eBay uniball control arms?

[adkfinn]

JBA's UCA might be a better solution for you if you feel uncomfortable with the uniball. They have a high range of movement ball joint and aren't too much more expensive than the eBay UCA.

This has been my current waffle... ebay arms or jba's. I have read through the massive JBA thread on tacomaworld and they seem like a solid option. The guy making them is receptive to users and has updated them multiple times to improve and tweak the design. Plus the foul weather durability of a traditional ball joint offers some decent piece of mind. JBA doesn't support the forum or run much in the way of deals though.... and the ebay arms are so cheap!

 

[Velas]

Velas,

Can you confirm which seller you purchased from please? Those look better and better. I don't think uniball's will hold up on a New England daily driver, but at this price and level of quality it might just be worth it to go for it and plan on more frequent uniball replacements.

i bought these from the seller blitz.auto, but i think its the same as the others on there because when i clicked on his listing and the others, it said the same amount of arms available, and the cities that they came from are all like 20-50 miles from each other here in socal.

 

[MACT4R]

i bought these from the seller blitz.auto, but i think its the same as the others on there because when i clicked on his listing and the others, it said the same amount of arms available, and the cities that they came from are all like 20-50 miles from each other here in socal.

Bought mine from suspension.marketplace long beach. I think it's all the same.

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[Velas]

Bought mine from suspension.marketplace long beach. I think it's all the same.

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yeah the guy i bought it from is from Covina, so I'm pretty sure its the same guy.

 

[MACT4R]

Here's what mine looked like unpacked for 3rd gen. A little different but similar.

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[SunPilot]

I'm ready to get a set of these for my '07. I sent a message to the eBay seller asking a few questions before I hit the buy button. I haven't heard from them yet...if I get no response, I may look elsewhere. I value customer service as much as the part I am buying!

 

[dkyleb]

I'm ready to get a set of these for my '07. I sent a message to the eBay seller asking a few questions before I hit the buy button. I haven't heard from them yet...if I get no response, I may look elsewhere. I value customer service as much as the part I am buying!

It is very unlikely that you'll receive a response. I never did. However, if you look hard enough in this thread, you can find a phone number. First few pages, I believe.

And what are your questions?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

So [MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] ran into issues with his Ebay UCAs, I'm not sure if they are the same seller but I figure if you guys haven't seen his thread it's worth reading:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/227005-ebay-uniball-ucas-warning-w-pics.html

 

[dkyleb]

So [MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] ran into issues with his Ebay UCAs, I'm not sure if they are the same seller but I figure if you guys haven't seen his thread it's worth reading:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/227005-ebay-uniball-ucas-warning-w-pics.html

Ohhhhhhhh sheit here we go!

 

[BlackWorksInc]

[MENTION=124121]dkyleb[/MENTION]

Not trying to start anything, I read the thread and looked at the failure points and have to agree with him that if it were my rig I might feel a bit uneasy about the rest of the arm's construction. He did mention that he was able to improve on the failed part, but it's hard to tell the quality of the materials.

It's similar to how the market was flooded with Chinese rotors that were fracturing and shattering on people's vehicles due to sub-par metallurgy. I figure at worst people take it as a reason to avoid them, at best they understand a possible failure point and how to get ahead of it.

 

[dkyleb]

[MENTION=124121]dkyleb[/MENTION]

Not trying to start anything, I read the thread and looked at the failure points and have to agree with him that if it were my rig I might feel a bit uneasy about the rest of the arm's construction. He did mention that he was able to improve on the failed part, but it's hard to tell the quality of the materials.

It's similar to how the market was flooded with Chinese rotors that were fracturing and shattering on people's vehicles due to sub-par metallurgy. I figure at worst people take it as a reason to avoid them, at best they understand a possible failure point and how to get ahead of it.

Honestly, the garbage uniball is the only caveat to these eBay arms. It's one of the corners they cut during the manufacturing process. I've been waiting for the slightest sign of wear on mine, and plan on replacing the uniballs with FKs and proper misalignment spacers.

As for the rest of the arm, I don't think there is much to worry about. It is extremely unlikely that one of the welds will break or something would shear (besides the uniball!)

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Honestly, the garbage uniball is the only caveat to these eBay arms. It's one of the corners they cut during the manufacturing process. I've been waiting for the slightest sign of wear on mine, and plan on replacing the uniballs with FKs and proper misalignment spacers.

