JBA-6.55 SRT8 Upper Control Arm Installation & Maintenance
Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 2005-2010 PLEASE READ, INSTALLATION IS DIFFERNT THAN FACTORY
What will void your JBA WARRANTY •Adding ball joint spacers to the JBA upper control arms. •Adding bump stops that hit the JBA upper control arms. •Adding limiting straps attached to the JBA upper control arms. •Cutting, grinding, welding, or modifying the JBA upper control arms. •Using the JBA arms on a vehicle, and/or a lift kit they were not designed for. •JBA upper control arms are not designed to be used when stacking two lift kits together. NO EXCEPTIONS
Index A-Arm Removal.........................................................1-3 A-Arm Installation......................................................4-5 Maintenance Procedure...............................................6 Bushing Replacement.................................................7-8 EZ Lube Bushing........................................................9 JBA Ball Joint............................................................10 Front End Alignment..................................................11 Installation Notes........................................................12 Merchandise................................................................13
We take pride in our work at JBA Offroad, but we are human and sometimes make mistakes. Please check our work and ensure we shipped the part number you ordered and that they are a matching set. If there is a mistake on our part, we will correct it as soon as possible. However, if you disassemble your vehicle before you check the parts you received with your order, JBA Offroad is not responsible for any inconvenience this may cause you. Our responsibility is to make sure you received the parts you ordered.
Product Number
*JBA 6.55 UCAs are symmetrical, both can be used for either driver side or passenger side.
A-Arm Removal Tools needed: Floor jack and two jack stands Flat head screwdriver ½” drive torque wrench + various extensions (as needed) ½”-18mm socket ½”-19mm socket 3/8” drive ratchet + 15 mm socket and/or 15 mm combination wrench Large Pitman arm puller (Performance Tool W142) Plastic pop rivets (Harbor Freight Tools #67566, 6.3mm X 25.2mm) *These are identical to the Marson rivets, which are OEM Rivet gun for plastic rivets (Harbor Freight Tools #97757) Coping saw or jig saw Twine for supporting the steering knuckle (spindle) Procedure: 1. Loosen the lug nuts. 2. Jack up your vehicle using the appropriate lift points and support the front end with jack stands. The transmission cross-member can be used as a support point. 3. Remove the front wheels and set aside. 4. Remove the plastic inner fender well liner. This will allow access to the control arm mounting bolts. Begin by marking the mid-point position of the BJ on the liner first. The liner will need to be trimmed later to clear the control arm, so this is an important reference point.
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A-Arm Removal 5. Remove the plastic rivets securing the panel. Drill through the rivets or cut off the heads with diagonal pliers.
6. Inboards, there are two plastic push pins securing the panel. Use a flat head screwdriver to pry up the heads and make sure to keep track of them for reuse later. The panel can now be removed.
7. Now the ball joint and the spindle can be separated. The wheel speed sensor will need to be disconnected from its mounting point on the strut first.
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A-Arm Removal 8. Loosen the nut securing the upper ball joint to the spindle. Leave the nut in place, but back it off a few threads leaving a small gap between the nut and the spindle. This is important, because the nut will keep the spindle from crashing down and injuring you or tearing off the brake hose. 9. Tie-off the spindle with some twine to hold it up after the ball joint is separated. You can now separate the spindle from the upper ball joint by tapping on the flat spot on the spindle with a hammer or by using a large Pitman arm puller. You will see the spindle suddenly drop down and be held in place by the nut. 10. Remove the nut and disengage the spindle.
11. Now the upper control arm can be removed. Loosen the bolts that hold on the control arm with your 18mm socket and 15mm socket or combo wrench. The stock intake can be removed for easier access to these bolts. Once the bolts are out, the control arm will slide out easily.
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A-Arm Installation Now you can install your new control arm using the original bolts. 1. Grease the outer surface of the Ez Lube bushing prior to installation, then install upper control arm (1) to the vehicle. Washer orientation: two washers at 0.146", and one washer at 0.079",one black bushing, one red steel a-arm bong, one black bushing, one washer at 0.079". The cluster of washers should be on the front side of a-arm mounting points on the jeep. Use all 16 washers on installation.
Front of Jeep
1) Upper Control Arm 2) Upper ball joint 3) Knuckle 4) Retaining Nut
2. It may be easiest to grease the ball joint before installing as there is not a lot of space. A mini-grease gun can be used inside the fender well even with a straight Zerk fitting. Install the nut and bolt securing the upper control arm (1) to the body torque 90ft/lbs. 3. Insert the ball joint through the spindle. Tighten the nut securely using a 19mm socket, but before you apply the proper torque setting, jack the vehicle up under the lower control arm. This should seat the tapered ball joint stud into the spindle. 4. Torque the nut to 60 ft. lb.(81 N.m), reattach the wheel speed sensor to the strut body. 5. Now it’s time to trim the inner fender well liner. The mark you had previously made should reference the approximate mid-point of the ball joint. The new control arm is approx. ¾” longer than the OEM and is wider at the end. Trim off a strip approximately ¾” wide by 6” long, centered at the mark that was made previously.
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A-Arm Installation Note: For those of you who are anal-retentive, you can reinstall the plastic inner fender well liner and rotate the control arm upwards so that you can scribe a precise line. Do this before the control arm bolts are torqued, otherwise the A-arm will not rotate freely. You can use a coping saw or a jig saw to make the cut and dress it with a file.
6. Reinstall the fender well liner. You’ll have to play with it to get it in place, but don’t force it or you’ll break the plastic. The driver’s side is more difficult. Attach it using your rivet gun. Don’t forget the two plastic push pins!
