapointed that marlin had'nt asked if everything was ok after i told him that the contol arm broke while driving. if my wife would have been driving this definately would have been a different story. i really hope this does'nt happen to anyone else.

Inc · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:54 pm

sprsonic wrote:

i recieved the new 4.5 arms today and they look to be a better design, the more i think, i could have been going faster than 40 mph and could have had my family in the jeep the madder i get. and i'm going to check these newer control arms alot more now, seriously guys this jeep has never been offroad, two years of street driving only and drive over a dip in the road not even a thump of a pothole or ridge in the road and it gave out. i have to get my bumper painted now too. this is the first time this thing will get new paint, was also kinda dissapointed that marlin had'nt asked if everything was ok after i told him that the contol arm broke while driving. if my wife would have been driving this definately would have been a different story. i really hope this does'nt happen to anyone else.

So in the end you did or didn't have to pay for a replacement?

1996xj · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:02 pm

Your, a better man than I am !!! I would have let him know you only mall craw your KJ and a dip is not abusing a offroad part in anyway ! I would have insisted he cover the new arm's under the supposive warr. !!! I'm sure it's only a matter of time before sombody or there family get's hurt , This needs to be taken seriousley and addressed with swift action by the manufacter/owner pronto !!! :evil:

I don't think I will be buying any aftermarket arms in the future untill proven !!!!!!!

sprsonic · **Posted:** Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:28 pm

Inc wrote:

sprsonic wrote:

i recieved the new 4.5 arms today and they look to be a better design, the more i think, i could have been going faster than 40 mph and could have had my family in the jeep the madder i get. and i'm going to check these newer control arms alot more now, seriously guys this jeep has never been offroad, two years of street driving only and drive over a dip in the road not even a thump of a pothole or ridge in the road and it gave out. i have to get my bumper painted now too. this is the first time this thing will get new paint, was also kinda dissapointed that marlin had'nt asked if everything was ok after i told him that the contol arm broke while driving. if my wife would have been driving this definately would have been a different story. i really hope this does'nt happen to anyone else.

So in the end you did or didn't have to pay for a replacement?

i paid

has anyone ever seen an upper control arm break at the welds

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