eBay uniball control arms?

[robaroni]

Anyone else still running these eBay UCAs? Looking to do a whole steering refresh on the cheap (oximoron right?)

Going strong after 2 years!

 

[Bergster36]

Quick Update

Thought I'd post a little here and keep this up to date. Ordered and installed these over the weekend. Price has gone up a bit from the OP but still a hell of a deal. About $350 w/ shipping. I put them on my '06 Tacoma, pretty sure these are all the same. Package came pretty much the next day as they were shipped from CA and I live in CA. Thumbs Up! As you can see they came out of the box With Out the ball covered in grease. Thumbs Up!

I did order some bushing replacements from Camburg (went with Camburg because they were black in color and they were the same price as All Pro, King etc.) I also ordered the All Pro uniball bolt to put in place of the supplied bolt as there was a failure in this thread. Granted those were installed upside down but cant hurt to have a better bolt (you can see that the seller has placed a "This Side Up" sticker on the UCA. Here's Your Sign!) Price now up to $450...

Decided to install them with the bushings/bolt they came with and will replace them down the road. Camburg & All Pro are a little slow on getting things processed/shipped and the rig needed these as she was def complaining with the OEM arms sitting on a 3" lift.

With the help of my roll dog and T4R counter part we got these bad boys installed without any major problems. She def needed an alignment after as she was chirping on every nook and cranny in the road and doing her best to yank me onto the shoulder or into oncoming traffic. Alignment went well and she's feeling solid as rock now.

Will post updates as the miles stack and the trails are run!
All in all I'm stoked on these!

Wanted to drop an update...
still going strong! Have beat the everloving sh*t out of these bad boys now! Seriously hammered on them on the outing. Still going strong at this point!

 

[Runn4est]

Sorry if it's posted somewhere in this thread, but what are people's caster numbers with these? Seem pretty tempting for my 4th gen -- i don't mind maintaining the uniballs. I still think I'm gonna go SPC or JBA on the 5th gen (wife), so this will be a good way to save a couple bucks!

 

[4Running335i]

I bought these and in the install phase. I do not seem to have enough room for these large washers on the inside of the UCAs. I can fit one only on one side. Basically I have a Washer/bushing/bushing/washer and then bushing/bushing/washer. Going to have to find washers half as thick as the ones that came with it I believe to make it work.

 

[matt922]

I bought these and in the install phase. I do not seem to have enough room for these large washers on the inside of the UCAs. I can fit one only on one side. Basically I have a Washer/bushing/bushing/washer and then bushing/bushing/washer. Going to have to find washers half as thick as the ones that came with it I believe to make it work.

That's pretty normal. Get a big prybar and it should be doable. I bought a set of them from sears for like $20 online and picked up in store.

 

[cstmg8]

Just got mine in today. I plan to just hit the bushing with the bench grinder. Do I just take it to flush with the poly, or hair shorter?

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[collierunner]

Just got mine in today. I plan to just hit the bushing with the bench grinder. Do I just take it to flush with the poly, or hair shorter?

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Your metal bushing/sleeves look good.

On the early ones the metal bushings/sleeves were too short. So we cut the poly down to be flush with the metal. My poly bushings still failed after a few months and had to order a rebuild kit from All Pro.

They look ready to install.

 

[cstmg8]

Gotcha! I had it backwards

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[danthemanx07]

Has anyone had to replace the uniball through bolt and the bushing washers on these? Where did you find the washers? The through bolt on the ones that look like the total choas setup just looks like a 9/16"x5" grade 8 bolt. Can anyonw confirm that?

 

[danthemanx07]

-I replaced the grease fittings because the ones supplied were very cheap. ($6)
-Replaced the supplied Grade 5 bolt, washers and nut with Grade 8 (not sure it was necessary but it only cost $13)
-used a washer as a spacer so the bushing would not be crushed due to the short inner sleeve. (See the ajonesnv write up)
-Used my bench grinder to take a little off of the top and bottom uniball spacers so they wouldn't meet in the middle and allow play.

Everything went together very smoothly. Gonna go with the supplied Uniball and see how it performs.

