Another UCA Thread (TC, Icon, or ?)

I am about ready to upgrade to some aftermarket UCAs to add misalignment as I want to raise my Icon coilovers a bit and am out of caster adjustment.

I am leaning toward either the Icon tubular UCA and Total Chaos UCA with uniballs, but am also considering the Camburg ball joint UCA which Wheelers offers with Moog ball joints already pressed in and Light Racing.

I live in the mountains of northern New Mexico, and the truck sees a lot of road salt and mud (like last weekend!).

I have a few questions I was hoping TW could help with. I know the TC UCAs use stainless uniballs with a stainless race. What about the Icon UCAs ? They seem to use a 4130 cup, but the information is vague about what material is used for the uniball. I need the UCA to stand up to corrosive road salt and wet mud. Any difference here between Icon or TC? What uniballs do you replace the Icon uniballs with? The TC uses FK stainless 1" uniballs, the Icon?

Icon offers uniball covers that attach using adhesive rings. This will keep dirt and salt out of the top of the uniball, but how do you periodically lube the uniball? I know many people reccomend Tri-flow lubricant.

I know many people have uniball UCAs that squeak like a bitch. Any difference here between Icon and TC?

To avoid uniball noise and corrosion, the Camburg ball joint UCA is an option. Any good or bad experiences?

The Light Racing UCAs are another cheaper option with OEM-like ball joints and offer camber adjustment as well. Not sure how durable they are.

Any help selecting UCAs appreciated.

 

This may help with part of your question. I got this from Micah for DSMS:

"TC uses better material and better bearings. TC uses 4130 chromolly and Icon uses a 1020 dom."

Hope that helps a little. Looking at the same thing right now.

Sub'd

 

I have Light Racing now. They work great for me. Spot on alignment and ball joints are sealed. I had a set of Total Chaos before, but it seems like i was greasing them all the time, plus alot of debris got in there and they could be a little noisy. I would think the Icon ones that you can cover would be good if you like that style. To each their own, but Light Racing ones are great, especially for the price.

 

Camburg also offers the covers for the ball joint upper control arms to help with debris. Our arms are built in house and re-angle the ball joint to give you more useable wheel travel. Let me know if you have any other questions and I will gladly help you out!
http://camburg.com/store/03-11-4runner/camburg-balljoint-uca-cover-kit/

 

With Salt, it wont matter if the top is covered the bottom of the uni-ball is exposed, you'll still get salt/salted sludge on them, you will still need to fresh water wash the exposed areas off to prevent long term salt corrosion.

I'm partial to Built Rights, Ive had TC and Camburgs and had issues with both, my mid travel never had any issues or squeak, likewise my LT kit is Built Right and have had no issues with squeak.

Also dont use tri-flow, WD-40 dry lube is much better, drys and is stable under cold and hot climates.

http://www.wd40specialist.com/products/dry-lube/

 

You really can't go wrong with any of the options. They will all fix the low caster issue. If it is just a daily driver, then you could consider the Light Racing. If you off-road more, or plan to, then I would say any of your first three choices will work great.

 

http://www.fabtechmotorsports.com/uniball-upper-control-arms.php

and I really like them, and the support from the company has been spot-on

 

http://builtrightfab.com/suspension/tacoma-prerunner-4wd-05/upper-control-arm-tacoma-2005/

 

Better if only used to a point where the abuse imposed is enough to constitute the need of better material. The fact is both materials will do the job more than fine and so the difference in specs, material wise, is a moot point.

IMO opinion you can pretty much flip a coin or pick a color. You have Icon COs and like them, why not stick with Icon to keep things consistent. You obviously don't have extended travel coilovers so a travel comparison between the arms is not factor. Shoot it’s not really a factor anyways because travel is limited regardless.

Just my 2 cents

 

I have Camburg 1.25's and love them. They get squeaky at times but the triflow fixes that.

 

this. if its just for alignment purposes i dont see whats wrong with going with LR UCA's but if your actually hucking your truck and doing hardcore wheeling it shouldnt matter too much unless you buy some POS brand

 

They would sell these a lot more if they ditched the name plate

Ran Fabtech back in the day, never impressed me at all.

 

It is just stuck on there, it will eventually fall off.. or i will remove it, i like the low key look, i want some one to look at the truck and it to appear stock.

 

What do these run anyways, is pricing similar to the others?
This brings a possible Made in China uniball UCA option to the market.

Personally I'd still rather throw money at Icon, Camburg or TC, the fab/manufacturing comps here can use all the help they can get.

 

I was originally going to get Camburg or All-pro, with the thought of going long travel again, but i remember going down that road and figured i would stick to a mid system, so i looked at built right and TC, but stumbled across a deal on the Fabtech for 499, brand new. SO i had to buy them..


i just did a search on the old interweb and found them for 539, now so they are still about 100 cheaper than the rest.

 

Thanks for all the great responses and info. The truck is more than a daily driver, and does get wheeled a lot.

Sounds like I'm still looking at Icon and TC and still interested in hearing experiences with Camburg ball joint UCAs which eliminate the noise and corrosion issue, perhaps with weaker ball joint as the price.

 

Great info, thanks!

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The ICON billet UCA's are a covered uniball design...

More expensive than your selection, but meet your needs/wants.

 

It does....very pricy though.

 

I wish I knew what material the Icon uniball was made from, and I wish I knew if the Icon uniball could be replaced with a stainless FK uniball when worn/corroded. Since the info is vague, I guess I will go TC where I know stainless is used.