Uniball vs Balljoint

I have desert racing boxed uniball uppers. They got extremely noisy fast after light offroading in muddy area's. I replaced all bushings and uniballs after 20k miles. Still make noise but less. If they are not powerwashed after a little rain in texas they start to squeak again. Was curious if worth replacing with icon or camburg capped uniballs? Any thoughts

 

The uniballs will always be noisy. That's why they are usually not used for production vehicles, even exotics like Ferraris and Lambos. Thankfully it's just noise; the integrity of the uniball is not affected.

 

Is this the same lub used for bicycle chains?

 

^Judging by the product website, yep: http://www.triflowlubricants.com/Tri-Flow_Superior_Dry_Lubricant.html

I use Finish Line teflon dry-film lube, similar: http://www.artscyclery.com/Finish_Line_Teflon_Dry_Chain_Lube_4oz/descpage-01409.html



Also works well on the Stant gas cap lock. After 3 years, the lock was getting a bit rougher. A few drops of the teflon lube brought it to like-new condition.

 

Have used LR for over a year now with no problems and have done some pretty decent speeds on rough desert type roads.

 

Hey guys, I don't know why my dumbass can't figure out how to start a new thread so I'll start here. Does anyone have information about where Tacoma owners are getting together just to check out each others mods? I'm in the Ventura, Ca area. Maybe there is a website??

 

KenLyns...I efing love that pic at the bottom of your posts!! Daaaamn!

 

How often would you have to lube em up to keep them quiet? I live in Phx AZ so it's pretty dry year round. About every oil change?

 

P. S. Not trying to hijack this thread... Just thought since we were on the subject and all

 

I had a little squeak for a bit with my Camburg's after install. I disconnected the assembly by removing the 4 bolts on the LBJ and articulated the UB all around and lubed with dry lube. Mine are as quiet as BJ's. Been like that for a year or so. Mud rain, whatever the condition no squeaks. I haven't lubed them in a long time...maybe i will today.

 

Been running icon uca's uniball for about 40,000 miles. Never put any thing on them. Not even caps. Never heard a sound from them.

 

My TC uniballs are still quiet 10k miles after install with no lube yet

 

I often wonder if I should have just got the rebuild kit for the Camburg Uniball. The customer service at Camburg sucks. They didn't offer any help at all. I don't know if my location has anything to do with the bad experience I had with the Camburg UCA's. It is kind of damp where I live. I don't know if the cap would help.

 

you can check these out. i just came across these today and read the thread, looks like a pretty good product. im not trying to sell these but in my opinion i think they are a good deal. one day ill be picking a pair up

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/suspension/364484-new-product-jba-upper-control-arms.html

 

Just came across your dilemma...

Uniballs are like any kind of bearing. It is metal and on metal and when they are dry or dirty and have debris in the bearing it will make some kind of noise. As others have mentioned, it comes with the territory. It seems some people can have absolutely zero noise and never lube them, and others (depending on million factors) have to keep them maintained. It is simple maintenance, just spraying them with WD-40 (mild solvent to clean out the debris) and use some Tri-Flow or other kind of dry Teflon based lubricant. The reason why we say use only a Teflon based lube is because the lining of the uniball cup is Teflon, and once that is stripped, it will make all kinds of noise and then you're trouble. If the UCAs have been making noise since day one, then something was not tightened or seated correctly during the install. It sounds like you had some time before they actually started making noise after install? In that case, they are just letting you know they are dry and dirty. If the uniball has a lot of play or is pitted, then they need to be replaced. Also, like mentioned before, salt plays a big part in wrecking havoc on the uniball bearing, and in some cases it is better to go for balljoint, which we do have that come with covers included! Whether you are over running uniballs or not, do not let a little noise persuade you to turn to light racing UCAs. I have seen too many welds fail, and design flaws with those arms which can be dangerous. Of course there are some guys on here that have been lucky and have had no problems which is great! I personally do not think the risk is worth it. I am sorry you think our customer service is sub par, we try our best to please and help everyone as much as we can. We cannot make everyone happy, but we can try! If you are still looking for some UCAs, I can get you a pair of our new style b/j arms with the covers. We also offer a TW discount and actually have those good in stock right now, but they go fast. You can pick them up at Wheelers as well as any of our other dealers. If you still want the high quality and performance you had with our uniball arms, might as well go for our next best, our Camburg ball joint UCAs. And please, if you have any other questions, comments, or concerns, do not hesitate to ask me! This is what I am for.

Thanks!

 

Hi Kayla,

I will admit that I didn't know much about uniballs and that it is common for them to make noise when I bought the Camburgs. I have read 1000 threads on UCA's since then and found out .... well....It's a crap shoot anyway! Ha! Everyone has a different story no matter which product they are running. My UCA's started making noise 3 months after I put them on. I did everything Camburg and everyone else said to do. The WD-40 with the tri-flow teflon dry lube did nothing. The part of this that frustrates me the most is that I thought maybe Camburg would've tried to help me out. They were not interested in hearing my story. They just kept saying," Really? They shouldn't be doing that." Hmmm...Duh?? I already have the LR UCA's and I can't see changing them out when there is nothing wrong with them. I'm not sure if Camburg had the balljoint option when all this happened? It wasn't that long ago, I guess it's been almost a year.

 

Well I'm sorry to hear we couldn't help you much on the noisy uniballs, there really isn't much you can do to solve that. There are only so many things you can tell someone to help alleviate noise from bearings. Some aftermarket parts are not for everyone. The saying goes "Race Truck parts make Race Truck noise!" but if you are satisfied with the LR UCAs you have now, then that is great. All and all we just want to know we did our best to find products that fit your needs.

 

I'm looking to purchase some UCAs. If I were to go with the camburg ball joint UCAs could I swap out the ball joint for the uniball in the future and vice-versa? If I had the option to switch from ball joint to uniball without having to replace the entire arm that would be a great sellilng point.

 

Nope, doesn't work like that, and I do not believe anyone makes an arm that you can do that.

 

You guys sure it's the uniballs and not the polyurethane bushings? My UB never make any noticeable sound. Just the bushings. When they get too squeaky I know it's time to grease the bushings. After that totally quiet. Also TC uniballs are not metal on metal bearings, there is a cloth backed Teflon liner between the ball and the race.