-----Lower Ball Joint- Uniball Conversion-----

[Z-4runner]

I'll slap them on my rig and do some testing for you. In Alabama - no snow/salt worries.

Those welds are downright delicious!||

Thanks man. They are going up for pre-sale right now. I will choose 5 people based on rig, amount and aggressiveness of offroading, terrain and part of the country. I am trying to cover all my bases. The final production run will be between 575 and 650, with the pre-sale being slightly cheaper. If anyone is interested send a DM with pics of your rig and some back story.

Sub'd.

They look great! Some of you actually think it was welded with the uniball installed? Yet you know so much about what is not being done right. Heat treat is not the problem with the weld and heat affected zone...Its annealing that is needed at times...not heat treat. The welded area is harder thaan the rest of the material and can crack, so annealing is a heat process, but also a COOLING process that makes the welded area more consistant to the rest of the material
BTW z-4runner I have some oem cores that were going in the scrap pile

Well said, and please don't scrap the cores! DM me and I'll pay shipping.

I'm down to run these if they end up in my price range.

Have they been on the truck yet? I'm itching for some perf updates........

I've had them on my rig for about a month. I've hit holes (that I didn't mean to), stripped out the internals of my steering rack, knocked it out of alignment pretty good and there isn't a single sign of an issue. I am more than confident in them and am going to sell them. There aren't really any performance gains, just strength gains. No chance of catastrophic failure.

Let's get some info on them as soon as we can! I think I speak for everyone when I say that we want these on our rigs.

If anyone is on Facebook, I have a thread on the 3rd Gen 4runner Mafia page. I will post an update here as soon as I get my laptop back, forgot it at home and went to my grandparents for a week.

 

[kolelt]

Keep us updated, hit us with the price !!

 

[Z-4runner]

I am doing a drawing for the first pre-production run of 5. I will be choosing 5 different rigs based on specs, amount of trail time, difficulty of trails, and the type of terrain you encounter the most. If you feel that you are a good candidate for this pre-sale please post some pics with the information above. The final price will be between $575 - $650 plus a $25 core charge, depending on what this 5 set time study shows and the use of consumables. The pre-sale will be $575 with a $25 core charge on top, that will be refunded once I receive the cores back I will refund the core charge. The price includes everything that is needed to install. 2 Grade 8 main bolts, both 17-4 Stainless Steel spacers to adapt the uniball to the lower arm, 2 FK uniballs with snap rings, and the both forged pieces to accept the uniball. The original 10mm bolts that bolt up to the spindle will be reused. They will be sent raw so choice of finish is up to you. Once I build the first five I will be offering these first come first serve, but most likely in batches. That all depends on how many cores I can get on top of the core returns from buying them so if anyone has some old ones lying around I will pay shipping and then some. They fit in a flat rate shipping box from the post office.

If the price turns anyone away then that fine by me. I dont need to hear how its cheaper just to replace the stock ball joints more often, because if thats the route you wish to take then take it. I am not forcing anyone to buy these. Thanks everyone for the support and any stock cores that you may have. If anyone has any question feel free to ask.

One last note, I will not be giving any of these away so you can slap these on your sicky gnar bro-runner and do me a favor by testing them out. I have had these on my rig for about a month now and have done all the bashing that I need to to trust these bad boys.

 

[kolelt]

If testing goes all good. You'll be accepting orders. Correct ?

Do you have any ideas of how to improve the product or do you think it's as good as it's going to get ?

How long will testing last ?

Are the uniballs same as the ones on the aftermarket UCA ? So it's simple to get a hold of new uniballs?

 

[Z-4runner]

If testing goes all good. You'll be accepting orders. Correct ?

Do you have any ideas of how to improve the product or do you think it's as good as it's going to get ?

How long will testing last ?

Are the uniballs same as the ones on the aftermarket UCA ? So it's simple to get a hold of new uniballs?

I will be accepting orders, and that will happen sooner the more cores that I receive before I start production.
As far as improving as for right now its as good as its going to get. Keeping the uniball clean and using a dry film is what will keep the uniball as long as possible. Is there something that you find inadequate about it?
Testing is over, ive been bashing them and another person that I have made a set for has been going above and beyond in abusing them and they are holding up great.
The uniball is a 1" uniball and can be bought from any offroad parts store. I suggest using the FK WSSX 1" uniball. Its a good uniball at a good price, you can definitely go with a different brand but the kits will come with the FK.

 

[RTB Runner]

Z-4Runner ...... saw you post on the 3rd Gen Mafia Group and you had mentioned an upcoming LC? Any info you can give us on that? A possible price target range and release? I assume they'll use a uni-ball as well?

 

[Hepar]

Sub'd!

Exactly! When you leave the install in the end users hands things are out of your control. When things fail a lot of people want to point fingers rather than figuring out what really happened.

