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

sprsonic · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 7:55 pm

so today is my little girls birthday and im going to the store to pick up her cake and some supplies for the party. im driving about 40 mph and hit a dip in the road then my steering wheel makes a hard right hand turn, and almost steered right off the road. i pulled over to the side of the road, get out and check the carnage only to find this.

so i figure it has atleast half of the control arm that still has some structure to it and decide to limp it home, i back up a smidge only to find that i was'nt paying attention what was behind me and back into a jagged pole, i hear a nasty crunch, as if things were'nt going bad for me already.

i'm seriously p.o. ed by now and decide to drive it home. 10 mph for about 2 miles, man that was frustrating. i finally get home and this was the control arm.

i am suprised by this breaking because this jeep is a garage queen and has never been offroad or abused, my control arms are about two years old. anyone has ever had this please chime in, and for what it's worth i am a certified chrysler tech as of 12 years for a local dealer and have had my hands in a ton of kj lifts. this is a first for me.

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:02 pm

Could have been worse at least you didn't lose all control...

I think there have been a couple Arms break in the same spot... Didn't Wes's break there??

Anyway.. Give Marlin a call... I'm sure you can upgrade or something....

Good Luck

Sorry about your bad day....

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:04 pm

Acutally... Tommudd had his replaced... BUT they were a Newer generation... He got them from a member and then noticed the shotty welds...

Going to check mine right now.... :roll:

Again...

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:06 pm

Oh and Happy birthday to the young one...

ken · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:06 pm

That's kinda scary! Those the JBA Gen arms, right? I do know that I've never seen this happen to a UCA but as a pipefitter by trade it is not uncommon for the pipe to shear next to the weld. Normally due to strain on that joint during weld process. Hope the Bday party was not ruined.

icarl · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:06 pm

I haven't seen too many stock a-arms fail. It looks like from your pics that you were having a-arm contact on the frankenlift springs. Perhaps this and the pot hole contributed to the breakage. Or it could have been a bad a-arm from the factory. In any case it's time for some Al's A-arms.

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:06 pm

icarl wrote:

I haven't seen too many stock a-arms fail. It looks like from your pics that you were having a-arm contact on the frankenlift springs. Perhaps this and the pot hole contributed to the breakage. Or it could have been a bad a-arm from the factory. In any case it's time for some Al's A-arms.

Those are AL's ARMS.....

icarl · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:09 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

icarl wrote:

I haven't seen too many stock a-arms fail. It looks like from your pics that you were having a-arm contact on the frankenlift springs. Perhaps this and the pot hole contributed to the breakage. Or it could have been a bad a-arm from the factory. In any case it's time for some Al's A-arms.

Those are AL's ARMS.....

Yeah, i noticed that now. Threw me off that they are black and all. :oops:

Guest · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:10 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

Didn't Wes's break there??

Yup...

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:13 pm

So that's 3 in Ohio alone...

sprsonic · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:35 pm

it was a slight dip in the road, thats what i dont understand, it was so minor, i'm not slamming anyone by the way, i understand these parts are'nt made to last. was just wondering if it had happened to anyone else. kina scared me a bit, the birthday was a smash, 6 million little rugrats running arond and tearing up my house, thanks for the comments, i'll be ordering a new set tommorrow.

Guest · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:38 pm

The thing is, JBA has recognized the problem and eliminated it on the newer arms.

sprsonic · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:42 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

Oh and Happy birthday to the young one...

thanks, was a great time.

sprsonic · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 8:43 pm

ThunderbirdJunkie wrote:

The thing is, JBA has recognized the problem and eliminated it on the newer arms.

that makes me feel better

STINGN · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:07 pm

i saw this happen on a 2wd Chevy Colorado, but I'm glad you were able to drive it home ok

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:18 pm

Common failure on earlier generation Al's arms. Personally I think that Marlin should have recalled them all and offered up a better exchange program for them. I paid to upgrade mine to the newest prior to failure and so glad I did.

Edvalencia · **Posted:** Sun Jun 28, 2009 10:24 pm

JJsKJ wrote:

Common failure on earlier generation Al's arms. Personally I think that Marlin should have recalled them all and offered up a better exchange program for them. I paid to upgrade mine to the newest prior to failure and so glad I did.

X2 on the recall & trade in idea. I'm pretty paranoid about mine. I saw what a pain in the butt it was when someone broke theirs on the trail. Not to mention the safety concerns.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:02 am

USAFCOP also had one break. Older Gen A arms.

Boiler · **Posted:** Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:01 am

I've been nervous of them since I first saw them personally. So much to go wrong, and so dangerous when something does go wrong. How are the new ones improved?

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Mon Jun 29, 2009 1:03 am

Here are the GEN 4.5's

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

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