As for the rest of the arm, I don't think there is much to worry about. It is extremely unlikely that one of the welds will break or something would shear (besides the uniball!)

Haven't seen the arms in person so I can't comment on the quality of the welds. I have seen weld related failures before on a couple UCAs, the last one I saw was a bad HAZ (the weld itself looked okay) on a SPC bushing loop that failed (granted I'd say it also failed due to a poorly set-up suspension, way overloaded vehicle, and operator error as well). The problem with welds is they can look good, but be structurally unsound. But like I said, I figure they're probably fairly standard DOM tubing and the welds are probably not bad.

 

[dkyleb]

Haven't seen the arms in person so I can't comment on the quality of the welds. I have seen weld related failures before on a couple UCAs, the last one I saw was a bad HAZ (the weld itself looked okay) on a SPC bushing loop that failed (granted I'd say it also failed due to a poorly set-up suspension, way overloaded vehicle, and operator error as well). The problem with welds is they can look good, but be structurally unsound. But like I said, I figure they're probably fairly standard DOM tubing and the welds are probably not bad.

You're absolutely right. You cannot tell how strong a weld is, structurally, just from a visual inspection. But, in my experience as a welder, and being around structural welding inspection... they look fine.

My biggest concern is, and always has been, with the uniball. Second up, is the sleeves. With those issues cleared up, I would trust these as much as the TC or Camburg units.

 

[Velas]

damn... well that sucks.. i would hate for that to happen to me, but being as i read every page of this read and didn't see many problems, would it be wise to just pick up some FK uniballs, spacers incase the ID is too big and some misalignment spacers to replace before going on?

 

[richeaus]

I still feel comfortable picking some of these up when I lift my 3rd gen even with the couple of issues. I have read this thread through all the pages and have only seen two failures and one was caused by operator error. That's hella good stats. Granted not everyone who has bought these when on the thread, but even the various sellers that are on eBay have excellent ratings. Light Racing has a lot more failures and they cost almost twice these arms.

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[SunPilot]

It is very unlikely that you'll receive a response. I never did. However, if you look hard enough in this thread, you can find a phone number. First few pages, I believe.

And what are your questions?

I wanted to know if they addressed the inner sleeve being too short and the ID of the inner sleeve being too large. I don't want to buy something and then have to chase around for extra parts to make it work. One would think that since they have been available for quite some time, and there have been plenty of complaints, that the simple problem would have been addressed. I mean, how hard would it be to include a simple piece of metal of the correct dimensions? It would make this product a great buy, and give the seller a lot more purchases, I would think.

 

[Velas]

I wanted to know if they addressed the inner sleeve being too short and the ID of the inner sleeve being too large. I don't want to buy something and then have to chase around for extra parts to make it work. One would think that since they have been available for quite some time, and there have been plenty of complaints, that the simple problem would have been addressed. I mean, how hard would it be to include a simple piece of metal of the correct dimensions? It would make this product a great buy, and give the seller a lot more purchases, I would think.

from what i see now, since i received these arms a few days ago, the sleeve being too short has been resolved, its now flush with the bushing, but i don't know about the inner diameter of the sleeve yet, but i might just order a couple of sleeves from all pro just to have on hand when i go do install these just in case.

 

[SunPilot]

from what i see now, since i received these arms a few days ago, the sleeve being too short has been resolved, its now flush with the bushing, but i don't know about the inner diameter of the sleeve yet, but i might just order a couple of sleeves from all pro just to have on hand when i go do install these just in case.

After seeing [MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION]'s post, if I get these arms, and the ID is off I will get new sleeves that fit, and probably order the stainless misalignment spacers. It still comes in at a hefty savings.

 

[MACT4R]

Emailed suspension marketplace about ID issue, got emailed back stating that they only have one style of sleeve despite length correction. If more would bring it up maybe they would change ID as well. I too bought different sleeves.

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[dkyleb]

Emailed suspension marketplace about ID issue, got emailed back stating that they only have one style of sleeve despite length correction. If more would bring it up maybe they would change ID as well. I too bought different sleeves.

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I bought mine, then called and complained when they got here about the sleeves being too short. Then I made them send me new ones!

They were the correct length and ID. But you could tell someone made them just for me.