eBay uniball control arms?

[Jetboy]

Are you running a 4th gen? Also, is it possible to buy new misalignment spacers or even a whole new drop in FK set? If so, it still might be cheaper to buy the ebay version and swap out the parts than $700 for total chaos or other versions. BTW, from what I see these are not exact copies of TC's as the TC's seem to have a more drastic correction while the ebay version are more round.

I have my Bilstein struts on their way and want to get these ordered if I can find a work around.

Also, it seems the ebay sellers are not including washers anymore? What are you all using?

I am sending them back. I've already removed them. Yes you should be able to buy the FK set of spacers with these arms. Overall I think they are reasonably well made, but after having my wheel fall off and tearing up some of the brake parts in the process, I'm not going to put them back on.

And I completely agree. $700 is highway robbery. They should be $200 for a set. OEM style arms are around $100 for a complete pair. There's no reason someone can't manufacture a OEM style arm that offsets the ball joint and/or uses a the high travel ball joints for $2-300. I would bet that the cost to the importer on these is around $50 a pair.

 

[dkyleb]

well i priced out the dirtking units, these are the whole assembly for the misalignment/bolt

Upper Arm Spacer Kit

the uniball rebuild kit is like 115. still cheaper to go with the ebay ones but maybe the misalignment spacers can be done first and when the uniball goes, you replace those, but I'm not sure if the uniball in these are 1'' or 1.25'', i forgot what it was.

I think FK sells uniballs for $40 for 2.

 

[SunPilot]

After waiting a few days for the eBay vendor to answer my email questions, I decided to forgo the units for sale on eBay. Instead I ordered an Icon uca uniball set today, along with my other suspension components. Yes, the cost is a bit higher, but after I factored in a new bushing/sleeve set, and a new misalignment spacer, customer service, Icon warranty, etc. I felt the little bit extra was justified. My life is worth more than $200, so I am good with that. I hope all that went with the eBay units have a long and trouble free love affair with yours. Stay safe everybody!

 

[Riflman]

well i priced out the dirtking units, these are the whole assembly for the misalignment/bolt

Upper Arm Spacer Kit

the uniball rebuild kit is like 115. still cheaper to go with the ebay ones but maybe the misalignment spacers can be done first and when the uniball goes, you replace those, but I'm not sure if the uniball in these are 1'' or 1.25'', i forgot what it was.

Dirtking are 1" uniball spindles. So $90. Or about $410 plus taxes/shipping depending on where you live, then you still gotta mod the or deal with the bad ID and short length of the steel sleeves.

 

[Riflman]

Anyone with a 4th gen and these UCA's willing to pull out some calipers and post some measurements of the misalignment spacers? I.D., O.D, length, etc.?

 

[Riflman]

I am sending them back. I've already removed them. Yes you should be able to buy the FK set of spacers with these arms. Overall I think they are reasonably well made, but after having my wheel fall off and tearing up some of the brake parts in the process, I'm not going to put them back on.

And I completely agree. $700 is highway robbery. They should be $200 for a set. OEM style arms are around $100 for a complete pair. There's no reason someone can't manufacture a OEM style arm that offsets the ball joint and/or uses a the high travel ball joints for $2-300. I would bet that the cost to the importer on these is around $50 a pair.

What are you replacing them with?

 

[Jetboy]

What are you replacing them with?

I put the OEM arms back on for now. I have a 5th gen with about 1.5" lift. I was only able to get back to about 2.5* of caster though, so I'm going to replace again with something else. I'm probably going to make my own. I have a pretty complete home fab shop in my garage. I have a 4x8 CNC table that does both router/mill or plasma cutting. I was hoping to save the time by buying these. At $700, I'll build them myself. At $300, it was worth it to just buy a set. I'll have about $250 in materials and then a few hours of design time for my own set, but they'll also be better than these because I'll make them adjustable.

If I do build them I'll probably use Michigan Metal Works parts or similar. Their misalignment are milled from a single piece and are better design than any of the spacers that ride over bolts. A proper uniball pin should look like this:

I don't have a CNC lathe so I'll have to have these made somewhere else. But any machine shop with a high precision CNC lathe should be able to crank these out. If I draw a set up, I'll get a price to see if maybe we can supply them at a better price.

I may just use a HD ball joint though. I'm not convinced that a uniball is better for this application.

 

[matt922]

Anyone have experience with the camburg ball joint style ones? Moog balljoints and different bushings make a decent setup?

 

[Riflman]

I may just use a HD ball joint though. I'm not convinced that a uniball is better for this application.

My impression is that the ujoint is not going to give as much articulation, but with KDSS that may be less important, and besides, the KDSS units have more articulation already than non KDSS units, WITH a factory ball joint, so perhaps I shouldn't be concerned. When I read the Trail Lex build for my GX, I don't think they even used AM UCA's and drove around on 33x12.5's for 3 years on beadlock wheels with 4.5 of backspacing.

