Aftermarket UCA Design

[ryankmasuda]

What's the difference between aftermarket UCA's? Which design is stronger? I like the price for the light racing UCA's however the uniball design of Total Chaos and other brands seem to be beefy. It seems like the LR UCA's will have the boots torn in time. What are your opinions?

 

[04rnr]

Im not sure about the others, but the light racing arms are designed/built with 2degrees of camber built into, this will help with alignments

 

[J-money$$$]

The Total chaos and camburg are also built with extra camber to help when lifted. The chromoly total chaos and camburg arms are going to be the strongest, the Uniballs are also way stronger. These are also fully rebuilable

I personally feel that the Light Racing arms are not that good. They use a ball joint just like the factory arms do.. I just dont feel like they are much of an improvement over stock.

 

[sgtstinky]

Anybody running the Toytec LR UCA? I was thinking about getting a set.

 

[Rc4r]

Anybody running the Toytec LR UCA? I was thinking about getting a set.

I am. Don't waste your money.. spend a couple extra bucks and get the total chaos or camburg arms.

 

[04rnr]

I am. Don't waste your money.. spend a couple extra bucks and get the total chaos or camburg arms.

and whats wrong with the Light Racing LCA ? whats make you, such an expert ?

 

[Baja Runner]

One thing with the uniballs is the fact that they tend to squeak overtime, however they are stronger. Made for offroad which squeaking is not an issue. For on-road, they made the ball joints with a grease boot to keep noise to a minimum.

What sucks is that these companies are robbing us blind. The a-arms probably use maybe $50 worth of steel for both. If I was bored I would be able to make my own no problem... oh right and I don't have access to a shop anymore so that might be a bummer

 

[Stick Figure]

While i'm not lifted enough to have an issue yet, I was toying with the idea of making some new A arms for another forum member who is. I take it by this thread there is a decent amount of interest for a reasonably priced set assuming the quality was equal to or better than the others out there?

 

[t4r4life]

One thing with the uniballs is the fact that they tend to squeak overtime, however they are stronger. Made for offroad which squeaking is not an issue. For on-road, they made the ball joints with a grease boot to keep noise to a minimum.

What sucks is that these companies are robbing us blind. The a-arms probably use maybe $50 worth of steel for both. If I was bored I would be able to make my own no problem... oh right and I don't have access to a shop anymore so that might be a bummer

please teach me how to make my own lol

 

[J-money$$$]

I know they only have a few feet of chromoly, and thats not that expensive. The 1" uniball joint is expensive. and there are 4 bushings. Plus with Total chaos each bushing has been tapped for a zirk fitting to help eliminate squeak. ANd I believe they are tig welded in the shop, So then you have to pay a welder to sit there and weld them up. Plus powder coating, ECT i feel they are not too far off a fair price.

the LR arms you know relatively nothing about. they are cheaper. what are they made of?

 

[1985taylor1925]

For someone like me with roughly a 2" lift, would these upper arms be useful? The main thing Im wondering about is if they would tighten up my front end a bit? My runner is my only vehicle and all I can afford right now, so Im not gonna beat the crap out of it off road. But if these would improve my front end I am interested in getting a pair in the future.

 

[brian2sun]

For someone like me with roughly a 2" lift, would these upper arms be useful? The main thing Im wondering about is if they would tighten up my front end a bit? My runner is my only vehicle and all I can afford right now, so Im not gonna beat the crap out of it off road. But if these would improve my front end I am interested in getting a pair in the future.

I know you've had a lot of issues with your steering shaking and what not. Have you tried replacing the steering rack guide yet? On the older 3rd gens like ours, we have a roller type guide that wears out relatively easy compared to the newer 3rds which have a solid spacer type of guide. J-money replaced his recently and he recommended I do mine too because it tightened up his steering so much. I ordered the new guide and cap (I'm reusing the nut and spring) and it was $75 shipped for the parts at toyotapart.com. If you haven't done this, it may be the answer to your front end problems. Here's a thread on what to do..
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/70884-how-replace-steering-rack-guide-pictures.html

I also agree that the LR arms aren't much better than stock. I'd go with some uni-ball UCAs for myself.

 

[sooner02r1]

I have researched UCAs until I was blue in the face, and Camburg makes the best UCA. They use better materials than TC, higher quality steel, in house welding, better quality uniballs, and they offer more travel and better geometry. I think the ball joint UCAs are a waste of money, if you're gonna do it, do it right. The uniball is a far better/stronger design that will not bind at full bump/droop, and will not get trashed with abuse.

 

[J-money$$$]

I have researched UCAs until I was blue in the face, and Camburg makes the best UCA. They use better materials than TC, higher quality steel, in house welding, better quality uniballs, and they offer more travel and better geometry. I think the ball joint UCAs are a waste of money, if you're gonna do it, do it right. The balljoint is a far better/stronger design that will not bind at full bump/droop, and will not get trashed with abuse.

