The Lair

Man I tell ya...spend a bit of time on The Lair and you learn a lot (mostly Taco stuff!). This is fitting seeing as I'm going to attempt to reset that uca ball joint, and remembering how much of a PIA the uca bolt nut was...I'm certainly putting some torque markings on them!!

It's always easier learning through others mistakes...Especially when it comes to this type of things!!

 

I think it’s time to switch up my wheels. The beadlocks are overplayed.

 

Six months same as cash. You could get a second set.

 

Have a street setup and an off-road setup. Good thinking.

 

24x14 or bust

 

He walked me back there and jiggled the wheel and was like "You need new upper ball joints and tie rod ends". Sure enough, nice and sloppy. Moogs from Amazon are on the way for only $90.

 

Yep. Torque is king.

Buddy of mine installed his backwards against my recommendation. Bolt backed out on the driver side and rubbed against the frame rail and also what appeared to be the alternator cable. Blew the big ALT fuse in the box. Of course it was like 80 miles from home too.

 

Don’t you know you gotta jiggle your rods and balls regularly

 

ooof, I've read that that fuse is a PITA to replace. Have to unbolt it from under the fuse box or something.

 

Apparently I don't jiggle my balls quite enough. I'll need to work on that, maybe ask the wife for a hand.

 

Yup. No something you really want to do in the dirt. Let alone on a nice Utah summer day

Plus having to go get the buddy with the trailer and the 7.0 Ford back in town, then go to the toyota dealership after tracking down another buddy that had a key and worked in the parts dept for the fuse. An "over lunch wheeling trip" turned into a 12 hour adventure.

 

Sitting here thinking about these ball joints and I've gotta say, I'm not overly impressed with JBA's after owning them awhile. They're only 3 years old and I'm on my second set of ball joints. This set only lasted 18 months. I'm going to start recommending Dirt King instead for only $100 more.


https://dirtkingfabrication.com/collections/tacoma/products/ball-joint-upper-control-arms-dk-811901

 

Mine went out pretty early, too. Moog isn't what it used to be. I found Pro-Forged brand ball joints. Same price and from what I could tell doing research online they're durable.

 

The ball joints on matts JBAs were Pretty gouged up when he rebuilt them. I do like the fact that the ball joints are rebuildable though.

Living in the south and being able to realistically run Uniballs on a daily driven truck is pretty nice.

 

And to quote myself the ball joints are uppers off a 2005 Chevrolet Astro Van. You get more options with the knowing.

 

I wonder if the ball joints that JBA supplies are just moog with the ceratoke coating on it. Both my sets that went to shit were bought directly from them. I only got moog this time since the arms won't be on the truck much longer.

 

I have Camburg BJ UCAs that very likely use the same moog ball joint. Lotta reviews about torn boots after 12-18 months. The fact I made it 2.5 years on mine was apparently a fluke. Seems the issue is the moog joint itself and not particularly the mfg of the arm. Upside is the replacement from camburg was $35 so I'm pleased about that.

 

You should go ahead and do the lbj also while you are in there. Just trying to save you some steps.

 

I'd wager that's all they are. The Pro-Forged were the most "heavy-duty" I could find. Everything else I could find was re-packaged Moog or overpriced AC Delco stuff.

Moog used to be the best suspension parts around, but their quality isn't the same.

 

I can put fresh ones in for you if you want before I sent them to you. You just pay for the BJ’s but free labor.