Total Chaos lower uniball conversion question

Hi, I have a 97 Tacoma with manual locking hubs I was hoping to eventually long travel. I was looking into TC’s lower uniball conversion and noticed they say that they won’t fit with manual locking hubs and I was curious as to why, and if they’re is a way around it to make it work.

 

@El Taco Diablo might be able to answer the locking hubs compatibility question.

As I know nothing about long travel, are the TC LBJs preferable if doing LT? If not, is their a specific reason you were looking at these? If it's because of the whole LBJ failure thing, I personally would just save the money and stick to OEM LBJs. Just like the OEM LBJs, the weak point is in fact the bolts. Not the bolt strength or type but simply the design. TC doesn't change anything in that regard. No matter the brand of LBJ, it must be treated as a maintenance item and routinely inspected.

 

I'm not sure why they say those don't with manual hubs. There is nothing in the interface between the spindle and the LBJ (that I can think of) that changes between Auto and Manual hubs.

 

Long travel kits usually have a uniball upper but I never really thought about the fact that the 1st gen kits don’t come with a uniball lower. I mainly wanted them for extra strength when off-roading especially given the fun design of the 1st gen lbj. When you say its the bolts that fail are you referring to the 4 holding the lbj to the spindle?

 

that’s what I was thinking as well and wanted to see if anyone else had noticed anything different.

 

Yes those are what typically fail, versus the ball joint itself.

 

Yes