Official Tennessee Thread

Happy Birthday Mike!

now now, there's enough of me to go around

 

Try LowrangeOffroad, Wheelers Offroad, headstrong Offroad for a start.

Edit: SDHQ is another option and I went with LR SPC UCAs because of the price.

 

I enjoyed it.

 

Those wheels tho.

 

Do you want ball joints or uniballs? Budget?

 

Camburg, Total Chaos, MCM fab, Icon, Dirt King, Allpro ...... all high quality uniball ucas. The best of the best is a uca using a 1.25" fk stainless uniball with 3 to 4 degrees of added caster, fully gusseted bushings cups and poly bushings. Next best is the same setup but using a 1" uniball. Next best is same setup using a ball joint.

The thing that is important to most people is added caster and travel range. Any high quality uca should have that 3 to 4 degrees of added caster built in. If it has no added caster, it's completely useless. An aftermarket ball joint uca is going to be stronger and have more range of motion then the stock ball joint uca. A 1" uniball uca will be stronger and have more range of motion then an aftermarket ball joint uca. And obviously a 1.25" will follow that same pattern.

Upsides of a uniball uca over a ball joint uca are strength, range of motion and ease of replacing the uniball.

Downsides are more pertinent maintaince, more noise (race car parts) and decreased longevity.

If you get a uca with a mild steel uniball, it will rust and wear out the teflon lining very fast so be sure it's a fk stainless steel uniball.

If price is a concern then more then likely a ball joint arm like Camburg will suit you just fine. If you get/have extended coilovers, it's a better idea to get at least some 1" uniball ucas for the increased range of motion and added strength if the uca becomes the limiter to down travel. If you just like the best stuff out there, a high quality built 1.25" fk stainless uniball uca (example: Camburg) is what you want.

 

New wheels are coming up on the list quick. I just can't decide what wheel I want

 

Thanks all for the Birthday wishes! As my Papa was so kind to point out to me, I'm now over the hump and on the downslope...

 

Thank you sir. I appreciate the extended explanation. I was leaning toward the SPC ball joint, but am going to order the Camburg 1.25 uniball UCA now and separately the energy suspension bushings for the LCA, along with new cam bolts. Now, how long will it take my amateur ass to install?

 

4-6 hours would probably be a realistic amount of time to set aside. You may not take that long, but it only takes one hiccup to cause you an extra hour of work. I swapped both of my UCAs in less than an hour, but I had zero hiccups, and had already done my wife's on her 4Runner. It's all simple work and should be a good place to start if you aren't familiar or comfortable working on a vehicle.

 

Man @tacotim448 I 'm happy you pulled the trigger... @allmotorrex would be pissed at me cause i've asked this question like 2 times now... I'm stuck on ordering Tube Icon UCA's or TCs... Reading this fourm makes me skeptical of parts haha. It took me forever to buy my lift. Now I'm stuck on this...

 

TC or camburg

 

I've heard hit and miss on Camburg but also the same on TC. Does one out perform the other or is it basically just the finish on them? I get what Allmotorexx has said about stainless steel uniballs, uniball sizes, zerk fittings ect. He lectured me on that concept.

 

If one of you guys gets buyers remorse with your unisex balls I will trade you straight up for my SPC LR With new UBJs ..Might even install them for you

 

No bueno on ball joints for you? I had been leaning toward Camburg with ball joints, but now I'm second guessing too haha

 

Thanks buddy, it's a work in progress. Sometimes I wish I would've left it stock, but I have had way too much fun with it

 

Best Deal Ever

I was looking at those too for less maintenance but after reading I really Just don't know anymore.. TW does things to you.. plays with your mind..

 

Meh, they're fine once I learned to DIY alignment. My prob is I'm cranked down to almost 4" and trying to hyperextend them. They now have grease fittings which solved my other complaint.

 

This is long but hopefully will help you .....

100% agree with Dave. The ucas are very easy. Getting the long bolt out at the shock tower is a little tricky. They put it in at the factory from the front of the truck and it appears before they set the body on so you have to pull it out into the engine bay. As you start to pull the bolt out you will find it hits the engine bay. Take some pliers and bend that piece of metal into the wheel well slightly and the bolt slides out much easier. When you reinstall it, put the bolt in from the cab towards the engine bay instead. The instructions are clear that come with the arms. Be sure not to cross thread the grease nipple when screwing it into the arm and make sure you put the right arm on the right side. They are labeled but you know how guys are about reading directions. Use the grease packet that is provided to you and grease everything. Grease inside the bushing and push the sleeve in then grease inside the cup and push the bushing in. Once you have the uca back on, tighten the bolt all the way up then back it off a turn or two so it's not just flopping around. Grease the nipple BEFORE you torque that bolt down. Grease it until you see the bushing start to slightly mushroom, stop, then tighten the bolt up. No need to apply anything to the uniball but you will eventually want to apply some Dry Teflon Lube such as Tri Flow brand to keep the uniball lining healthy.

The LCA bushings will take longer then the ucas but still not hard work. As Daniel mentioned earlier, (if you dont already have this) buy a torch from Home Depot, Lowe's, etc .... with a yellow bottle of gas. I can take a pic of the torch I used because if you dont get one that gets hot enough, those bushings take a LONG time to get out. With the right torch they remove themselves in a few mins. Once again, the instructions are very clear so just follow them.

Easiest way to disassemble, the ucas are held on by 2 17mm bolts to the bottom of the spindle, 1 17mm bolt at the shock mount and your 2 cam bolts. Remove the bolts in that order. That takes off any pressure the strut is applying to the LCA. Pay attention to how the cam pieces are orientated. The front and back uses 2 different bolts and both slide in towards eachother. Now that the LCA is removed from the spindle, you should be able to move the spindle/hub/axle assembly up and down with the ucas. Put a block or jack under it to keep tension off the uca bolt then remove the uca from the spindle and let that whole assembly just hang there.

Use anti-seize on everything! It will make your life so much easier working on your truck next time. Wait until all the pieces are back together before you torque everything. Do a bullshit alignment just to get you to the shop and you're done! Woohoo!!!