• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Upper control arm mounts for trussed D30

Jeepedo129

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Henderson, NV
Ok, so Ive been getting my shopping list together for a D30 build. the only thing I cant seem to find is a suitable upper control arm mount for use with the Ballistic fab truss. Anyone running the BF truss that can shed some light on this?
 
Pics? Whatever you get, unless you build will have to be modified. Artec, clayton etc make UCA mounts.
 
Pics? Whatever you get, unless you build will have to be modified. Artec, clayton etc make UCA mounts.

Havent bought the truss yet, so I dont have pics. Im just want to get stuff that will work together, BF says the truss easily accommodates the stock suspension brackets, but Their pictures are hard to see how they do. Im mostly concerned about the passenger side. I guess ill have to start ordering parts and see how they fit.
 
Look at artec, you have the option with or without their UCA mounts.
 
Thats not a bad set up, they only show an option for Johnny joints for the UCA, im sure its a glitch in the site.

I don't know why I overlooked their truss, because Im ordering their inner Cs gussets......
 
Ballistic has link towers (aka link mounts) for the passenger side and generic tabs you can use for the drivers side.

Ruff Stuff doesn't have a D30 truss, but they do have a nice assortment of link mounts and a friendly staff to help you decide.

Personally I'm running TNT Customs Axle Trusses Front and Rear for my Dana 44. The nice thing about TNT is you can pick which accessories you want and the truss arrives with the components already welded in.
 
Thats not a bad set up, they only show an option for Johnny joints for the UCA, im sure its a glitch in the site.

I don't know why I overlooked their truss, because Im ordering their inner Cs gussets......

Upper Control Arm Options:
Daystar Bushings - Includes bushing, inner sleeve, thrust washer, bolt, and nut for Driver side and bushing, weldable outer sleeve, inner sleeve, greasable bolt, nut, and two keyed tabs for Passenger side.

Currie Johnny Joints - Includes 2.0" Press-in machined Johnny Joint (CE-9112M), 2.0" weldable Johnny Joint (CE-9112), and two keyed tabs for Passenger side. Both joints include greasable bolts.

Truss ONLY - No bushings/joints/keyed tabs included. Key hole slots on top of truss where keyed tabs would go must be filled with weld. Use this only if you aren't connecting the passenger side UCA.

http://www.artecindustries.com/Front-Axle-Truss-for-XJ_p_335.html
 
Why not just put two flat tabs on the axle, and make a control arm with joints on either end? Then you could do any combination of hard joints and rubber joints that your little heart desires.
 
When I called Artec they said the daystar bushing wasn't available anymore... don't know if that has changed.

I wanted to use OE bushings but in thier HD mounts, so I ordered a bushing sleeve from IRO and then Artecs upper brackets made for the JJ. I did have to clearance the brackets a bit to fit the sleeve, didn't take much.

Thats what they told me as well, they only offer the JJ. I really like the look of the Ballistic truss, but I could get used to the Artecs truss ha.

Ive never trussed an axle before so this is all a learning experience for me. But that is what I was looking for, I didnt know how much cutting and welding it would take to make different brackets fit to different trusses.

I want to run rubber bushings at the axle end so I guess I should look at doing something like your set up. Have you liked the truss from Artecs?
 
I would not build a passenger side uca mount on the ballistic truss. It says the top is 1/4" but that top piece does not go the full width of the truss. At the uca the material is only 1/8". I just modified my ballistic truss to work with both factory uca mounts
 
I would not build a passenger side uca mount on the ballistic truss. It says the top is 1/4" but that top piece does not go the full width of the truss. At the uca the material is only 1/8". I just modified my ballistic truss to work with both factory uca mounts

Do you have pictures of what it look like now that it is done?
 
Kinda depends on what suspension setup you are running as well.

I had the Poly 3-link, so my upper link used johnny joints on both ends. The kit came with a normal upper link mount.

What the mount looked like alone




Adding the Ballistic truss and JKS track bar mount. I just cut a chunk out of the truss top and welded it straight to the link mount.



 
I'm actually taking a break as I type this from removing my dana 30 to truss it with Clayton's new truss. I am running their 3 link crossmember which puts the upper link on the driver side. Their truss comes laser etched with where the upper 1/4 steel mount mount goes. They sell an upper mount designed for their truss as well as a universal mount. It is also more comparable to the Ballistic truss in price than the TNT and Artec. I can post pics next week when my parts arrive monday. Stupid weather delays are killing my 4 day weekend plans, but I hope to at least have the truss and upper mount installed monday.
 
Im going to running TNTs radius arms, and I believe the uppers are rubber bushings.

I like I'm starting to like the Artecs truss better now. With their keyed upper mounts and a full width truss. plus, It seems a lot of fabbing goes into making the Ballistic truss work.

I like the pictures this was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

picked up my axle. HP dana 30 out of an 86 xj with 4.10s and I grabbed a set of WJ knuckles with the Akebono calipers.

 
Last edited:
Are you sure that the axle is from an 86? Unless PO swapped in u-joints, they had CV shafts.
You will need the hub spacers for the knuckles, and late model TJ bearings.
 
Back
Top