JBA 4.5 A Arm

rt_power · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:26 pm

i have searched the thread but have come up with nothing

dose anyone have before and after pics of cutting the mounting pockets??
i would like to see how much is needed to take out and maybe a detailed step by step

jerbacher · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:37 pm

http://jeepinbyal.com/A-arm_mounting_pockets.aspx

does this help? i dont personally have any photos

scarletbegonias · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:09 pm

here is the after pic of mine...about 1/2" cut out. (You might also notice that i painted JBA's black) :wink:

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:17 pm

Put the arm in place and then the mounting bolts in place as well just to hold the arm in the position its going to be when moving around as part of the suspension. Move the arm throughout its range of motion, and note where it hits the frame. These are the areas you'll have to grind. Remember them or mark them. Remove the arm and grind those areas. Cover with paint or something else to prevent rust. I had to grind just the bottom, but a considerable amount. It's an odd angle, so having a dremel with a grinding wheel is nice for making sure you got it all and for getting it at a better angle. Put a light layer of paint or any type of marker on the grinded areas and remount the arms. Move them through their complete motion again. Look to see where you paint/marker made contact with the arms. Grind these areas once again with the same process, and remark them to see where the contact areas might still be. Repeat until paint/marker leaves no mark on the arms, meaning the arms are free to move from bumpstop to bumpstop with no problems.

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:05 pm

RespectMyLibertay wrote:

Put the arm in place and then the mounting bolts in place as well just to hold the arm in the position its going to be when moving around as part of the suspension. Move the arm throughout its range of motion, and note where it hits the frame. These are the areas you'll have to grind. Remember them or mark them. Remove the arm and grind those areas. Cover with paint or something else to prevent rust. I had to grind just the bottom, but a considerable amount. It's an odd angle, so having a dremel with a grinding wheel is nice for making sure you got it all and for getting it at a better angle. Put a light layer of paint or any type of marker on the grinded areas and remount the arms. Move them through their complete motion again. Look to see where you paint/marker made contact with the arms. Grind these areas once again with the same process, and remark them to see where the contact areas might still be. Repeat until paint/marker leaves no mark on the arms, meaning the arms are free to move from bumpstop to bumpstop with no problems.

Thanks for the tips, my 4.5's are in the mail. I returned my Gen 4's.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:51 pm

Yep pretty much what has been said , I used a 4 inch angle grinder and made short work of it, just cut out everything that looked like it may hit and didn't serve a purpose! :lol:

Painted it up nice and pretty and was good to go!

Prospect62 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:41 pm

I had no idea until just now that this was required with Al's arms. What a pain in the booty. Why isn't THIS in bold print on their website instead of the other propaganda they have posted?

"Pay me triple the amount of a stock arm and, oh yeah, you'll have to grind 3/4" of material away in order for these to work". Too bad my arms just arrived yesterday or I would have cancelled my order. I guess I'll just have to make them work.

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:05 pm

It's definitely worth it for the replaceable, greasable ball joints, especially now that the 4.5 Gens have a design change hopefully making them more reliable.
You want an a-arm designed around the suspension geometry, not one designed around the limitation of movement caused by the (lack of) clearance in the a-arm pockets. It took me no more than 2 hours to finish the whole procedure I posted above and get everything put back together.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:50 pm

Prospect62 wrote:

I had no idea until just now that this was required with Al's arms. What a pain in the @$#%. Why isn't THIS in bold print on their website instead of the other propaganda they have posted?

"Pay me triple the amount of a stock arm and, oh yeah, you'll have to grind 3/4" of material away in order for these to work". Too bad my arms just arrived yesterday or I would have cancelled my order. I guess I'll just have to make them work.

You don't HAVE to do it, (cut out to installAls arms) but if you want full range of motion from the new arms then you should. Its not a big pain to do very simple. Or maybe you consider a major mod as hanging a tree air freshner on the rear view. :lol:

Als are not triple the amount, plus you are installing something that is an upgrade to the suspension, so of course it is more money!
I still have to shake my head in utter amazement at what some consider a huge expense in lifting or upgrading a KJ.
I have spent a half less on my mods to my KJ than any other 4 WD I have owned in over 30 years but still some complain

OK OK sorry back off the soap box now! :wink:

Tom

MP Jeeper · **Posted:** Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:19 pm

tommudd wrote:

Prospect62 wrote:

I had no idea until just now that this was required with Al's arms. What a pain in the @$#%. Why isn't THIS in bold print on their website instead of the other propaganda they have posted?

"Pay me triple the amount of a stock arm and, oh yeah, you'll have to grind 3/4" of material away in order for these to work". Too bad my arms just arrived yesterday or I would have cancelled my order. I guess I'll just have to make them work.

You don't HAVE to do it, (cut out to installAls arms) but if you want full range of motion from the new arms then you should. Its not a big pain to do very simple. Or maybe you consider a major mod as hanging a tree air freshner on the rear view. :lol:

Als are not triple the amount, plus you are installing something that is an upgrade to the suspension, so of course it is more money!
I still have to shake my head in utter amazement at what some consider a huge expense in lifting or upgrading a KJ.
I have spent a half less on my mods to my KJ than any other 4 WD I have owned in over 30 years but still some complain

OK OK sorry back off the soap box now! :wink:

Tom

Amen Tom

Prospect62 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:32 pm

Don't take it personal Tom. It was just a surprise to me, that's all. I've been reading about Al's arms for a couple years now and never heard of clearancing anything. I will do the work and I understand that you have to pay to play (or at least to do it right). This ain't my first dance either, buddy. I was more or less commenting on how this has never been mentioned before (or very much).

