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

any updates on the progress of this project?

Need to swap out my lowers right now and would like to go uniball...

Was your earlier price quote(575-650) for the pair?
 
poopypants said:
any updates on the progress of this project?

Need to swap out my lowers right now and would like to go uniball...

Was your earlier price quote(575-650) for the pair?
Click to expand...

$575 is for the pair but things are on hold right now. I am having difficulties finding a cnc machinist that will produce such a small run without wanting way too much for them. I am working as fast as I can on getting them done and ready for purchase but I also have a full time job, other jobs in my shop, am moving cities as well as all of life's other riddles so everyone please bear with me. I am doing most all that I can. Thanks for the support and appreciate everyones patience.
 
Z-4runner said:
$575 is for the pair but things are on hold right now. I am having difficulties finding a cnc machinist that will produce such a small run without wanting way too much for them. I am working as fast as I can on getting them done and ready for purchase but I also have a full time job, other jobs in my shop, am moving cities as well as all of life's other riddles so everyone please bear with me. I am doing most all that I can. Thanks for the support and appreciate everyones patience.
Click to expand...

I PM you. Not to be annoying lol. But I WANT THESE !

Quick question, to replace the uniball. Is it difficult and is it some kinda special uniball ?
 
kolelt said:
I PM you. Not to be annoying lol. But I WANT THESE !

Quick question, to replace the uniball. Is it difficult and is it some kinda special uniball ?
Click to expand...

To replace the uniball you remove a snap ring and can tap with a rubber mallet or a small press to get it out and then anti-seize the new one and lightly tap or press the new one in. Should only take an hour max per side.
 
Z-4runner said:
$575 is for the pair but things are on hold right now. I am having difficulties finding a cnc machinist that will produce such a small run without wanting way too much for them. I am working as fast as I can on getting them done and ready for purchase but I also have a full time job, other jobs in my shop, am moving cities as well as all of life's other riddles so everyone please bear with me. I am doing most all that I can. Thanks for the support and appreciate everyones patience.
Click to expand...

Are you going to remain in CA?
 
Z-4runner said:
To replace the uniball you remove a snap ring and can tap with a rubber mallet or a small press to get it out and then anti-seize the new one and lightly tap or press the new one in. Should only take an hour max per side.
Click to expand...

Sounds easy :). I'm still waiting on mine !!
 
Sorry if I missed this somewhere in the 8 pages prior, but wouldn't these have to be replaced regularly anyways?
It's recommended to do your LBJs every 100k-150k, but some people's originals last till 350k (like StreetCreeper), so there's no set 'time' to replace. It's more preventative than anything else.
So with these, we'd just run them until they break, pretty much? (obviously watch for wear and stress while using)
It just seems to me you'd want to replace these pretty regularly too, just in case. Not worth risking rebuilding the whole front end just to find out how long they last, especially if OEM already has varying levels of longevity.
 
AntleredRuin said:
Sorry if I missed this somewhere in the 8 pages prior, but wouldn't these have to be replaced regularly anyways?
It's recommended to do your LBJs every 100k-150k, but some people's originals last till 350k (like StreetCreeper), so there's no set 'time' to replace. It's more preventative than anything else.
So with these, we'd just run them until they break, pretty much? (obviously watch for wear and stress while using)
It just seems to me you'd want to replace these pretty regularly too, just in case. Not worth risking rebuilding the whole front end just to find out how long they last, especially if OEM already has varying levels of longevity.
Click to expand...

Uniball, is a lot stronger then OEM design. ALOT! They require more maintance. Because they are open to elements. But besides the point. I'd take a uniball over OEM design when off roading. Also it's easy to replace the uniball and you will know when it will go bad. It will have play. That said, most aftermarket quality UCA use uniball. Because it's stronger. And this design is more towards people who lift and wheel. So even though some people have ran the OEM ball joints for long period of time. Most off roaders would prefer to use uniball design. I'll off road hard and beat the piss out of the suspension then just continue driving like nothing happened.
 
Last edited:
Ok, the ability to tell it's going bad was my biggest concern. It just seemed to me that if you couldn't tell, you'd have to replace it as preventative maintenance anyway, and then you might as well stick with OEM.
If you can easily tell, though, then that makes sense.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
 
AntleredRuin said:
Ok, the ability to tell it's going bad was my biggest concern. It just seemed to me that if you couldn't tell, you'd have to replace it as preventative maintenance anyway, and then you might as well stick with OEM.
If you can easily tell, though, then that makes sense.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Either way. Uniball is way stronger then OEM. So.... Yea choose what you want. But I like stronger
 
frm_808 said:
They can pop out of the sockets they sit in


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

JBurt said:
Someone with more experience chime in here, but when uniballs fail they don't separate, right?
Click to expand...

A uni-ball can pop out just like a heim joint. I have yet to ever see that happen, and hearing about that is pretty rare as well. I personally don't think that anybody will abuse a 4runner enough for that to happen either.

