Thoughts on Send it Suspension billet UCA

Anyone given them a try? I saw them mentioned in the "Complete list of UCA's for the 3rd Gen Tacoma" thread. Billet, but with lower maintenance sealed ball joints. Most of the UCA discussions I read seemed like the differences came down to personal preference, uniball vs balljoint and how the alignment was done, etc. I think most other balljoint UCA are greaseable.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/complete-list-of-ucas-for-the-3rd-gen-tacoma.738745/

https://midatlanticoffroading.com/p...l-arms-05-tacoma?_pos=12&_sid=5d945588b&_ss=r

 

Those are probably a very nice UCA and would perform well offroad at high speeds. However, for a DD, I would not want heim joints. They will ride rougher and provide more feedback when going over bumps or obstacles. In some applications, that's what you want, but for a DD, I think it will be too harsh. Alternatively, a UCA with a rubber or poly bushing will have a little more flex and squish (rubber more than poly), so you won't feel all of that feedback in the truck.

As for a uniball vs ball joint... The uniball is going to be stronger, but requires more maintenance and likely a shorter life on the truck. Ball joints are fairly low maintenance, but are not a strong as uniballs and in many cases, don't have the same range of motion.

 

I didn't know much about the heim joints, that is really useful.
Interesting that they went with heim and ball joint. Wouldn't you want heim and uniball so you have both the two options for offroad use?
Alternatively for best road manners you would want balljoint and bushings or maybe flex joint?

Seems like send it suspension's choices contrast each other in that regard, but both the heim and sealed ball joint should be quite low maintenance. If I am following the trade-offs correctly.

I ended up watching this video to understand the differences with heim vs bushings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V6MgnGm5p8

 

Sounds like you're on the right track...

I've always referred people to this video. It's very comprehensive.

https://youtu.be/d4A3QGLEpTQ

 

Yeah watched that video before, but I think I skipped ahead a bit during the heim vs bushings because I was focused on understanding uniball, ball joint and delta's other one. Woops

 

Not that common to have an adjustable uca that has bushings, so heims are the way to go for that. The heims for the uca dont see much wear, as they only see a hair of vertical movement. Uniballs/balljoints at the spindle, see all kinds of movement. Vertical, rotational with some camber change, and twisting from steering. So, a balljoint there will last longer/be quieter in turn.

 

Can confirm. Heim joints are crap on a daily driver. Worst conversion I've ever made. They don't last and they squeak like hell. The only positive is that they are really strong.

Also, these appear to be rip offs of ICON's billet control arms.

 

i recently swapped from Icon Delta Joints to Mazzulla Billet UCAs with FK Heim and Uniballs and completely disagree. I do notice more feedback, but in a good way. I feel so much more planted and corners at speeds daily driving is a dream. On the trails it’s night and day! For reference, my Kings are set to 10 on the adjusters. I will never go back to standard poly bushing UCAs or ball joints again.

OP, i have no experience or knowledge of send it, and I would probably go with Icon, Camburg, Mazzulla if choosing a Billet UCA as they are all proven.

 

they don’t last, but are really strong….

 

You do realize those are two different terms, right? Strength does not imply longevity (aka stamina). Something that is strong does not need to maintain a long life to be considered strong. Uniballs are indeed strong and can take a hit without breaking. But there's no argument that a uniball will outlast a ball joint.

 

They’re both wear items, like brake pads. Whether or not one needs to be replaced sooner, despite performing better in more applications is not a negative to many, including myself. I had JBA UCAs on my 4R with standard Moog ball joints and they needed to be replaced yearly. YMMV…but there’s no way in hell you will convince me that poly bushings and delta joints in my old UCAs are superior to my upgraded Mazzulla UCAs with FK Heims and Uni’s.

 

Thank you. I can't even believe this has to be explained.

"Upgraded" is a relative term. You might want strength and the highest performance possible out of your joints, but others want silence while at the cost of some overall articulation and shear strength of a heim joint.

Not everyone is on board with, nor can afford to, or even have the technical capability/ resources to replace their balls every year.

 

Got a few other questions from this discussion. Hopefully I am following along correctly.

Is there a reason billet UCA's only come with heim joints? Just because they are considered high performance so they put high performance joint to match? The filthy motorsports mentioned performance style uca do sometimes have bushings.

I see talk of heim joints having misalignment capabilities. That seems to be more applicable to solid axle applications since a control arm should only rotate at that busing/heim joint area and not flex?

If the heim joint wears out too quickly, could a bushing be swapped in? Like the ones from ballistic.

 

Here's a billet UCA with poly bushings and a ball joint... Also comes in a poly bushing and uniball configuration.

https://downsouthmotorsports.com/i-...illet-ball-joint-upper-control-arms-pair.html

https://downsouthmotorsports.com/i-...er-4wd-billet-uniball-upper-control-arms.html

Additionally, the new 2022 TRD Pro will come with a billet UCA with rubber bushings and a ball joint



I'm not sure if there's any "logic" to the billet UCA's predominantly having heim joints. I suppose it's probably cost related.

Additionally, I wouldn't get too caught up in the "strength" of the arm itself. Most of the forces are handled by the LCA, the UCA doesn't really support that much load. Hence the factory UCA is just a stamped piece of steel.

 

I went with their uca. Didn't come with instructions but pretty straight forward to install. Would have appreciated torque specs though.

I have the old rough country take offs with 30k miles. Would it be worth anything on Craigslist to someone? I figured it's probably just scrap at this point. They are fairly dinged up.

 

How do you like the UCAs?

 

Solved my issues with the OEM stock ones. No more bumping into the springs and adjustable for alignment. Seem to serve their purpose.

I haven't noticed any annoying feedback like someone else mentioned with heim joints. I imagine if you got heim and uniball that's where it gets rough.

I put them through their paces today and everything seemed great.
https://gfycat.com/jubilantevergreeneyas

 

How have these held up, still haven't gotten any new UCA

 

Continue to be good so far. Probably put 30k miles since I installed. All types of weather. Southern California sand storms to blizzards in Canada.

I did lose one of the covers for the ball joints. Probably worth unbolting and adding loctite. I mentioned it to the company, they said they would send a new one, that was back in August of 2022.

Also I think I forgot to mention that brake line clips use aluminum bolts so be gentle when tightening. I ripped the head right off without meaning to. Easy enough to replace once I got the bolt out.

 

Awesome good to hear that they are still working out, next on my to do