Broken Driver Side Upper Control Arm

by **Gordinho80** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:42 am

Well, left house to pick up some dinner before. Small unpaved road, truck starts acting a little weird. I was only going 20-25 MPH luckily. Once I got to pavement, I stopped. Driver side upper control arm broken at the ball joint mount. Rigged it in place with a ratchet strap and turned around back home. Now I need to find me a replacement UCA... or better yet... both.

Happy New Year!!! :wallbash:

by **v7guy** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 3:29 am

I've always wondered if this would be a problem after flipping the UCA.
Glad you made it through ok, that could have been really not good.

by **The Roadie** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:20 am

Was that flipped or not? Teebes broke one, and I think the cracking was done while it was not-flipped, but it let loose later. Darn, we should really find a fabricator to do them right.

by **dvanbramer88** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:00 pm

The Roadie wrote:Was that flipped or not? Teebes broke one, and I think the cracking was done while it was not-flipped, but it let loose later. Darn, we should really find a fabricator to do them right.

If only we knew a guy...

by **Gordinho80** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 12:21 pm

Flipped UCAs. That ball joint had been pretty bad for a while, which might have contributed to the break. Should I look at aftermarket or find one in a junk yard?

by **v7guy** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:13 pm

Well, if we have a few more snap in the next year or two you should probably get some made, if we don't, then a stock one will suffice. lol

There's a lot of guys with em flipped now. I would suspect we'll see more if it's actually an issue. Unfortunately only time will tell. Maybe you just got lucky!

by **Gordinho80** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:43 pm

I think it may be related to a bad ball joint. The BJ has been pretty bad for some time. I'm talking torn boot and no grease in the joint. Would that stiffness transfer to the control arm? Added stress on the mount...

Rockauto has Dormans for $32, Moogs for $47, and AC Delcos for $53...

by **GONE FISHN** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 4:01 pm

I don't see how flipping the control arm would weaken it. You are still putting the same amount of stress on it. :
wallbash:

by **The Roadie** » Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:32 pm

The stress comes from trying to bend the UBJ mounting stud too far on suspension extension. The stud will halt, and THAT puts extra stress on the part that you see broken.

by **TexTrail** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:00 am

I'm looking at getting back into the TB upper control arm/long travel suspension end of this month. My jeep is almost done for now and I'll see what I can come up with. Would you be willing to send me the broken uca. I need better info on the ball joint clamp. 20 minutes measuring one in a parts store didn't get me everything I need.

by **Gordinho80** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 9:53 am

If you cover shipping, sure. I'm expecting the replacement arms by end of week. I'll be replacing both sides as well as both upper ball joints and both wheel bearings. Hopefully they'll last.

by **TexTrail** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:59 am

I pm'd you some shipping info. Throw in the ball joints if there's room. I can pull them apart and use them in a welding jig.

by **Gordinho80** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:06 pm

Some High Res pics of the UCA brake.

It might be worth mentioning, the bushings at the UCA mounts are pretty beat up. One more so then the other, but both pretty bad.

by **DirtyBacon04** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:20 pm

Rust much?
Yea, my UCA bushings are pretty bad too. So i'm sure some kind of UCA failure isn't too far off for me.

by **Gordinho80** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:27 pm

Definitely going to spray the new UCAs with something to help prevent from thwart off the rust.

by **DirtyBacon04** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:30 pm

Or you could just move out of NJ...

by **dvanbramer88** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:34 pm

DirtyBacon04 wrote:Or you could just move out of NJ...

That's probably the smarter option.... :happy whip:

by **Gordinho80** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:40 pm

HA! It was a thought for some time.... not currently, though.

by **TexTrail** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:52 pm

They look like they've had a crack for a while. The shiny is the break but, there are surfaces with rust on them showing how far down and out the crack went before the break.

by **KE7WOX** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:26 pm

TexTrail wrote:They look like they've had a crack for a while. The shiny is the break but, there are surfaces with rust on them showing how far down and out the crack went before the break.

+1 on that.

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