Good luck with them.... WORST Customer service!!! I had them rebuild my Sway Aways (same shocks) and they put them together wrong!!! In 3 months they were leaking. The internals came off the shaft in the shock body!!!!. Plus if you call them they wont answer the phone.

Im actually pretty sure they camburg arms are almost the same as the total chaos ones.

I would never give them another dime. You can say what ever about the materials but all 4130 CrMo is about the same

 

[Rc4r]

and whats wrong with the Light Racing LCA ? whats make you, such an expert ?

im not an expert. there just not anything special.

 

[1985taylor1925]

I know you've had a lot of issues with your steering shaking and what not. Have you tried replacing the steering rack guide yet? On the older 3rd gens like ours, we have a roller type guide that wears out relatively easy compared to the newer 3rds which have a solid spacer type of guide. J-money replaced his recently and he recommended I do mine too because it tightened up his steering so much. I ordered the new guide and cap (I'm reusing the nut and spring) and it was $75 shipped for the parts at toyotapart.com. If you haven't done this, it may be the answer to your front end problems. Here's a thread on what to do..
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/70884-how-replace-steering-rack-guide-pictures.html

I also agree that the LR arms aren't much better than stock. I'd go with some uni-ball UCAs for myself.

Ya thats one of the first things I did. That was back on the original rack. Ive actually replaced my steering rack twice since then, both with rebuilt racks from the same company. The first one they gave me was crap, so I used the refund and had them ship me a second rack. It actually made a big difference. I think I talked about it some on that thread about my jitters. But I still have a little slack, which I think may be partly the a arm bushings

 

[steezemcqueen]

No offense to anyone, but you really need to get you facts straight before you start bashing a product.

First off, the UCA and UBJ in the double wishbone suspension does not bear load like the spindle or the LCA or LBJ does. Putting in a chromoly UCA is not really going to benefit you that much. Also explains why we never really see UBJ failures.

The LR UCA's are in fact stronger and the ball joint is much larger and has more range of motion than the stock UBJ. But the main benefit of them is that like other UCA's, they have approximately 2 degrees of caster built in. But you can also adjust the caster and the camber +/- 2 degrees. The TC and Camburg have ZERO adjustment. Not saying have the adjustment is required but its nice to know you can set the alignment pretty much wherever the hell you want it.

As for uniball vs balljoint, i would not want a uniball where i live. It is open to the elements and in CO, that means dirt, mud, snow, mag chloride, and other crap can get in and shorten the life. The sealed ball joint keeps all that stuff out. I know uniballs are stronger and work great in the desert but thats not where my truck gets wheeled.

And FWIW, i don't work for LR or any company that sells them and i don't have any aftermarket UCA's on my truck. Yet.

 

[sooner02r1]

Good luck with them.... WORST Customer service!!! I had them rebuild my Sway Aways (same shocks) and they put them together wrong!!! In 3 months they were leaking. The internals came off the shaft in the shock body!!!!. Plus if you call them they wont answer the phone.

Im actually pretty sure they camburg arms are almost the same as the total chaos ones.

I would never give them another dime. You can say what ever about the materials but all 4130 CrMo is about the same

that's a bummer man! I've always had good service with them, in fact I talk to Jerry the owner on the forums and twitter all the time! I think they have a great product!

 

[sooner02r1]

No offense to anyone, but you really need to get you facts straight before you start bashing a product.

First off, the UCA and UBJ in the double wishbone suspension does not bear load like the spindle or the LCA or LBJ does. Putting in a chromoly UCA is not really going to benefit you that much. Also explains why we never really see UBJ failures.

The LR UCA's are in fact stronger and the ball joint is much larger and has more range of motion than the stock UBJ. But the main benefit of them is that like other UCA's, they have approximately 2 degrees of caster built in. But you can also adjust the caster and the camber +/- 2 degrees. The TC and Camburg have ZERO adjustment. Not saying have the adjustment is required but its nice to know you can set the alignment pretty much wherever the hell you want it.

As for uniball vs balljoint, i would not want a uniball where i live. It is open to the elements and in CO, that means dirt, mud, snow, mag chloride, and other crap can get in and shorten the life. The sealed ball joint keeps all that stuff out. I know uniballs are stronger and work great in the desert but thats not where my truck gets wheeled.

And FWIW, i don't work for LR or any company that sells them and i don't have any aftermarket UCA's on my truck. Yet.

my facts are straight. and yes I have seen several aftermarket ubj failures. sniff around on ttora and tacomaworld... if the balljoint doesn't allow as much travel as your coilover does, then it is the first thing to bind, and at that point, the ubj does bear weight, and I have seen a few snapped ones. the uniball design allows for enough travel that it will not happen. I can understand you wanting a sealed joint being in Colorado but I ran uniballs through several winters with lots of snow, and wheeled the truck in Colorado in the winter quite a bit, and never had an issue. also have a buddy running camburg ucas on a chevy in alamosa with no issue on the open uniball.

 

[theizzardking]

im not an expert. there just not anything special.

haha, that guy is an idiot, you own a set and are just commenting on your personal experience with them, which i thank you for.....:beer: