Total Chaos UCA retrofit with Icon Delta Joint

After about 30,000 miles I figured it was time to refresh my Total Chaos UCAs with new bushings and uniballs. After shopping around for a few weeks I was shocked at the price for 2 new uniballs (almost $200) for a regular maintence part, that was just gonna wear out in another 2 years.

So I looked into a different option that seemed like a good idea but I could not find very much information about. I wanted to take a Icon Delta Joint and put it into my Total Chaos UCA.

For those that dont know what a Delta Joint is its basically a high angle greasable ball joint that claims to have the strength of a uniball. I dont want to get into the details of ball joint vs uniball you can look that up for your self. I just wanted to provide more information about this topic because when I was looking to see if this would even possible i couldn't find anything and I was kinda taking a shot in the dark.

Here is how it went.

First I ordered Icons Delta Joint (part 614560 for non-icon uca) from toytec lifts, which was the best price i could find at the time, as well as they were local ~$275

I also purchase the adaper tube (part 614519) this was required install the new joint as a normal uniball/ball joint press would/might be too short ~$30

Access to a hydraulic press will make this much easier.

Pushing out the old uniball is pretty self explanitory, remove the snap ring and press out from top side, after pressing out I cleaned up and applied some anti seize to inside of the UCA. then I used the adapter to press in the new delta joint, reinstall the snap ring and thats it!

Here are some of the pictues I took after the install and may answer some fitment questions.

This is a close up of the joint at full articulation showing that the stem won't contact the arm at full droop

Here is a side by side comparison of the angle improvement of the new delta joint vs the old uniball, its subtle but it is an improvement


Before and After

This was a really straight forward modification that I think will last much longer than the uniball.

 

Bump to get an update on this and how it’s held up for the last few months. This seems like a pretty sweet solution to a worn out uniball.

 

Ur misalignment spacer isn’t settled into the uniball so you are not getting the full angle out of that uniball .

 

So far so good. I grease the zerk fitting every 5000 miles and no issues for the first few months

 

I agree it does look that way, its not the greatest picture. However if you zoom in on the picture you can see that it isnt actualluy touching on top. the bottom spacer is engaged correctly so this should represent accurate deflection. However you may be correct, I cant remember the exact condition it was in when this picture was taken

What mattered the most to me was that when everything was fully assymbled the shock fully extended before the joint even came close to maxing out.
so regardless of the max angle my King extended coilovers wont max out this joint, and I assume that to be the same accross all tacomas.

 

For future reference:

$61 FK Bearings WSSX16T Spherical Bearing with Teflon, 1" (1-3/8 Wide), 1 Pack

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073SVF23L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_Y2NYZ8NQ1C4M0FRXSSBX?_encoding=UTF8

These are the exact part number and brand TC uses in their uppers. (At least for the 1st gen tacomas). Ive been running them and they are solid. Don't ever pay $200 from TC, you can get them almost half off anywhere else

 

those uniballs are off the shelf nothing special about them at any offroad supply store such as Kartek, McKenzies, Offroad Warehouse , Summit Racing etc etc.. for under 50 bucks each

 

https://www.kartek.com/parts/fk-rod...coated-uniball-spherical-bearings-f2-fit.html

 

Do you know what the difference is between

$61 WSSX16T Spherical Bearing with Teflon, 1" (1-3/8 Wide), 1 Pack

WSSX16T and WSSX16T-F1 ?

 

You want the F1 Fit.

https://www.fkrodends.com/tech/torque-specs__trashed/

 

Word. I looked on the FK website but could not find this ! thanks for sharing.

 

What are the advantages on the tighter fit ? does it affect ride quality ?

 

The tighter fit can affect ride quality on very light vehicles like a sand rail or small UTV.

The tighter the fit to start with the longer the bearing will last, in theory.

 

1year Update? Glad I found this. I wasn’t going to install my TC uppers because of the rebuild cost. Now they are going in today!

 

Interested in this also. My first set of uniballs lasted ~8k miles. Bought replacements from Kartek much cheaper and will see how long they last.

 

not sure what happend to my previous account but after about 2 years and 30k miles. one the delta joints has worn out, ive reached out to icon about the warranty but so far they havent responded. Kind of a bummer, i really thought these joints would have lasted longer than they did, however they did last longer than a standard uniball.

 

My uniballs lasted ~7k miles on the last set so 30k looks like a big win to me.

 

Now Im trying to decide wether to go back to uniballs or take another shot with the delta joints. the both seem to have pros/cons
uniballs are cheaper to replace ~ $120 vs $250 for delta joints
maintenance seems to be about the same, if anything favoring the uniball, (just walk by and spray them here and there) vs having to grease the DJ.
I seemed to get about 30k miles out of each of them before I noticed play on each of the joints. only difference i noticed between the two was that the delta joints were completly silent still to this day where as the uniballs got pretty noisy.

 

off icon website...
https://images.iconfigurators.app/images/categories/highres/ICON_2018_WARRANTY_INFO_1392.pdf

 

ive seen that before the issue is this line right here:

"This warranty covers defects that IVD determines are no fault of the user and does not apply to normal wear and tear. Any combination of parts that do not constitute an IVD suspension system voids any warranty."