this has not been a good day for me- broken JBA UCA

[hadtomer]

after 6 years of use- I broke a UCA (dont mind the crap plastidip paint on the UCAs). Lucky for me- i was doing about 25 mph in the desert and suddenly the kj pulled hard left. I was headed into a boulder but was lucky to stop in time. I thought a lower balljoint broke but it was worse. the wheel was hanging at a strange angle.also- CV popped. I have never experienced such a failure. Lucky for me- JBA really went out of their way and sent me a new set of UCA's - they had no problem shipping those UCA's to Israel in 4 days. still - a very unpleasant experience. If i was going down a highway the liberty would probably be a write off.

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[lfhoward]

Wow! Glad you and your KJ are alright.

I have been on the Jeep Liberty forums since 2011 and this is the first time I’ve seen a JBA upper control arm failure. How many years old were they?

 

[hadtomer]

6 years old. I have broken almost everything on this jeep. but never a UCA

 

[duderz7]

Nothing lasts forever, except customer service!

 

[Deb'nKJ]

American customer service used to be the envy of the world but, from my recent experiences, so many companies have obviously learnt what happens everywhere else & decided "Why bother?"

So full marks to JBA, not least for understanding that shipping abroad really is not difficult - & that their reputation is probably worth the additional cost.

 

[lfhoward]

JBA is a quality company and I have always liked Marlin, the owner. He is honest and cares about his customers having a good experience. Turns out that is a pretty good business model!

 

[KJowner]

It's a shame we get charged so much to import stuff from America.

 

[Deb'nKJ]

Double taxation is part of the problem although shipping can be prohibitive (but then American parcel post is expensive). The main problem though is that, with a few notable exceptions, American companies do not like sending stuff overseas. Curiously, American eBay sellers are more amenable than major companies (some of which won't even let us access their website).

All that said, I am often surprised that many things (yes, Jeep parts) are actually cheaper here.

 

[JeepJeepster]

They had a good bit of issues with those snapping welds back in the day, thats why they switched to the style you have. Very interesting break, thats for sure. Looks like it snapped right along the weld....

 

[blackhawk]

I love jba uca. Marlin is a very proactive person!

 

[tommudd]

They had a good bit of issues with those snapping welds back in the day, thats why they switched to the style you have. Very interesting break, thats for sure. Looks like it snapped right along the weld....

Back in the days of Al Handy ( the original JEEPIN BY AL ) yes , and the very early JBA arms
I had two sets of those
Then Marlin took over manufacturing them for Al then bought Al out