I understand Firestone has a Lifetime Alignment deal. Anyone know cost? Do they do good work? Is it worth it? Do any other companies have a deal like this?

What were the dimensions of the Grade 8 bolts you used? I assume you replaced the washers and nuts too? I think Total Chaos uses a c-lock washer. Did you get a c-lock or just use a nylon lock nut? Thanks for the info.

 

[Exploresystems]

Everybody considering these. I installed them about 6 months ago on my 02 t4r. Had an immediate issue with one uniball that was siezed for lack of a better description. Vendor sent me two replacements, decent response time. Installed, torqued Allen on misalignment spacer and lower slug bolt to 90 ftlbs. I was a little suspect of the misalignments but not enough to not run them...Fast forward to yesterday. Fortunately I was in a residential area close to my house going over a speed bump and the passenger side upper misalignment ridge let loose allowing the spindle to drop right out of the a arm. Nothing was damaged beyond repair but a complete pita none the less. I believe the uniball misalignments are a poor design and failure prone...pretty scary, all I could think of is an upcoming trip down Black Bear...lesson learned spend the coin for a more proven part!

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[svana]

Does anybody run these with extended travel shocks? I've had a problem with the lip of the UCA making contact with the bottom uniball spindle adapter since I've gotten some suspension work done, including having the shocks converted to ET. I'm not sure if it's directly related but my bushings have also gotten shredded to bits. I've got the correct length sleeves and the bushings weren't crushed whatsoever when installed.

 

[BOFFROAD]

I've had my UCA's on for almost 2 years now and the driver side bushings shredded. Does anyone have a link for some replacement bushings?

 

[svana]

I've had my UCA's on for almost a year now and the driver side bushings shredded. Does anyone have a link for some replacement bushings?

I bought my set from DSM. Haven't installed them yet though.

 

[morphious]

I've had my UCA's on for almost 2 years now and the driver side bushings shredded. Does anyone have a link for some replacement bushings?

I used these when I redid mine.

Upper Arm Bushing Rebuild Kit

 

[NicNac]

I bought some of these today for $100 off a guy who never got the chance to install them. When I got home I noticed that the metal sleeve is actually a tad longer than the poly bushings and that the uniballs do not swivel in the housing. I assume the sleeve will be alright since its longer than the poly (the exact opposite of what early posts seem to have) and also do I need to just lube the uniballs and "knock" them loose for lack of a better term? Thanks!

 

[themuffinman619]

I have a set of new uniballs, misalignment spacers, and bolts for sale. Bought to rebuild some icon arms, but icon uses a different uniball. Bad reasearch on my part. Selling for $160 shipped conus paypal.

 

[svana]

I bought some of these today for $100 off a guy who never got the chance to install them. When I got home I noticed that the metal sleeve is actually a tad longer than the poly bushings and that the uniballs do not swivel in the housing. I assume the sleeve will be alright since its longer than the poly (the exact opposite of what early posts seem to have) and also do I need to just lube the uniballs and "knock" them loose for lack of a better term? Thanks!

I'd probably hit the sleeve with a grinder just so everything's nice and tight. Depends how much extra we're talking about though. In regards to the uniballs, mine are definitely stiff. Not something you can just push by hand. I leveraged them into place using the spindle though.

 

[NicNac]

I'd probably hit the sleeve with a grinder just so everything's nice and tight. Depends how much extra we're talking about though. In regards to the uniballs, mine are definitely stiff. Not something you can just push by hand. I leveraged them into place using the spindle though.

Thanks for the reply probably gonna install them tomorrow, I put some 3 in 1 oil on them and let it soak then I was able to move them with a little leverage. I know you are supposed to use dry lube on these but I didn't want to purchase it for uniballs that might be seized.

 

[wmflyfisher]

Anybody tried these puppies? A little more expensive but looks like you may not have the uniball issue or have to shave material off the bushing.

https://m.ebay.com/itm/Front-Upper-...ca15f0a9cad5e8aa6bfffeba8b|iid:17&_mwBanner=1