Freedom Off-road UCA (1 Viewer)

[kruisinkid]

installed 2 days ago. might be one of the easiest jobs to do on the these trucks, to swap UCA's. my original bushings and BJs were in pretty good shape for a 227k truck. could have gone another 10k or so. anywhooo...the results! had it aligned yesterday. mechanic was as nice and knowledgeable as could be. invited me to watch the whole thing from next to the computer. i think he understood that i knew my way around the truck. though the initial numbers are close, the last alignment that was done by the PO could not get the caster to any better than 0, so in installing the new UCAs and not hitting my matchmarks exactly, those are the initial numbers yesterday, which were pretty damn close to what he dialed in. the truck also pulled to the left "pretty good" as he put it. did it before and after a tire rotation. he swapped front tires left for right. he believes it is a bad tire that is pushing or pulling. so there is some overcorrection for that. i have KO2's that have 30k on them. he also set the alignment for the greater than typical crown/grade of the roads around here so it doesnt want to wander down to the curb.

bottom line is the truck feels much more planted, a bit tighter. easier to drive. have not been on the highway yet. im hoping more than anything that the decent wobble of the whole truck at +75mph will be gone.

 

[chudly]

did we ever find out what replacement ball joints they use? What is the matching OEM one that we can use for future replacements?

 

[bamabrock]

How are these holding up from the guys who have installed them? They appear to be back in stock

 

[Ramathorn15]

I've been running them for a few months now. They're good. Not sure how long the ball joint will last, but for the price you can't beat them.

 

[Ramathorn15]

I didn't really need them. My alignment was fine with about 2-3" of AHC lift. I just bought them because they were cheap lol

 

[crikeymike]

did we ever find out what replacement ball joints they use? What is the matching OEM one that we can use for future replacements?

I heard that the ball joint is not the same size as OEM. You'll probably need to email the company and ask them for a crossover part number, if they have it.

 

[AR99LX]

I’ve had them on my truck for 6 months/7k miles & they are still holding up great, no issues

 

[chudly]

got a response from them about the ball joints.

"The arms use our own proprietary ball joint. We sell replacements for $35each ."

i think at this price point it's still worth looking into as it's similar to the blackhawk ones too and trail tailor?

 

[Ramathorn15]

got a response from them about the ball joints.

"The arms use our own proprietary ball joint. We sell replacements for $35each ."

i think at this price point it's still worth looking into as it's similar to the blackhawk ones too and trail tailor?

Might be worth buying a few replacements now before they quit offering them.

 

[chudly]

curious what everyone's alignment specs are (in particular caster) after installing these

 

[implayaz9]

Are we able to adjust caster on these like the SPC?

 

[chudly]

Are we able to adjust caster on these like the SPC?

no it's fixed

 

[Sargy]

got a response from them about the ball joints.

"The arms use our own proprietary ball joint. We sell replacements for $35each ."

i think at this price point it's still worth looking into as it's similar to the blackhawk ones too and trail tailor?

We might just have to buy a ball joint and send it to cruiser outfitters to see what 555 ball joint matches up. Just a thought if no other ideas are out there.

 

[chudly]

We might just have to buy a ball joint and send it to cruiser outfitters to see what 555 ball joint matches up. Just a thought if no other ideas are out there.

Not a bad idea! I've got the installed and alignment all done. Happy with them for the price. It's only been a few weeks though haha

 

[banjo1981]

installed 2 days ago. might be one of the easiest jobs to do on the these trucks, to swap UCA's. my original bushings and BJs were in pretty good shape for a 227k truck. could have gone another 10k or so. anywhooo...the results! had it aligned yesterday. mechanic was as nice and knowledgeable as could be. invited me to watch the whole thing from next to the computer. i think he understood that i knew my way around the truck. though the initial numbers are close, the last alignment that was done by the PO could not get the caster to any better than 0, so in installing the new UCAs and not hitting my matchmarks exactly, those are the initial numbers yesterday, which were pretty damn close to what he dialed in. the truck also pulled to the left "pretty good" as he put it. did it before and after a tire rotation. he swapped front tires left for right. he believes it is a bad tire that is pushing or pulling. so there is some overcorrection for that. i have KO2's that have 30k on them. he also set the alignment for the greater than typical crown/grade of the roads around here so it doesnt want to wander down to the curb.

bottom line is the truck feels much more planted, a bit tighter. easier to drive. have not been on the highway yet. im hoping more than anything that the decent wobble of the whole truck at +75mph will be gone.

View attachment 2466971

Have you tested at highway speeds to see if the vibration is gone? I’m having an odd vibration at 65mph and above and three separate tire balances hasn’t seemed to fix it. Could an alignment issue really cause the vibration and why?

 

[kruisinkid]

I probably have but i dont remember. Ha! I dont drive it much in winter but will again more soon. I def want to get the tires road force balanced. Theres a lot that contribute to vibration at speed. Alignment is certainly one of them if out of spec. Bushings/ bearings are other big contributors

 

[gregnash]

Any long-ish term reviews?
I am going to need new upper ball joints in the future and debating on whether I want to replace OEM (which I am at 1.5" of lift currently so right at the edge for OEM UCAs) or purchase these and give them a shot. I don't wheel enough or hard enough to justify the cost of TC, SPC or anything major at twice the cost of these.

 

[wsudu]

I would like to know if the twitch calms down because man, my 06 with a ~1” AHC sensor lift on KO2 275/70/18’s gets reaaaal squirrelly especially when I get after it, even in neutral height.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

I would like to know if the twitch calms down because man, my 06 with a ~1” AHC sensor lift on KO2 275/70/18’s gets reaaaal squirrelly especially when I get after it, even in neutral height.

You can easily get 2 deg + caster with OEM UCAs, that will take care of the twitch.

 

[chudly]

so far so good. haven't put too mcuh mileage still. did a few trips. and highway driving. feels good. there's the faintest squeak i can hear when i'm going slow in a parking garage. not sure if it's from them or not but may try some silicone spray on the inner bushings to see if it's that