JunkCrzr89
Competent Ignoramoose
I had similar issues with SPC ball joints on a 3rd gen T4R that I used to own. However, in contrast to your friend, I greased them religiously at every oil change and also anytime potential submergence occurred. I still had to replace them every ~30k miles. I think SPC has improved their ball joint and boot design in recent years, though.Here's a story about specialty ball joints.
A friend with a 2nd Gen Tacoma decided to upgrade to SPC control arms. Unfortunately, he farms out most of his mechanical work.
So he bought the arms following a large group of Tacoma owners that reported good results with the newly designed SPC arms.
I think he found an alignment shop to do the installation. So far so good.
He puts a lot of miles on the truck and drives in harsh off-road deep water and mud crossings often.
Roughly 18 months after purchase he noted the ball joints were worn out. WHAT?
It turns out the installer didn't tell him that SPC ball joints need to be greased. AND if you submerge your truck in water and mud, you need to periodically check your ball joints on a more rigorous schedule. The ball joints only had the factory installed grease.
I think the SPC seller made the joints good. He instructed the service center to keep an eye on greasing the ball joints.
I think that any specialty UCA with greaseable ball joints and bushings requires some level of care and understanding by the owner.
If you use your rig as a submarine or amphibious vehicle, use more care with your ball joints than driving in dry conditions.
I think it's good that we have multiple choices for UCAs that use common (easily acquired) ball joints.
The only thing I have seen when it comes to some of the lower-cost UCAs is the quality of powder coating. A crack or defect in power coating turns into a rust problem in areas with road salt.
Regarding aftermarket UCAs for the 100, I generally think they're unnecessary. I'm at 21" CHTFL in the front with OEM UCAs and have had no issues getting or staying in factory alignment specs. But *if* I was going to go down the aftermarket UCA route to get some additional caster, hands down I would choose the Dobinsons, solely because they use a tried and true ball joint that we know is high quality (Sankei 555) and is actually serviceable. Worst case scenario you lose an upper ball joint with the Dobinsons while you're on a trip and you just go to the nearest Napa and overpay for a new 555 joint (Napa's NPC line is 555). Best case, you buy spare 555 joints for cheap from Cruiser Outfitters or RockAuto (the ACDelco joints are 555s).