Thanks to Dave Kosa for the detailed instructions. Dave Kosa 2007 Cherokee SRT8 Steel Blue Mopar exhaust Volant CAI BWoody lowering springs and end links BT Catch Can DCX Depot CMR tune JBA SRT8 Upper Control Arms
Note: Certain models of the Grand Cherokee received a steering knuckle from a manufacturer in which the taper is drilled slightly shallower. This can cause the JBA ball joint threads to not pass through the knuckle properly. This problem only occurs in about 1 out of every 200 sets of arms sold. However, if you are experiencing this problem, don't worry, you do have the correct set of arms, and there is a simple solution: Take a 9/16" drill bit and carefully drill out the steering knuckle taper from the top down. This slightly opens the bottom of the taper to allow the 14mm threads of the JBA ball joint to pass through and properly seat. Doing this does not negatively affect the steering knuckle integrity in any way, nor will it prevent the OEM ball joint from fitting properly.
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Maintenance Procedure
Every 3,000-5,000 miles: (at the interval of every oil change) -Grease the ball joint with 3-4 pumps of lithium complex grease fortified with moly (molybdenum disulfide). -Grease the upper control arm bushings with lithium complex grease fortified with moly (molybdenum disulfide) until you see grease consistently pushing out from the bushing’s EZ lube ports. -Perform a visual inspection of the ball joint boots. Ensure there are no large tears or damage to the rubber. If you see significant damage, we recommend replacing the boot with a new one. Replacement boots can be purchased through our website at: https://jbaoffroad.com/ball-joint-boots.html
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Ball Joint Replacement Video:
Bushing Replacement Replacement instructions for bushing kit #JBA-TC-69000-EZ-6.7 1. Press in the inner bushings first.
2. Open the Lube packet, squeeze lube in the surface of the ¾” hole of all 8 bushings. 3. Do not lube to outside of the bushings. 4. Put a thin coat of lube on the steel sleeves. 5. Squeeze the excess lube from the tube in on the center of the bong filling the gap between the black bushings with lube. 6. Press in the outside bushings
7. Press in the steel sleeves.
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Bushing Replacement 8. With the excess lube that squeezes out rub it on the outside of the bushings. 9. Take the washers and stack them between the steel bushing sleeve and aarm pockets. (See image below for example.)
a. For easy installation of washers put a film of grease on both sides of all washers and then squeeze them on the steel sleeve. b. Washer orientation: two washers at 0.146”, and one washer at 0.079”, one black bushing, one steel A-Arm bong, one black bushing , one washer at 0.079” and the cluster of washers should be on the front side of a-arm mounting points on the Jeep. Use all 16 washers on installation. Front of Jeep
Cluster of washers on the front side of bong.
10. Install the A-arm in the Jeep according to the Installation Instructions.
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JBA EZ Lube Bushings
JBA has a patent on our control arm bushings. The EZ lube bushings have grease ports with a check valve. There is no need to loosen the mounting bolts to release the grease pressure. The maintenance procedure is simple: Attach grease gun to the bushing valve, pump lithium complex grease fortified with moly (molybdenum disulfide) until you see grease pushing out from the bushing face. It builds up pressure and flows all around the ports in the bushing. Attach grease gun to the ball joint grease fitting, add 3-4 pumps of lithium complex grease fortified with moly (molybdenum disulfide). 1 grease cartridge will be sufficient.
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JBA Ball Joint
We recommend using Mobilgrease XHP™ 222 Special lithium complex grease or lithium complex grease fortified with moly (molybdenum disulfide), it is intended for a wide variety of applications and severe operating conditions. These greases were designed to outperform conventional products by applying cutting edge, proprietary, lithium complex manufacturing technology. It is formulated to provide excellent high temperature performance with superb adhesion, structural stability, and resistance to water contamination. This grease has a high level of chemical stability and offer excellent protection against rust and corrosion. This grease feature high dropping points and maximum recommended operating temperature of 140º C (284°F). Mobilgrease XHP 222 Special grease available in NLGI grades 2 or 3 with an ISO VG 220 base oil viscosity. Mobilgrease XHP 222 Special grease is designed for a wide range of applications including the industrial, automotive, construction and marine sectors. Their performance features make them ideal choices for operating conditions including high temperature, water contamination, shock loading and extended re-lubrication operations. Mobilgrease XHP 222 Special is an extreme pressure grease fortified with 0.75% molybdenum disulfide that provides protection from wear under conditions pivoting and other conditions that lead to loss of oil film.
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Front End Alignment
-0.50
-0.50
4.1
4.1
0.125
0.125
Factory alignment specs for basically all vehicles call for a certain degree of positive caster. This ensures good stability, helps maintain straight-ahead direction and promotes steering wheel self-centering. Camber is the inward or outward tilt of the front tires as viewed from the front. Toe-in is the amount the tires point in at each other from being parallel with each other. The higher you lift an IFS vehicle the less caster you will have, the JBA upper control arms will help replace the caster lost from lifting your vehicle.
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Installation Notes Installation Date _________ Mileage on vehicle ____________ Lift Kit Installation Notes: Measure center of wheel to underside of fender flare. List ride height Before and After: Driver Side Front B____________ A____________
Passenger Side Front B____________ A____________
Driver Side Back B____________ A____________
Passenger Side Back B____________ A____________
Maintenance schedule grease every 3 Months or 3,000 to 5,000 Miles. Mileage____________
Date__________
Mileage____________
Date__________
Mileage____________
Date__________
Mileage____________
Date__________
Mileage____________
Date__________
Mileage____________
Date__________
Mileage____________
Date__________
Mileage____________
Date__________
Mileage____________
Date__________
Save your front end alignment sheet from your Tech with these notes.
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Merchandise
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855.533.7437 704 Forman Rd. Souderton, PA 18964 sales@JBAoffroad.com