UCA Discussion, Who What and Why?

So, there are tons of threads on these I know, but I cant find a couple of answers.

Questions:
SPC vs Total Chaos?
Why are JBA UCA's so cheap?

Background:
Now: I have an 03' Xtra Cab Tacoma with 295s (currently) and OME shocks.
Future: Fox or King extended travel front, "mid-travel" 35s or 315s, winch, eventually re-geared.

Now what do I want and why?
I don't jump the truck, I do put in big miles on road and dirt, with some proper wheeling primarily on rocks and dirt, and minimal snow. I am hoping to go to a mid-travel setup, and since the truck is already tubbed, with a caster increase UCA I think I should be happy in the 35 land (TBD). I also will be upgrading shocks, and it seems silly to not go mid-travel with new UCA's for what I do with the truck.

Now, there seem to be 3 options that stick out as clear favorites for what I do, SPC, Total Chaos, and....JBA? I know the first 2 are the most common, so I am wondering why are JBA so cheap, and will they do a less good job?

For the situation outlined above, what would yall recommend?

Thanks!

 

I'm in a similar boat (but not going to 35s, will just go up to 33s). I've got my eyes on the Icon Delta Joint UCAs. My local allignment shop (does mostly 4wd vehicle allignments), recommended the Icons. Supposedly they've found on the 1st Gen Tacomas and 3rd Gen 4runners they've gotten lots of positive castor with those, and have seemed to noticed the delta joint holding up better than the traditional uniball-style UCAs.

I just purchased a set of Icon Mid-Travel Coilovers, and plan to purchase the UCAs soon after (and install both at the same time).

 

I'm in a similar boat....I have the icon tubular UCA's. They were installed in May 2020 and starting in May 2023 they started squeaking like crazy. Now in May 2024 I can't get them to stop squeaking for more than a day, and I can only achieve that if I pump a ton of grease and also spray down both bushings and the delta joint with silicone spray. I'm hoping there's a UCA out there where the ball-joint is more protected. I think the bushings have just reached the end of their natural life. And the Icon Delta Joint is totally exposed to dirt and water from the bottom, which makes me wonder how much sand is in there grinding away and contributing to the noise.

Seems like there's a lot of unhappiness around the SPC UCA joints, but that 1. They are quick to replace them and 2. They have an updated design that's supposed to help them last longer. A few folks said they replaced them after only 7k miles.

Then there's the JBA UCAs that seem to be pretty well liked. Or at least I can't find as much grumbling about them as the SPCs....but this is all anecdotal. The SPC's are pretty popular so there may just be more people using them than the JBAs. I'm hoping there are some objective opinions from experienced users that can help. Sampling the number of complaints found on the internet isn't very scientific....

 

Just noticed you said it's already tubed.

I was looking at the Icon UCA's, the Delta joint looked appealing. Reading the post above doesn't make them sound very good.

 

I bought Built-Right uniballs from them directly in California. You have to call but they're the same thing at a more competitive price. I have had zero issues with them over about 5 years, but don't do crazy offroading or anything.
This is one item that has gone up and will continue to go up in price, FWIW

 

Built Right are solid UCA's, with that being said there customer service is garbage. I've called on two separate occasions trying to purchase new bushings to rebuild my UCAs, both times I've giving them my number and email so that they could send me a quote, I've heard nothing from them and it's been months.

 

Damn. I called them shortly after my install because I bent a c-clip and wanted a new one and they were basically like "just run with it, looks ok from the pics" even though I asked how much it would be to send me a new one. So I believe it. ..but it has been ok

 

does anybody have feedback on total Chaos?