Should I get new uca's or just change ball joint

I cant decide if i should get new UCA'S or just change my upper ball joint. I already have Bilstein adjustable 5100 on the second ring setting and Eibach springs. So i have the option of lifting it a bit more if i ever wanted to. And before winter i do want to get 285 dura tracs. Would it be worth it to just bite the bullet and spend the money up grading and does it allow me to lift higher?

 

If you wanna run a 285, your gonna need to have those 5100's set at the top setting (2.5) at which point you might want to go ahead and put a set of good UCA's on. It will help better with alignment in spec, help with "wondering" on the road, and keep stress off the factory uca's/balljoints if your 5100's are maxed out. A new set of good & cheaper aftermarket uca's are Light Racing (spc) about $400. They should have the balljoints already pressed in when you get them. Easy to install. Probably be the same $$ if you took your truck to a shop and had someone put 1 balljoint in for you!

 

I have the same set up on my truck. Had them set on second setting .85 originally but decided to set them back to zero. Go with the Light Racing UCA's. You'll be glad you did. Much easier to align.

 

So the UCS's would be a good idea but i wouldnt have to lift my truck anymore to fit 285's on it? sorry ive read so many different things that now im confused

 

UCA's are always a good idea, I dislike the factory ones very much, but so far yours have served you well and if you're going to have to spend money on them anyway... why not spend a little more and upgrade? See reece13's comment above.

You want a 2.5-3" lift in order to run 33's without having to modify the wheel wells of your truck a whole lot. Lots of people run 33's with less lift, but they rub a lot or they had to spend a bunch of time hammering and cutting to prevent rubbing. I wouldn't want to jack up my duratracs by having them 'self clear' inside my wheel wells. It's around a thousand bucks for a set of 33's, installed!

 

with the eibach sprigs and the 5100's set at the second ring that would be a 2.5" lift correct?

 

I run ARB/OME and haven't helped anyone with the adjustable Eibachs in person, so I couldn't tell you for sure. Here's a bump in hopes that someone who runs them can confirm.

 

That is correct the Eibach springs give you around 1.6 inches and the second ring on the 5100s will give you 0.85 inches. So with both you should get around 2.45 inches of total lift.

 

Alright thanks guys.
And if i ever wanted to change the rings and go higher then I would need new UCA's anyways right. im leaning towards getting a set of total chaos UCA's. but trying to find them in Canada is a PITA.

 

Send a message to YotaDan on the forums here and he can quote you shipping rates to Canada.

I have a set on my truck and they're rock solid.

 

I would look into different UCA's from Light Racing. I had mine for a little over a year and saw yesterday that the ball joints are both bad. Thats with very little off roading to camping spots.

 

I am in the market for UCA's and I thought the Light Racing uca's would fulfill my needs perfect.....until all the researched I have read showed weld failures and bushing failures, alignments being knocked off offroad and so on. I have decided to go uniball type. Desert Products are the ones I am going with. I would not put my families life in danger because I wanted to save 150 bucks on control arms.

 

Yeah. At the time I bought mine everyone had only positive comments on them. I didn't have problems with them and was able to my alignment back in specs. Now I wish I had gone with a uniball style like total chaos or icon