Aftermarket UCAs - Slee vs Total Chaos vs Nitro

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Curious, has anyone used the Superpro bushings on the stock UCA with new 555 ball joints? I was able to get stock UCA at 2 degrees caster, which is almost identical when I installed Nitro's with zero change in previous lift.

I would've tried that first!
 
I am circling back to my UCA hunt.

It appears the Trail Tailor UCA are out of stock, so I assume the first batch at least was sold. Can anyone offer their opinion after using them for a while?

Does anyone have the Blackhawk UCA that can offer some real world feedback?

The SPC adjustable ball joint makes me nervous-- maybe unjustifiably so. I won't be as hard on mine as most here, probably 90% daily driven., but I've seen people mention they've knocked them out of alignment. I assume that would take an significant shot? IE not likely to occur in 'normal' driving? I might feel better about them if I could see how they are adjusted and locked in. I'm just not wanting to turn UCA into an oil change maintenance item (excepting grease) or fight alignments.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
I replaced my OEM with Trail Tailor UCA's and have been very pleased with the result. Really tightened up my front end. I could only manage around 1° caster with the factory control arms and lift. With the Trail Tailors I ended up with 2.4°. While not a huge increase (certainly not the 4° others are running with other UCA's) highway speed stability and tracking is greatly improved. All in all I'm quite happy with my purchase. Eyeing up rear UC and LCA's now.
 
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hoser said:
@MATT0404 Did you ask the alignment shop for a specific amount of caster or did you just ask them to align it to spec?
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I just asked for factory front end alignment for toe and camber. As far as I understand, caster is not adjustable on the TT UCA's.
 
Correct, there is no adjustment but from what I understand, there are 3 degrees of extra caster built in. So, hypothetically, if you were able to manage 1 degree of caster with the OE UCA's, you might be able to manage 4 degrees with the TT UCA's. If you take pictures of the UCA's adjustment bolts, I might be able to tell you more.
 
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SPC balljoints do not move unless you did not follow the recommended torque setting. The SPC control arm still offers the widest alignment adjustments available.
 
From SPC:

1972331


Mine whacked of alignment once at 150 ft/lbs and 35" tires (and original finish)... I am going torque them to 175 ft/lbs when I get a chance.
 
hoser said:
Correct, there is no adjustment but from what I understand, there are 3 degrees of extra caster built in. So, hypothetically, if you were able to manage 1 degree of caster with the OE UCA's, you might be able to manage 4 degrees with the TT UCA's. If you take pictures of the UCA's adjustment bolts, I might be able to tell you more.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I'm not very knowledgeable in this area, so I appreciate your insight. I'll take a few pics and share later this evening.
 
I'm not an expert with alignment either. But basically, the front and rear cam bolts at the UCA are eccentric. A combination of adjusting the two will change both camber and caster. This video at 4:10 will give you a better visual of how it works.



83328547.gif
 
Here are where my adjustment bolts are set. Thanks for the info. Will review the video you posted when I get back home.

Driver's side rear, then front:
IMG_20190508_101530.webp

IMG_20190508_101647.webp

Passenger side rear, then front:
IMG_20190508_101714.webp

IMG_20190508_101733.webp
 
hoser said:
From SPC:

View attachment 1972331

Mine whacked of alignment once at 150 ft/lbs and 35" tires (and original finish)... I am going torque them to 175 ft/lbs when I get a chance.
Click to expand...
This. I ran mine at 175 ft/lbs starting day one and I never had an issue. Even wheeling with 35s.
 
So does anyone have the newer style nitro gear control arms? I need more caster, and it seems like the SPC are the best for it with its adjust-ability but the nitro gear UCA have 3 degrees built in so it should allow me to get the amount I need.

I'm in between the SPC and Nitros, but slightly hesitant on the SPC from hearing the are ball joints wearing out quickly.
 
dinnertime said:
So does anyone have the newer style nitro gear control arms? I need more caster, and it seems like the SPC are the best for it with its adjust-ability but the nitro gear UCA have 3 degrees built in so it should allow me to get the amount I need.

I'm in between the SPC and Nitros, but slightly hesitant on the SPC from hearing the are ball joints wearing out quickly.
Click to expand...
What’s your center hub to fender measurement? How much +caster are you shooting for?
 
SPC balljoints wearing out were with early production non-zerk fitting. The new style I have had no issues with.
 
dinnertime said:
So does anyone have the newer style nitro gear control arms? I need more caster, and it seems like the SPC are the best for it with its adjust-ability but the nitro gear UCA have 3 degrees built in so it should allow me to get the amount I need.

I'm in between the SPC and Nitros, but slightly hesitant on the SPC from hearing the are ball joints wearing out quickly.
Click to expand...

Running the Nitro UCAs on my LX470 for the last 4 or 5 months (~5000mi).
Running the SPC UCAs on my son's TLC for the last 5 years (~40,000mi).

The SPCs allow a whole lot more adjustment, but I'm not sure that amount of adjustment is actually required, for the lift available in our vehicles. The number of moving parts on the SPC UCAs make them seem slightly more fragile, but we've had no issues on my son's vehicle in 5 years and 40,000 miles.
 
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dinnertime said:
I'm right at 21.5. I'm looking for 4+ degrees of caster, most I can get out of my stock arms while keeping my camber in check is around 2.5+
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I feel like you are gonna need SPCs to get those numbers. In my experience I don’t think you will get much more than +2.5 with +3 arms.
 
ga12r1 said:
I feel like you are gonna need SPCs to get those numbers. In my experience I don’t think you will get much more than +2.5 with +3 arms.
Click to expand...

I'm curious how you came to that conclusion?

If I remember correctly, the SPC arms add 1* in the neutral "D" position and 3* at the max caster "A" position.​
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I see the Nitro UCAs have been updated, on their web site, and now look an awful lot like the Blackhawk UCAs. They list their new arms at +3*. (I have no idea if my 4-5 month old earlier design Nitro UCAs have the same +3*)​
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