Failure for a uni-ball usually means the ball has excessive play in it. If the ball gets worm down from dirt being ground into it you'll get play in it. Being that this is in the LBJ that's going to happen faster then UCA's. To help prevent failure these will need to be cleaned a lot more than UCA's. and I'd also use some dry lube on them.
 
MStudt said:
A uni-ball can pop out just like a heim joint. I have yet to ever see that happen, and hearing about that is pretty rare as well. I personally don't think that anybody will abuse a 4runner enough for that to happen either.

Failure for a uni-ball usually means the ball has excessive play in it. If the ball gets worm down from dirt being ground into it you'll get play in it. Being that this is in the LBJ that's going to happen faster then UCA's. To help prevent failure these will need to be cleaned a lot more than UCA's. and I'd also use some dry lube on them.
Click to expand...

:) plus, look at the trucks that are extreme off roading. They have HEIM joints and uniball a all over
 
AntleredRuin said:
Sorry if I missed this somewhere in the 8 pages prior, but wouldn't these have to be replaced regularly anyways?
It's recommended to do your LBJs every 100k-150k, but some people's originals last till 350k (like StreetCreeper), so there's no set 'time' to replace. It's more preventative than anything else.
So with these, we'd just run them until they break, pretty much? (obviously watch for wear and stress while using)
It just seems to me you'd want to replace these pretty regularly too, just in case. Not worth risking rebuilding the whole front end just to find out how long they last, especially if OEM already has varying levels of longevity.
Click to expand...

These will need to be replaced once there is a noticeable amount of slop, which you will hear. The advantage of these over stock is that when they start to go they will not pull out of the socket like the standard ball joint does. I would love to see some pics from people who say this can happen, along with the back story because there was some foul play involved. The amount of time that would take to wear down the stainless socket the ball sits in is just pure gross negligence on the drivers part, and frankly they deserve to total the vehicle if they ignore that noise for that long. These will need to be checked, cleaned and lubed just like a ball joint would (but with a dry film graphite, not grease).

And even if they lasted the same amount of time as a standard ball joint, my whole mission behind this is peace of mind of not losing your rig to the trail.

As far as updates, problems with knee surgery, my shop being 100 miles away, moving all my stuff and looking for work are really eating all of my time. I have been working with some CNC shops but most want way to much due to the smaller runs I would like to do. I will update further if anything new happens but for now these are a little bit on the back burner for me.
 
kolelt said:
Either way. Uniball is way stronger then OEM. So.... Yea choose what you want. But I like stronger
Click to expand...

I believe this is an unfounded assertion and a bit irresponsible to claim, considering the safety issue here.

It's pretty and it potentially provides greater range of motion. But it's still a ball resting in an open-bottomed hole a little bit smaller than the ball. And in fact it's worse because it's naked open to the elements as it is now.

Even if it were fully booted, you still couldn't claim its stronger, because there are no statistics of 300,000 vehicles running for 200,000 miles each to compare against.

Show me 1000, or even just 100 20 year old uniball 4runners (where the weight of the truck rests ON the ball), and show me that X% of the 20 year old uniball trucks failed vs Y% of the oem trucks, and that the X was significantly less than the Y, and THEN you can say it's "stronger"

100 20 year old uniballs on 4runners do not exist.
 
bkw said:
I believe this is an unfounded assertion and a bit irresponsible to claim, considering the safety issue here.

It's pretty and it potentially provides greater range of motion. But it's still a ball resting in an open-bottomed hole a little bit smaller than the ball. And in fact it's worse because it's naked open to the elements as it is now.

Even if it were fully booted, you still couldn't claim its stronger, because there are no statistics of 300,000 vehicles running for 200,000 miles each to compare against.

Show me 1000, or even just 100 20 year old uniball 4runners (where the weight of the truck rests ON the ball), and show me that X% of the 20 year old uniball trucks failed vs Y% of the oem trucks, and that the X was significantly less than the Y, and THEN you can say it's "stronger"

100 20 year old uniballs on 4runners do not exist.
Click to expand...

No but there are thousands of these: Let me google that for you

The Uni-ball is stronger. The down side is exposure to the elements so they require being replaced more. Even if it fails they won't separate. You'll know they are bad well before that.

Ball and socket style? They will just explode. Id never run a set over 100k ever. Period. Mine blew with only 120k on my tacoma.
 
Blackdawg said:
No but there are thousands of these: Let me google that for you

The Uni-ball is stronger. The down side is exposure to the elements so they require being replaced more. Even if it fails they won't separate. You'll know they are bad well before that.

Ball and socket style? They will just explode. Id never run a set over 100k ever. Period. Mine blew with only 120k on my tacoma.
Click to expand...

That just shows that an upside down ball with all the weight hanging from the open side instead of sitting in the closed side, is dangerous. I think we all already knew that.

It does not show that uniball is in any way better in that respect. (It may be better in some other respect, like range of motion, and so if that happens to be what you need most, then in that particular context it is "better". But that's not "stronger")

Thus, unfounded assertion.

Perhaps you should google that term, now that you have discovered google.
 
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