We would solve so many issues and headaches if we could change this mentality in this country.

 

[Z-4runner]

Z-4Runner ...... saw you post on the 3rd Gen Mafia Group and you had mentioned an upcoming LC? Any info you can give us on that? A possible price target range and release? I assume they'll use a uni-ball as well?

Yea, right now its just an idea. I need to source a used lower arm that isnt beat up and out of whack but I havent actually made any steps towards a design. It would be a direct bolt in replacement. As far as the taper I would offer one for people who already have the lower uniball to ditch the tapered adapter and run a different lower spacer so it would just use a straight 5/8" bolt, and also offer an arm with the correct taper for people still running ball joints. Although this project is way on down the line.

 

[Z-4runner]

This is what over $200 gets you. Ill tell you it was worth the money for sure. The first set was reamed out with a boring bar on the mill and took about 45 minutes per piece due to the interrupted cut and having to indicate the mill square with the cup.



This is the cutting fixture and the quality of cut. Once I receive a few more cores I will start cutting. I am hoping that with all of the fixturing that the turn around will be as quick as it possibly could be.







The uniball cup drops right in for a nice fit. With a little bit of grind work to make sure that the root pass grabs nice and deep they are about ready to weld.

 

[kolelt]

Are you going to be using OEM arm ?

 

[Z-4runner]

Are you going to be using OEM arm ?

The Uniball conversion works with the OEM arms, yes. Is that what you meant?

 

[kolelt]

Sorry, I meant the part that holds the uniball. Is that part OEM .... The part that you weld the whole uniball.

 

[Z-4runner]

Sorry, I meant the part that holds the uniball. Is that part OEM .... The part that you weld the whole uniball.

The forged piece that I weld the uniball cup to is the OEM part, or an aftermarket part if thats the core I get. Both are very good quality material. The Uniball cup itself is 4130 chromoly.

 

[kolelt]

Got you sir. Again, id be all over this if I had a longer off road history. And having a broken neck with c4-t1 fused isn't going to let me to test these bad boys out.

I'd like to PM you and send you a email of a idea I have for a dust boot. And I'd like your opinion and maybe you could Incorporate it somehow in future.

 

[Z-4runner]

Got you sir. Again, id be all over this if I had a longer off road history. And having a broken neck with c4-t1 fused isn't going to let me to test these bad boys out.

I'd like to PM you and send you a email of a idea I have for a dust boot. And I'd like your opinion and maybe you could Incorporate it somehow in future.

Yea sounds good. Shoot me a message and ill definitely look into any ideas you've got :thumb3:

 

[bajallama]

Really liking this thread. This definitely seems like the fix. The welds look amazing, but its usually never the weld that breaks. Whats the edge distance to that hole from the cut edge? That would be the only concern I have since that line is going to have the highest heat propagation. Also it is welded in that jig or just tacked and transferred to a steel one later? After weld it probably wants to pull up.

Good job though man, I've been racking my brain on this problem and I keep coming back to this as a solution. Cast some sweet little rubber boots and it's OEM.

 

[Z-4runner]

Really liking this thread. This definitely seems like the fix. The welds look amazing, but its usually never the weld that breaks. Whats the edge distance to that hole from the cut edge? That would be the only concern I have since that line is going to have the highest heat propagation. Also it is welded in that jig or just tacked and transferred to a steel one later? After weld it probably wants to pull up.

Good job though man, I've been racking my brain on this problem and I keep coming back to this as a solution. Cast some sweet little rubber boots and it's OEM.

Thanks. Do you mean the bolt holes from the edge? Either way the most likely place the weld will fail will be at the edge of each piece where its welded to the unibal cup. But I got multiple passes and a nice wide weave in there.

It is also welded in a steel plate fixture but there is no pulling since it is welded both top and bottom 95% in the fixture and then just popped out and finished up. The aluminum fixture is just for cutting out the old ball joint.

 

[SnowLizard]

well I'm convinced...

that when my new OEM lower ball joints have 50k miles, and these are still offered, I'll be coming to you for some uniball ones...

I just bought new ones, so I should use them... I'll keep my old ones (probably originals) for future mod.

keep up the great work! look forward to what else you can do!

 

[Z-4runner]

well I'm convinced...

that when my new OEM lower ball joints have 50k miles, and these are still offered, I'll be coming to you for some uniball ones...

I just bought new ones, so I should use them... I'll keep my old ones (probably originals) for future mod.

keep up the great work! look forward to what else you can do!

Yea I wouldnt throw away new ones, just check regularly. Let me know when your in need of a set. :thumb3:

 

[Z-4runner]

A small update.. Found out shipping from Canada is about double what it is in the states, roughly $20-$30 but I'll know exact amount once they are shipped. That opens up the market for you guys up north.


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