Aftermarket UCAs

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options2

options2

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Nov 1, 2010
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I now have almost 180k on the truck and am starting to get a lot of noise from the front suspension. I am replacing worn parts and bushings. I can see that my UCAs look pretty tired and want to replace them.

I also see from searching and the different sales sites for about the same price as stock I can pick up some serviceable lifetime warrantied UCAs. My truck is still at the stock height for now. On the description for most of the arms it says that it fixes issues with 2 - 3 inch lifts. My question is, can this be run at stock height with no issues? Is anyone running these at stock height, and if so which ones?

I saw between the various ones, Total Chaos, Nitro , and the ones on Slees site....some seem to have a uni-ball mount, while the Nitro ones use a Tundra mount. Most of them say they are clocked to ride level on lifts. So again....will these function properly at stock height.

It just be noted that I plan on lifting the truck in the future.

Thanks for your time.
 
The uniball style will add another layer of maintenance to the equation. Running them with no lift will be fine. I would strongly consider that new Nitro version that has the stock ball joint, rather than a uniball. I have not seen it in action but if I were buying today, that would be my first choice to consider. Search about these options on Mud. You will find some good data, experiences.
 
I can't comment as to whether or not they will work at stock height, but it seems to me that if you're already going to be fixing the front suspension, you might as well lift it at the same time. Seems it would be easier to do it all at once.
 
bluecruiser said:
The uniball style will add another layer of maintenance to the equation. Running them with no lift will be fine. I would strongly consider that new Nitro version that has the stock ball joint, rather than a uniball. I have not seen it in action but if I were buying today, that would be my first choice to consider. Search about these options on Mud. You will find some good data, experiences.
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I assume you are talking about these with the Tundra mounts?

http://www.justdifferentials.com/JTOUCA-TLC100-p/jtouca-tlc100-bj.htm
 
Yes, those are the ones. Sealed ball joint rather than ball joint. I think the SPC may have this feature, as well.
 
WiscoProud said:
I can't comment as to whether or not they will work at stock height, but it seems to me that if you're already going to be fixing the front suspension, you might as well lift it at the same time. Seems it would be easier to do it all at once.
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I totally agree with you. And this is off topic. But I made the choice to dump some money into the VW DD and fix its intercooler icing issue(On a side note.....I really wish Toyota would bring their diesels to the US....I hate dealing with VW) which was caused by the EGR valve. So I ended up removing it completely, the diesel particulate filter, some other misc stuff, and tunning it. It now makes almost as much torque as the TLC...in a Jetta. Its kinda over kill.

Yikes.....sorry. Squirrel.


Back to topic, Id rather not have a UCA fail and I can afford to replace these now. Then move to the lift kit later. Always falls down to decisions, decisions.
 
I think you would have to have some extremely degraded upper arms to get a failure. If I remember correctly, you can reboot the uppers. That would let you see where you are in terms of a possible failure and it would be cheap. I've never read about a total failure on this part, on MUD.
 
My upper ball joints looked brand new at 165,000 miles. No slop and no play whatsoever. I cleaned, greased, and rebooted them. Pretty easy job.
 
The deal with UCA's for the higher lifts is that they provide extra room for the front shocks and it corrects some of the geometry when lifted.
I would call Carl at Just Diff's and as his "professional" opinion. http://www.justdifferentials.com/articles.asp?ID=256
or contact Cristo at Slee Offroad at: http://www.sleeoffroad.com/
Generally these guys are more than happy to spend a couple of minutes BS'ing about what to do and not do on your rig because they've done it all already.

These guys are the real deal and not just arm chair wannabes or occasional shade tree mechanics.

Sorry if I bruised anyone's ego with that last comment, but I have to include myself in that sentence too as an occasional shade tree (home garage) mechanic.
 
If you are going to leave your rig at or near stock suspension height...either rebuild or replace your OEM front UCAs. They are maintenance free, offer very long lasting performance, absorb high frequency vibrations better than any urethane bushing...etc.

OTOH if you are going to raise the resting suspension height one of the aftermarket UCAs can help off-set the relative caster and clearance issues created from increased suspension height along with enhanced joint articulation/increased travel tolerance (droop mainly).
 
Are the nitro ones worth the extra money compared to the light racing ones metal tech has on sale? I have an iron man lift and am thinking about getting the light racing uca today.
 
gmayer said:
I have the light racing uca's on my 4Runner and I think the ball joint made it 20k miles. I would not purchase them again.
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I'm pretty sure the LR ones for sale on Metal Tech's site are SPC's with OEM style ball joints, the exact same ones Slee sells also. If you look at the picture and literature from the SPC site, it's all the same. I think it even had SPC in the writeup on the Metal Tech site. So it's a pretty good deal if you are looking for new UCA's with OEM style ball joints IMO.
 
I have Uniball, and I don't think there is much difference between any of them. Their purpose is to correct camber when lifted and give more space for the longer travel shocks, which they all do.
 
If you wheel a lot, the uniball becomes a maintenance item. It simple wears out. If not, then it will probably give you more time with little to no maintenance.
 
r2m said:
I have Uniball, and I don't think there is much difference between any of them. Their purpose is to correct camber when lifted and give more space for the longer travel shocks, which they all do.
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I totally disagree here. The adjustable SPC product allows for a ton of castor correction which restores handling on lifted 100's.
I for example run the TC UCA and there is not any adjustment beyond stock so the castor angles are not great (better than stock but no where close to the SPC adjustability). Many have switched over to the SPC's with good success, the style that SLEE sells is the way to go IMHO.
 
I've got the SPCs and my only comment is I've found they're squeaky. Do I care? Nah. Do people comment on it? Sometimes. I would go SPC but there're a couple good options out there as mentioned.
 
FlammableFishie said:
I've got the SPCs and my only comment is I've found they're squeaky. Do I care? Nah. Do people comment on it? Sometimes. I would go SPC but there're a couple good options out there as mentioned.
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Mine have been on a year and don't squeak.... did you hit them with the supplied grease adequately on the install?
 
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