Tacoma Camburg Uniball UCA Dust, Mud, Water Covers

Due to the design of the open Uniball on the UCAs on the market, they are prone to early failure when used in extreme conditions..4 to 6 months on trucks used in the South American rain forest..mud, dirt, sand and Water. The dry lube washes off very quickly and eventually causes the Uniball to squeak and rattle.
I have designed Covers that keep the elements out of the top of the Uniball and will be sending them to South America for evaluation.


Low profile Camburg bolts used as the Chaos and other models use a taller bolt which makes it hard to cover.

Test fit of Ring with cover before welding

Rings, Uniball and removable plastic snap in covers.

Machined dummy Uniball to act as heat sink to prevent housing distortion during welding.

Covers welded on and Arms to be painted...more pics to follow.

 

Awww yeah Love ingenuity like this

 

Nice work!!

 

Nice.

 

Awesome idea, looks sharp.

 

Although this is a great idea for the top acting like a pool, what do you do about the bottom of the Uni-ball that is actually exposed to more dirt and debris? On another note, not all Uni-balls make noise from dirt, debris, water and so on.

 

From what I noticed the top of the Uniball is the problem because of what you said..pooling of mud, Water dirt. The Bottom is hard to cover and requires a complete redesign of the cup and a rubber boot like what the Austrailians did.A cover on the top in my opinion will extend the life of the Uniball for sure. I have seen failures on Chaos and Camburg Uniballs..who makes a tough failure proof one?


Monster Rides sealed Uniball UCA..$1400.00 USD delivered to USA from Australia.

 

indeed, was aware of them, knew they were very pricey, I have been playing around with a boot for the bottom of the UCA uniball transition and was wondering if you were going down the same path.

 

I looked at the Arm carefully and due to the design of the cup it's impossible to cover the lower. The cup will have to be redesigned. The guys will lube the bottom and remove the cap to put in penetrating dry lube and that should work better than having no cover. The top will always be clean and have penetrating Dry lube.. We have a sticky highly abrasive orange/ red clay that gets into everything and the trucks are in it for hundreds of miles at a time..for work not weekend warriors so the parts have to last. Here are some examples of our conditions.










This Mud is serious crap..eats uniballs for lunch!!!
Lol

 

Simple, yet brilliant.
Is that the 1.25 or 1" uni...Id be interested in one...tired of the squeeks.

 

indeed, lots of iron in that mud, have spent some time in So. America, im working on a wrap around design that cover the holy assembly.

 

Let me know what you come up with!!

 

These look like awesome ideas guys.. Just the reason i need to get Uni-balls instead of ball joints once I upgrade my suspension..

 

This may sound stupid or oversimplified, but, why not just use spherical bearings with grease ports and add a grease zerk to the arm.

You could probably offer them a squirt of grease by positioning the wheel spokes in a position to have easy access.

Waterproof marine grease should last a while, prevent corrosion, and purge out any contamination the does slip by the grease layer.

Just asking, I was toying with accomplishing the greaseable mod but have not bought upper arms yet. For my needs I plan to buy ball joint Camburgs for simplicity.

PK

 

Easier, goes on wet and drys.

 

Nobody makes a Uniball with grease fittings

 

Lube dosnt stay on in our conditions..after a few mud holes all lube is gone.

 

FYI Camburg now offers uni ball covers: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/deals-coupons/290539-uni-ball-covers.html#post7284478

Edit: Ball joint only for now, Uni ball in the works

 

Would u make another pair of uniball covers?