LBJ Uniball Conversion 2.0 (Total Chaos)

[Devbot]

A few of us are running the LBJ uniball conversion from Anonymous Fab, myself included, however for those interested I saw that Total Chaos just released their own uniball conversion - for both OEM and heimed steering too. On top of this they utilize a 1" uniball instead of a 7/8" like Anonymous Fab, meaning if one desired you could (theoretically) throw in a Delta Joint retrofit from Icon and truly get the best of both worlds. This is actually something I've though about for a while, and had I known these were coming out I might have held off on my initial purchase... Though I'm not sure if TC's can be sealed up like the 7/8" ones can be
Personally I'm very happy with my set from Anonymous Fab, but still thought I would let others know. Really aside from the Delta Joint possibility, I would struggle to justify the increase in price between the two - especially when Anonymous Fab offers a core charge. Not to mention a 1" uniball is barely bigger than 7/8" but costs twice as much to replace. Still, a cool mod nonetheless

Toyota 4Runner 1996-2002 3RD GEN 4RUNNER LOWER UNIBALL CONVERSION - OE TIE ROD | TOTAL CHAOS FABRICATION

 

[Dezert4Runner]

I’m surprised it’s taken these big name companies this long to offer something that works with stock spindles. Solo Motorsports has had the uniball conversion available for a long time, it just only works with their fully fabricated spindles. Their units look just like these TC ones.

Toyota Lower Ball Joint Conversion to 1" Uniball with Steering

I am also running the Anonymous Fab units and have no complaints. I had to grind off steering stops because of my LT LCA’s, but other than that, these things rock. The TC ones seem to be sans steering stops, so that would have been better in my case but people still using factory LCA’s would prefer them to be there I think. Josh (Anonymous Fab) does great work, and I’ll gladly keep using his units.

If I had an unlimited budget and saw the TC offerings before buying, I’d probably reconsider just from the standpoint of having a machined billet unit with a larger joint, but it’s not worth the $400 difference to me personally. The smaller uniballs are plenty strong enough. The delta joint option is cool for folks with rust concerns but then you’re adding another cost to the nearly $1k price tag. There’s quite the price delta between the two, so I can see them both having their place in the market. Either way, it’s cool to see companies still adding new offerings to our older Toyota platforms.

 

[sleepydad]

funny I was just looking @ this the other day, I had been thinking of trying to fab this exact deal myself... then I was like... ah hmmm well.

I was planning on getting their long travel kit and this just sweetened the deal.

 

[2000se]

Resurrecting an old thread....If I have only stock suspension and want to keep it that way, would the AF ones be ok? I have an OEM set of LBJ's shipping out to me soon but I guess I could try canceling it. Would the AF (or the TC for that matter) make much of a difference over the OEM ones for a stock machine?

 

[Devbot]

Resurrecting an old thread....If I have only stock suspension and want to keep it that way, would the AF ones be ok? I have an OEM set of LBJ's shipping out to me soon but I guess I could try canceling it. Would the AF (or the TC for that matter) make much of a difference over the OEM ones for a stock machine?

I severely doubt it would make a difference. Hell I've been using the Anonymous Fab set for a little while on a few wheeling trips and I'm not sure I've even notice a difference. The uniballs DO offer more articulation but only by 10 degrees I believe. However I am still very happy with them, they've served me well so far. I bought them so replacements would be cheaper which has already benefitted me once (accidentally messed up the lower misalignment stud with a pitman puller and had to replace that piece, and while that is more expensive than the ball itself, it still cost me half of what a new LBJ would from Toyota)
My one and only gripe with them is that the top cap needs to be redesigned to work with CV axles

 

[2000se]

Thanks for the reply. Because this is a road only vehicle I think the OEM LBJ’s will more than likely suit me just fine. I am more curious if there is less of a chance of failure using the AFs or TCs over the OEM ones. I would think yes. But how much more? Eh…for a road vehicle only just don’t know.

 

[Devbot]

Thanks for the reply. Because this is a road only vehicle I think the OEM LBJ’s will more than likely suit me just fine. I am more curious if there is less of a chance of failure using the AFs or TCs over the OEM ones. I would think yes. But how much more? Eh…for a road vehicle only just don’t know.

In the event of a ball dislocating from the socket, I couldn't see that being a problem due to how uniballs are designed. However the vast majority of LBJ failures are due to bolts shearing for various reasons, which neither of the three options would help you with
Total Chaos also include a little cup type deal machined on the top of the housing which is supposed to help redirect shock into the steering spindle but I'm not sure how well of a job that does (I mean if that was a solution, I don't see why Toyota wouldn't have done that 20 years ago when they faced a massive recall on their most popular vehicle due to ball joint failures?) TC also claims that their LBJs are designed to help reduce stress on tie rods somehow and prolong their life, but I've yet to have that be a problem (and in order to run them on a 4Runner, you have to use Tacoma tie rods, which is even more money spent on them)
Idk, I can't find myself to say too many nice things about them; TC uploaded a video on this conversion a while back and I noticed lots of people in the comments having interest but complaining about the $1000 price tag - so i tried informing others about AF's set that's half the price and cheaper to rebuild... but all my replies mysteriously vanished after a few seconds because TC had the balls to flag/filter the words "Anonymous Fabrication" in their comment section so nobody could talk about the competition - even though Josh had the idea first and did it before them. That personally rubbed me the real wrong way to say the least, so I can't find myself recommending them to anyone for that reason. That's just shady as hell and a shitty way to run a business if you ask me

 

[2000se]

Wow.. that does sound out of line Devbot. I appreciate this insight. I was apart of the official Toyota LBJ recall and 'gulp' have had them on ever since. This will be the first change. I am so nervous now thinking of what would have happened if they were to have failed on me speeding down the highway. Can't wait to get a set of new ones on.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Wow.. that does sound out of line Devbot. I appreciate this insight. I was apart of the official Toyota LBJ recall and 'gulp' have had them on ever since. This will be the first change. I am so nervous now thinking of what would have happened if they were to have failed on me speeding down the highway. Can't wait to get a set of new ones on.

Thankfully when driving straight they hold up fine. The killer is sharp turns, like a u-turn. In fact, it was a u-turn where I saw one of the LBJ's fail on a Tacoma here in town. He was about 3/4 of the way through the u-turn and pop! Wheel comes off and folds under the truck. What happens is the grease runs out and then on a very sharp turn the ball joint binds up and snaps off. It can't really do that going fast on the freeway.