School me on front upper control arm recommendations, plz.

[Indiana80]

Fyi -You can get oem upper control arms from amayama if you decide to go that route.

That’s not a bad idea…thanks. I’ve bought quite a bit from Amayama and IMPEX in the past. I know OEM would be best. However, I’ve got the ~1.5” OME lift springs in the rear, and front OME torsion bars cranked up a bit. Truck looks fairly level, but not quite- I’m at max end of recommending droop range. I’m concerned I wouldn’t get enough + caster w/ OEM upper arms.

 

[Bisho]

I replaced some old SPCs on my LX back in Feb of this year. Went with new SPCs (xAxis bushings and non-greasable balls). Ever since then…pop, clunk, pop, clunk from driver side UCA. Last weekend I finally tested DS upper ball joint with a dial gauge and found at least .100” of play. Emailed SPC and they immediately responded that for $500 and change core charge, they would warranty claim. Nope, I’m not going down that road again. I’m looking at Dobinsons and Freedom. Haven’t yet made up my mind. Cross my fingers every time I get in the truck to drive on the SPCs.

I'm a bit confused - Did they want $500 for a core charge (which would be fine, IMO), or $500 plus a core, which is hardly a warranty claim. Why not just replace the replaceable ball joint for ~$100 and 30 minutes of your time?

 

[Indiana80]

I'm a bit confused - Did they want $500 for a core charge (which would be fine, IMO), or $500 plus a core, which is hardly a warranty claim. Why not just replace the replaceable ball joint for ~$100 and 30 minutes of your time?

I believe just $500 core. My point was, why mess with it if it failed in less than a year. I’m wanting a more simple design.

 

[hoser]

Well, $500 core is good. Send the $500, return your old SPC arms, buy Freedom UCA's, sell SPC warranteed arms to a fellow mud member at a good discount... like $440? Everyone is happy.

I have both SPC and Nitro and they've both been good to me... and neither babied. I see the Freedom UCA's have the provision for the AHC... so that is nice. My suspicions... I repeat, my suspicions are.... these Freedom, Dobinson, Nitro, Blackhawk UCA's are all manufactured by roadsafe.com.au ... in Asia. The dimensions are the same but the material, ball joints, cap and rubber bushings can be different.

 

[Raymond525]

I'm gonna piggyback on this thread and ask about the CruiserTeq UCA's. Anyone have experience with them?

Front RH Upper Control Arm - Fits 1998 - 2007 IFS 100/470 RH Side Applications (SUS48610RAFT)

Upper Control Arm for Toyota Land Cruiser

cruiserteq.com

Raymond