RC Forged Aluminum UCA's.....Hear me out

I used to have JBA and now I can't recommend them to people anymore. I went through three sets of ball joints, each lasting about a year. They're cheap and easy to replace but it's still not something I want to worry about. When I posted that to my instagram story and on my build thread in here, I got about 7-8 replies stating the same thing. So now I recommend JD Fab or Dirt King ($550).

 

Well considering the OEM UCAs aren't steel tubes and are actually stamped steel with a rounded edge....

 

I've noticed that people have had issues with ball joints more recently on the JBA's. Good call! Thank you!

Either way, curiosity still has me wondering about the RC UCAs due to the price even though it's not really something I want. If they end up being reliable and decent, then they will be pretty popular based off price alone!

 

Thanks for sharing. I’m currently on a quest to find some UCA’s that’ll work with some Fox 2.5’s. I was leaning towards Dirt King as it’s the cheaper option out of the good UCA’s, but now these have caught my attention.

 

These are even beefier than the DK. The diameter tubing that JD uses is a little bigger. I don't have their stock length arms on my truck but my friend does and he sent me a side by side of them with Total chaos and made the Total chaos look like stock lol.

 

I considered Total Chaos, but don’t they squeak like a MF?

 

Uniballs in general can squeak and IMO don't have a place on most tacomas. They're really strong in a small footprint but are better geared towards more extreme usage like race vehicles where they're constantly getting replaced. If you want a low maintenance and low effort vehicle, ball joint is the way to go.

 

If you get these, let us know how they are and any longevity issues if they arise.

 

I've always wondered why uniball joints are on so many UCA's for Tacoma's. It doesn't seem like the majority of people that get them would use them to the potential that is worth the maintenance of them. They look cool and have a lot of street cred, but day to day I don't think they'd be worth it either.

 

Never has there been a truer meme. If it's cheap, there's a reason. Doesn't mean it won't work short term, but the longevity/performance is probably just as questionable as the rest of RCs suspension components.

 

Had the same issue with SPC. Brother same issue with Icons. He now has the icon delta joints. They are an enclosed ball joint and seem a lot better.

 

I’ve heard the delta joint are pretty solid as long as you’re consistent with greasing them

 

Thoughts on Camburg BJ’s?

 

Those are nice too. If I remember correctly more expensive than Dirt King but basically the same exact thing.

 

I completely agree, which was in the first post. I'm not a fan of Rough Country at all. First thought in my head when I see RC stickers on a truck is that they are Monster drinking half-witt. lol Just like Goodyear tires, I hate them...except the Duratracs. I really wanted to find better overall tires 4 years ago, but everything I was looking for kept pointing me back to them when I searched. Wasted a couple weeks of my time searching and ended up with duratracs. They were awesome! But I have moved onto different tires since then.

Who knows? Maybe RC hits it out of the park with these and they turn out to be really good? I know many people have been impressed with the RC Vertex coilovers and their V2 rear shocks have 10" of travel (16.03" to 26.06") which is respectable for a factory replacement shock. Now how is the ride and longevity? Who knows? But they have some nice products on paper. If they perform well and for the cost, they may be coming up in quality. Time will tell.

 

Yeah I get what you're saying. My counterpoint would be that replacing a UCA is 10 times more annoying than putting new tires on. You could run the RCs and maybe they'll be great for your needs. Or, you run them for 5,000 miles and realize they aren't cutting it and have to put on more expensive ones anyway, plus do the labor/pay for the labor AGAIN. A UCA is a total PITA to swap out, save yourself the frustration of doing it twice. You don't have to sacrifice your time and sanity to find out for the rest of us if these are worth it lol.

When it comes to something like suspension you're better off ponying up for something with a solid track record than taking a risk. Yes, it's going to cost you more, but why put cheap parts on an expensive truck? That's the same as putting some Amazon brand rims on a BMW and then wondering why you're wobbling down the highway. Just my two cents. Ultimately it's your truck and your decision

 

Talk to me about this. Assume you wheel pretty hard? I'm about a month away from installing my JBAs. My truck sees endless washboard roads but slow and easy in the back country. No crawling. My suspension guru suggested icon tubular delta joint or camburg 1.25 uniball. My setup will be fox 2.5 dsc in front and back, icon rxt on 2 and rear bump stops. Thoughts?

 

I do wheel pretty hard so I originally chalked it up to that. Others who don’t wheel hard started sharing their same experience though, so I don’t think it was only from the wheeling.

If you already have them then I would just install them and stay on top of greasing and keep an eye on the ball joints.

 

Thank you for your feedback. I've read good and and not so good reviews about JBA and may run for a year and see how it goes.