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:14 am

Prospect62 wrote:

Don't take it personal Tom. It was just a surprise to me, that's all. I've been reading about Al's arms for a couple years now and never heard of clearancing anything. I will do the work and I understand that you have to pay to play (or at least to do it right). This ain't my first dance either, buddy. I was more or less commenting on how this has never been mentioned before (or very much).

nothing personal to it, just commenting on what I keep seeing and comments by people. A lot of folks want a lot for nothing and its just not that way you know.
:lol:

I know its been mentioned some about cutting it out and also on Marlins site, but maybe not enough, a lot of us know what needs done on a lift but leave out some of the finer points that make all the difference sometimes to others that have not done one!
So no problems have a great evening!

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 1:08 am

And according to Tom, "A Jeeps not yours until you drill that first hole in it!! " I love it, simply a true statement. :wink:

RespectMyLibertay · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:46 am

I'm not sure how you missed the clearance issue, no offense. It's been talked about a lot. Neither Al not Marlin said anything at first but after Marlin designed his Gen 5s and then regressed to 4.5s, he's made mention of it on the page to buy his a-arms. Before that, though, there was lots of talk on the forums here about people hitting their early generation Al's arms on the bottom side of the a-arm pockets and it creasing in a little. It happened with two different generation arms that I had on my KJ, but when I got the 4.5s I did the grinding to take care of that.
Some people had tires rubbing on the a-arms themselves, which I can't imagine being helpful. I was one of them, but spacers took care of that along with rubbing on the swaybar, etc. Al and Marlin never made mention on that possibile problem, I don't know if it could happen on the 4.5s.

Prospect62 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:54 am

I don't know how I missed it either, man. I thought these arms were the do-all, be-all lifted Liberty part. I never heard of clearancing, tire rub or sway bar rub. I guess I must not have been paying attention too well. Actually, since I never figured I'd be able to afford Al's arms, I'm almost positive I wasn't paying attention too well.

All is well though, they're sitting in my garage and I can't wait to get them on. New tires and rims arrived today and I'm expecting my Frankenlift tomorrow or early next week. One thing I can say is the arms got here fast...two days from order to arrival! We'll deal with the issues later! Thanks again for the input guys.

PS - Sorry for the hijack 'rt_power'.

rescu2000 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:47 am

I'm not trying to start a fight, but I want others who read this to know the whole story. Not only are Al's arms not triple the price, but they cost about the same as stock. I just went through this on mine. The arms were $112 to $160 each (or at least I think each) and the bushings are $25 each (you need 4). That is right at $400. Al's arms are $385. That looks like the same money to me, plus I get to replace the joints in the future for less than $40. Can someone verify these numbers? Or was I wrong in assuming that the price was per arm for the stocker units? Either way. It was worth the money to me.

Thanks,
Rescu2000

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:59 am

Prospect62 wrote:

I don't know how I missed it either, man.

Well, if you LIVE on this forum, then you don't miss anything and stay on top of everything. However, if you're one of those normal people and check the forum once or twice a week, then you'll miss everything! That's why I'm addicted! According to my wife, I live here way too much. Maybe I need to seek counseling! :idea:

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:16 am

dieselenthusiast wrote:

Prospect62 wrote:

I don't know how I missed it either, man.

Well, if you LIVE on this forum, then you don't miss anything and stay on top of everything. However, if you're one of those normal people and check the forum once or twice a week, then you'll miss everything! That's why I'm addicted! According to my wife, I live here way too much. Maybe I need to seek counseling! :idea:

I did seek counseling, but they said I was a LOST cause!

...once or twice a week, I would never be able to do that....two/three times a day ....yes!

Dje Ryu · **Posted:** Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:45 pm

rescu2000 wrote:

I'm not trying to start a fight, but I want others who read this to know the whole story. Not only are Al's arms not triple the price, but they cost about the same as stock. I just went through this on mine. The arms were $112 to $160 each (or at least I think each) and the bushings are $25 each (you need 4). That is right at $400. Al's arms are $385. That looks like the same money to me, plus I get to replace the joints in the future for less than $40. Can someone verify these numbers? Or was I wrong in assuming that the price was per arm for the stocker units? Either way. It was worth the money to me.

Thanks,
Rescu2000

I paid $416 (with tax) last year for oem replacements. I just paid $422 for Gen 4.5 arms (plus 2day shipping). Looks the same, to me.

Prospect62 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:06 pm

I'm not exaggerating fellas...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-200 ... enameZWDVW

Manufactured by the same people who supply the major auto parts stores. They look like pretty good factory style replacements to me. Not trying to beat a dead horse but the above parts are what I based my original commentary on. I knew that questioning Al's Arms on this site was a major mistake. I was just trying to "vent" I guess. It won't happen again.

I still plan on using my Al's arms and I am very pleased with the company and the quality of the product thus far (they are still in the box, but look and feel very impressive). I am very pleased, indeed. I'll keep you guys posted as to how my install goes and if I have any issues.

JBA 4.5 A Arm

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