Uni-ball vs Ball Joints

[bat]

I can say from experience that adding my Camburg control arms with a ball joint setup did 2 things. It did give me more drop in the suspension and also gave me more clearance for my 285 tires. The one thing I did not like about this setup was the way the ball joint sits in the control arm a perfect cup for mud and stuff to cover the zerk fitting. I found a solution for that a cheap rubber plumbing cap and a little silicone.

 

[keezer37]

Sorry about the photos, I inadvertently deleted them from Photobucket, put them back into Photobucket today and tried to paste them up again but for some reason they still show up as removed photos. I'll work on it.

Voila

Lot of good info here I wish I had when I bought these hence the point of this thread. At the time all I knew was the extended post compensated for the camber angle. Funny (not really) I aligned it a few days back and have plenty of room for adjustment still.

I never lubed them at all with anything as per the instruction's adamant statement with many exclamation marks. I did always clean them year round with each washing. These did have the covers on top. I was quite surprised to see the amount of rust that work up in there as the o-ring seals of the caps were in good shape.

 

[tmac]

I can say from experience that adding my Camburg control arms with a ball joint setup did 2 things. It did give me more drop in the suspension and also gave me more clearance for my 285 tires. The one thing I did not like about this setup was the way the ball joint sits in the control arm a perfect cup for mud and stuff to cover the zerk fitting. I found a solution for that a cheap rubber plumbing cap and a little silicone.
View attachment 48581

Another plus with the Camburg UCAs is it removed all of the bumpsteer from my FJ with the OME lift. Prior to the uppers it would wander all over the highway. Now at 75 mph down the highway it tracks straight and very little wander. I used a ball joint from Moog which pressed right in, perfect fit.

I have wheeled with others who run the uni-ball UCAs and I know right where they are due to the noise. The squeak like crazy, poor maintanence I would guess. The mud cup is a concern, but thanks for the photo and the rubber plumbing cap idea. Off to the hardware store to get a couple.

 

[EricBirk]

I can say from experience that adding my Camburg control arms with a ball joint setup did 2 things. It did give me more drop in the suspension and also gave me more clearance for my 285 tires. The one thing I did not like about this setup was the way the ball joint sits in the control arm a perfect cup for mud and stuff to cover the zerk fitting. I found a solution for that a cheap rubber plumbing cap and a little silicone.
View attachment 48581

Great idea! I will be snagging a few of those right away as well.

 

[NotAMog]

I'm looking for some advice on upgrading the suspension on my '04 Tacoma standard cab 4x4. I'm building up the truck for domestic overlanding use with a fully equipped AT FlipPac camper. The estimated "wet" load will be approximately 1200 lbs. Deaver is building a custom rear spring pack with a 2" lift. I'm planning on installing iCon coil overs on the front.

My question is wether I should keep the standard UCAs or if it's worthwhile to upgrade to uniball UCAs. I'm running 265x75 16s on stock rims and only expect to add 1" to 1 1/2" of lift on the front. I don't have any delusions of making this truck a desert racer or a rock crawler. I just want something that that will be reliable for moderate off road use.

 

[jesusgatos]

Not worth the money in my opinion. I've installed/tested a few different types and it's a VERY marginal gain for the money. The uniballs actually have less angularity than the stock balljoints, but most of the uniball-equipped UCA's orient the uniballs in a way that allows for a little more droop-travel. I would rate front suspension upgrades like this:
1) bolt-in coilovers (take your pick)
2) Light Racing jounceshocks (amazing)
3) long-travel (I like the Total Chaos kit)

 

[maxama10]

If you find the need to switch to aftermarket UCAs check out Light Racing UCAs. They use a ball joint but allow for correct alignment.

 

[jesusgatos]

Really? Last I knew Light Racing was re-branding Donahoe's billet upper control arms, but that was a while ago. I had a set of those billet Donahoe arms on one of my trucks and they used uniballs, like the rest of them, but they put a cap over it to keep crap out. That was actually pretty slick. Worked well. Still, kind of hard to justify at $1000...

 

[Hilux_Max]

I have fitted extended Ball Joins to my factory upper control arms...these a 1" long, you can also get them in 40mm (1 3/4") long aswell and they have the grease nipple ontop.

And I get an inch more down travel and it keeps the factory UCA off the coil spring...just whereas before it would contact.

 

[jesusgatos]

Oh, cool. Never seen those before. That's definitely the way I would go.

 

[maxama10]

Really? Last I knew Light Racing was re-branding Donahoe's billet upper control arms, but that was a while ago. I had a set of those billet Donahoe arms on one of my trucks and they used uniballs, like the rest of them, but they put a cap over it to keep crap out. That was actually pretty slick. Worked well. Still, kind of hard to justify at $1000...

http://www.wheelersoffroad.com/9504sptacoarms.htm

Have the 05+ version on my Tacoma. About half the cost of the billet DRs haha.

 

[fourfa]

details on those extended ball joints?

One complaint about the Light Racing ball-joint arms that I came across researching this topic: slippage on the camber/caster adjustment. Spend some time googling them; what I read was enough to steer me away

I see Camburg is now making a ball-joint version of their UCAs. Looks like the same construction as their 1.25" ball arms, just made for an OEM style ball joint. Angled better to account for a 2" lift.

 

[Youngunner]

I found the vast majority of user opinions of the LR UCAs was very positive. I just picked up some ICONs and LR UCAs for a sceaming deal and will be installing tomorrow. If you are in the market, it would be a good idea to head over to tacomaworld.com and check out the ICON group buy going on...

 

[maxama10]

I definitely spent some time researching the LRs before I got em. Nothing but positive reviews. I wonder if the issues you saw were due to incorrect torquing of the top nut.

 

[java]

Hilux Max. more info on the extended Bj's?