Favorite UCA?

It seems like more and more companies are getting into UCA's... This off-brand version really cracks me up. I like the Engrish in the description, which is clearly a Google translate job (lift = elevator)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3533178403...EJLlnefLjK5bCqkGlgyiI2R3prFKt6EBoCRGUQAvD_BwE

 

JD Fab. Oem inner bushing with a uniball outer with a top cap with grease fitting. Super beefy and affordable.

 

SPCs for functionality.

Any unibal for bling, a smidgen more travel, but mostly a desire for endless maintenance <squeak squeak>

 

Thats actually what I'm trying to find out. I have never recommended anything from RC or companies like it due to longevity. But nobody has chimed in on them that has actually used them.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rc-forged-aluminum-ucas-hear-me-out.732286/

I know on the limited searching I did I found that Sliverado forum members have had hit and miss reliability with the ball joints. BUT, being as they aren't nearly as detail oriented as most members are on this forum, there is a lot of missing information the Silverado forums. Especially wheel/tire size and weight, alignment and how much lift. If those guys are running big ole 22x14's and 35's their wheel/tire combo could easily be over 100lbs per corner which makes suspension components wear substantially faster!!! Also if the are rated for a 3" lift someone has a 4'"-4.5" lift, they are obviously beyond the limit they are designed for. I think ball joints would be my biggest concern. A company that large wouldn't make an unsafe product that would completely fail, that would kill that companies reputation and lawsuits would follow. They don't want that. The plus is that they use rubber bushing on the inner portion so they stay quiet. I have an email out to them about what the replacement ball joint is.

Speaking of ball joints. I worked Toyota of Des Moines (Iowa) and they would send Tacoma's out to a local custom shop back in 05-08 (custom shop closed in 08) for 6" lifts and 20x10 wheels with 33's or 34's, I can't remember anymore. The dealer was able to get the first set of ball joints replaced under warranty, which was usually around 35k-40k miles. Oddly enough it was always the LOWER ball joint that was failing due to the weight. I think only one that I worked on had a bad upper ball joint. But most 6" lifts use different spindles that eliminate the need for better UCAs, they stock UCA and LCA. But I'm almost positive that the wheel/tire weight was the reason since they weighed as much or more than a 3/4 ton wheel/tire. That's a lot for a our little suspension to handle!!!

 

Those and Light Racing are the ones I've been considering. I've been hearing JBA's recently have had issues with poor ball joint longevity, seems like more recently purchased ones FYI.

 

I couldn’t even find a real world picture of them, at least the Tacoma specific ones. It’s all the stock website pictures. Seeing an image of it installed or next to the OEM UCA would be a nice reference.
The ball joint looks like it could be an OEM style, which would be nice because you can get good replacements. The Ironman 4x4 UCAs utilize OEM ball joints.

If that ends up being the case, with their price point, I wouldn’t be against picking up some better ball joints like MOOG or whatever and just replacing them before installing the UCAs.

I am curious about the 3” lift requirements, hopefully they’ll get back with the email and can give you some insight into that.

 

I was blowing SPC outer balljoints in 6-8 months. That's why I made the change

 

Ya, the ball joint is really my only concern. The inner bushings and the material construction I'm sure are absolutely fine. Here is a picture from their Install Instructions from the link below on their site. I've tried zooming in on every picture I could find to see the ball joint part number, but they were all too blurry to make out. The ball joint that many manufactures use is usually a GM 3/4 ton ball joint, not sure if thats the case here. Judging by the notch in the ball joint seat I don't think its a Toyota one, but who knows....

https://s3.amazonaws.com/roughcountry/install/921742010A.pdf

 

I already got them delivered from Rough Country via FedEx.
What I can tell so far they look like quality parts.
Going to install them tomorrow!

Toyota Forged Upper Control Arms (05-21 Tacoma) UCA
Brand: Rough Country
SKU:

$300 74201A Rough Country Forged Upper Control Arms for 05-23 Tacoma | 10-24 4Runner- 74201A

74201A
$269.95

Here are some high-res pictures of them...

 

Oh my, are those…cement?

 

Bilstein came out with some UCAs recently.

 

A medium grey color. Would probably match a cement truck pretty good

 

I wouldn't have any worry running those on a daily or a weekend trail truck

 

I contacted Rough Country via eBay.

Me:
I know you guys recommend to use these UCA in combination with 3.5" front lift.
My Tacoma has been lifted with coil-overs 3" front lift. Just trying to figure out if these will work for me.
Thanks!

RC:
Our techs state that you will not have any issuing this since you at 3" in the front.
Thanks
Thank You,
Rough Country
Customer Service

 

That's exactly what I'm going to do with them.
It's my daily, I only have RWD, 99.9% street use and not going off-road.

Did the Eibach lift kit more for the looks and improved ride quality.

 

I have the OME UCAs. I like them. I feel like any of them are fine if you are okay with doing a CMC otherwise get adjustables like SPCs. I don't think I would go the generic EBay route though.

 

The adjustable ones tend to push your tire back to gain caster not forward. I'm running a non adjustable style and pushed mt tire way forward using the lower arms.

 

Not sure what you are pointing out? Mine are non adjustable also but provide 2* of caster bringing the tire back towards the cab mount.
The point in aftermarket UCAs is to bring your alignment back into spec after lift so I have my caster as close to spec as possible and cab mount chop.
As far as I can tell people use SPCs to move the wheel forward to not rub the cab mount not to bring alignment back to spec.

 

Most people have their spc setup to add most caster which in turn pushes the tire back. It's kinda a crap shoot with those cuz moving the spindle from way up there does little to help the tire placement as the hub is mounted at the bottom of the spindle. Hard to explain via text form but all your adjustments can be made from the bottom with a compitent alignment tech. Spc is just adding another failure point.

 

BTW I'm just bored and talking out my ass on here. Lol. I've been thru so many setups on my truck I try to spread the shit I've learn but I'm not particularly very well at articulating it.