 

[Velas]

i decided to just return them, took the hit on the restocking fee, ill just save up a little more and buy some that have a little bit better materials, now to research TC and Icon tubulars. I started getting that same feeling as [MENTION=56333]SunPilot[/MENTION] and didn't want to deal with going around picking parts. lol.

 

[Riflman]

The LR UCA's seem decent now that the price seems to have dropped on them. They can be had now for $400 shipped now. Only issue is that it is a simple ball joint, and not as effective as a uniball. Plus, if you live where there is snow and road salt, people have been having issues with the hardware seizing together so that you cannot adjust them anymore. You can still replace the balljoint if it fails, but only with one of their proprietary ones as far as I'm aware. Someone correct me if I'm off base. If you live in the desert and/or use anti seize between the adjuster plates you might be okay? If I need UCA's after my shocks go on Thursday I might go LR anyway.

 

[Jetboy]

My impression is that the ujoint is not going to give as much articulation, but with KDSS that may be less important, and besides, the KDSS units have more articulation already than non KDSS units, WITH a factory ball joint, so perhaps I shouldn't be concerned. When I read the Trail Lex build for my GX, I don't think they even used AM UCA's and drove around on 33x12.5's for 3 years on beadlock wheels with 4.5 of backspacing.

The OEM ball joints are a limiting factor in downward travel. There are some aftermarket ones that offer greater range of motion. The other issue is that the OEM arm puts the joint in an orientation that is not optimal for max range of travel. The oem joint has enough range if it were set in the arm with an initial angle of maybe 20 degrees, but that's going to require a new a-arm or modification.

There's nothing special about a uniball that provides greater travel unless you mount it in a different orientation like most long travel IFS systems do. But then it will be part of the steering knuckle/spindle assembly.

The benefit is a very large surface area to withstand greater forces. On the upper joint, because of the leverage of the spindle center being close to the lower ball joint - the upper control arm on these suspensions experiences low forces. That's why the UCA is just a stamped piece of 1.5mm or so steel and rarely if ever has any failures. Uniball UCAs are bling - but they don't offer any meaningful benefit in performance. Show me someone who's broken an OEM upper ball joint and I might change my opinion on it.

There are other ball joints that offer more range of motion than a uniball. Just not the toyota OEM ones.

The lower ball joint experiences much greater forces. Probably around 3-5 times the forces on any given bump. If you wanted to increase strength - that's where we should look first.

All I want to do is correct the caster so it runs down the highway without constant correction.

One further thought that will require someone at a toyota parts department to do some measurements - has anyone ever tried a Tacoma or LC200 UCA on a 4runner? As I understand it, the Tacoma coilovers give about 1" of lift. It's reasonable to think that the Tacoma UCA's may have the ball joint offset so that they correct for the additional ride height caster offset. Similarly the LC200 has a lot more travel due to it's more complex KDSS system. It may also be a possibility that there is a direct bolt on UCA that will solve our issues for a lot less $.

 

[MACT4R]

i decided to just return them, took the hit on the restocking fee, ill just save up a little more and buy some that have a little bit better materials, now to research TC and Icon tubulars. I started getting that same feeling as [MENTION=56333]SunPilot[/MENTION] and didn't want to deal with going around picking parts. lol.

You can also go with Built Right UCA sold by The Truck Shop in San Diego. I got in the group buy at Tacoma world. That's what I run on my 4th gen and they've been well tested.

 

[Velas]

You can also go with Built Right UCA sold by The Truck Shop in San Diego. I got in the group buy at Tacoma world. That's what I run on my 4th gen and they've been well tested.

those look super nice, will look into them since they don't look that expensive.

 

[MACT4R]

those look super nice, will look into them since they don't look that expensive.

They are quality UCA. The guys at the Truck Shop use them and they are big offroad guys. They are cheaper than TC, camburgs, Icons. Mention T4R forum and get a discount as well. I'm not affiliated with them, just a happy customer with good experience.

 

[Riflman]

They are quality UCA. The guys at the Truck Shop use them and they are big offroad guys. They are cheaper than TC, camburgs, Icons. Mention T4R forum and get a discount as well. I'm not affiliated with them, just a happy customer with good experience.

Just called and there is no T4R discount. Used to be a group buy but that's over. They are $509.

 

[MACT4R]

Just called and there is no T4R discount. Used to be a group buy but that's over. They are $509.

Maybe try Tacoma world discount. In either case, cheaper than the others.

 

[Velas]

hate to go off topic but they look real good, and i thought i read that even at full droop they don't hit the coil, and they're in a good price range, i might go with them, i couldn't find 05 on their website, so I'm assuming you must call to order then.

 

[dkyleb]

Hey guys, just spotted this on YouTube:

Has anyone here actually tried to replace the uniball yet?!

 

[dkyleb]

Hey guys, just spotted this on YouTube:

Has anyone here actually tried to replace the uniball yet?!

Bump. Anyone??