JBA High Caster UCA's

Let me start by saying these are a AWESOME upgrade. No longer do I feel like I'm going to lose control over bumps at highway speed. JBA has awesome customer service from start to finish and the UCAs are super well made. 

But...

Don't do like me and think this will be a quick job. Today I was the meme where I was 2 hours into a 30min install...It actually took me 5 hours total. I knew I was potentially in for trouble when my impact gun broke on the first lug nut it touched....

Passenger side: I began working on this side initially. The disassembly process went smoothly until I reached the ball joint. Unfortunately, my press couldn't remove it with any of the adapters I had on hand. As a result, I ended up disconnecting all the brake lines and using a hammer to remove it. After a few well-placed hits, it finally came loose. I managed to extract the factory upper control arm (UCA) after some slight bending of the inner fender and removing the AC line.

When it came time to install the new control arm, I enlisted the help of my daughter to guide the bolt back into place while I installed the washers. Thankfully, my press worked perfectly for inserting the ball joint receiver, and I securely fastened everything to the specified torque settings.

Drivers side: Armed with the knowledge I had gained from working on the passenger side, I Knew this side would go much easier. I began the process of removing components as usual, but when I reached the ball joint, I didn't even bother attempting to use the press; I went straight for the hammer. I couldn't help but chuckle when it refused to budge. So, armed with a torch, penetrating lubricant, and of course a larger hammer, I eventually managed to break it loose.

However, my challenges didn't end there. While removing the upper control arm, I had to disconnect the battery, a wire loom, and the airbag sensor – always a nerve-wracking task. With all those obstacles out of the way, I once again enlisted my daughter's assistance to guide the bolt into place and then torqued everything down. Then in a moment of sheer exhaustion, at least that what I'm calling it, I managed to turn my wrench into a welding rod when re-installing the battery.

Now, all that remained was to lubricate the ball joints and bushings and then head out for a test drive. Simple enough, right? Well, not quite. The unexpected issue came in the form of a grease gun malfunction. As I was transporting it from the workshop behind my house to the garage where I was working, the grease gun essentially fell apart, leaving my leg covered in Mystik #2. After resolving the issue with the grease gun, I proceeded to apply grease to all the necessary points and then took the time to clean myself up.

My wife courageously joined me on the test drive, and right from the moment I backed out of the driveway, it was evident that there had been a significant improvement. As we reached highway speed, it performed precisely as I had anticipated. Now, all that's left is to schedule the alignment, and hopefully, we won't have to tinker with these components again!