patrickufkes
New member
Been stalking these forums for years and gleaned tons of super useful info for various projects on the 5 T4Rs we have in the family. Figured I'd finally make a post as I wasn't able to find a post of this nature prior to buying/installing these UCAs since they're relatively new on the market.
Background: had COVID these past couple weeks and was out of work. Stumbled across some TC UCAs on craigslist early on in the process. They ultimately got sold before I made a decision on them and I ended up with many days of research and waffling on different UCA options for the 4th gen.
I have a 2006 V6 Sport with 139k, has toytec springs and bilstein 5100s up front.
Was very close to purchasing the JBA UCAs but ultimately decided not to after my research concluded that they would contact my coil spring at full droop. Stock UCAs were a couple millimeters from contact but didn't contact, figured it wasn't worth going through the hassle of installing UCAs to introduce a new problem to my rig that wasn't there before. Didn't like all the adjustability of the SPCs and they're nowadays a couple hundred more than the JBAs and I'd also read stories of failures in the forums.
Ended up going with the newish OME UCAs and went into it sort of blind as there's not a lot of info on the forums about them. Was able to find some stuff on a LC forum that eased my mind enough to risk it. Plus bought them on amazon so worst case I could always send them back.
Part number is UCA004 and they work for 2003+ 4runners. Got them for $560 with prime shipping and they arrived quite quickly I think 3-4 days.
Some people had mentioned that they were similar to other brands of UCA on the market and wondered if these were a re-brand of another manufacturer's product. I found these Poly performance ones and based on the photos they appear identical save the powdercoating and little zerk fitting cap. Even the product descriptions are quite similar. Both descriptions are fairly vague about what ball joint they use.
Please Wait... | Cloudflare
Initial unboxing, they were packed and shipped very well with tons of protection. The powder coating is very high quality. The little OME sticker not so much... almost falling off when I first pulled them out but oh well, didn't buy them for the sticker.
Install was straightforward and surprisingly easy.
Notes from install that I can recall off the top of my head.
-The washers on the long stud bolt that connect the UCA to the frame stay in their original orientation and position relative to the bushings. Results in a small space between the edge of the bushing and the washer that wasn't there with the OE bushings but doesn't seem to affect anything.
-Some people reported having to bend the angle between the mounting bushings on the OME UCAs a few MM wider to fit the bushings into the bracket. Mine slid right in and fit great.
-Dont torque the long bolt until the weight of the car is on the suspension, this is relatively easy to do once the tires are back on. However there was only enough space to tighten one click at a time and getting to 85 ft-lbs takes some patience and strength. May be easier with a higher quality torque wrench.
-The long bolt slides in front to back of vehicle, in order to get a wrench on the nut for this bolt (rearward portion of the bolt) I had to remove two 12mm bolts that held brackets to the frame for ABS lines. Once you remove the bolts you can shimmy them out of the way enough to get your wrench in there. Leave these unbolted until you've made your final torque adjustments.
-The ABS speed sensor line has a bracket that bolts to the rearward arm of the UCA. You need to be careful no to put too much tension on this line during removal and installation.
-If you just bolt this bracket to the new UCA it results in an angle that puts new tension on the line. I bent the inner portion of the bracket a few MM using a channel lock which allowed me to install the bracket rotated a few degrees in a manner that relieved the tension on the line that runs through the bracket.
-There is a little aluminum cap/dust cover with an Emu logo on it that goes on top of the ball joint. There is a provided hex screw to secure it in place. This goes into the same threads as the zerk fitting so need to remove the zerk fitting to screw it in. There is a little indent on the backside of the dust cap to store the zerk fitting when not in use but it does not fit in there securely. I just taped it in with electrical tape and once the hex screw is tightened it is held in place between the cap and the top of the ball joint.
I ended up calling ARB to ask about the ball joint greasing. Per the technical rep that I talked to:
-The ball joints are pre-greased from the factory and do not need to be greased at installation.
-He recommended greasing the ball joints approximately every other oil change which seems reasonable.
Alignment:After install I asked the alignment tech for between 3.5-4 deg of caster. He ended up aligning it twice trying to get it above 3.5 and said he was unable to, if he adjusted the caster it threw the other measurements too far out of whack. Ended up with 3.3 and 3.5 which I am happy with. The last alignment with the previous owner and stock UCAs maxed out caster at 1.2 and 1.1.
Other than that they have been silent for the handful of miles I've driven on them. Truck drives a little better, but I also replaced inner and outer tie rods and sway bar bushings and links at the same time so tough to tell what exactly made the difference.
New UCAs do no contact my coil at full droop. See photos below. There is more space than I had with stock UCAs.
Feel free to fire away any other questions you guys may have. Overall I am happy with the purchase and install was straightforward/uncomplicated following write-ups/videos that I was able to find easily.
Background: had COVID these past couple weeks and was out of work. Stumbled across some TC UCAs on craigslist early on in the process. They ultimately got sold before I made a decision on them and I ended up with many days of research and waffling on different UCA options for the 4th gen.
I have a 2006 V6 Sport with 139k, has toytec springs and bilstein 5100s up front.
Was very close to purchasing the JBA UCAs but ultimately decided not to after my research concluded that they would contact my coil spring at full droop. Stock UCAs were a couple millimeters from contact but didn't contact, figured it wasn't worth going through the hassle of installing UCAs to introduce a new problem to my rig that wasn't there before. Didn't like all the adjustability of the SPCs and they're nowadays a couple hundred more than the JBAs and I'd also read stories of failures in the forums.
Ended up going with the newish OME UCAs and went into it sort of blind as there's not a lot of info on the forums about them. Was able to find some stuff on a LC forum that eased my mind enough to risk it. Plus bought them on amazon so worst case I could always send them back.
Part number is UCA004 and they work for 2003+ 4runners. Got them for $560 with prime shipping and they arrived quite quickly I think 3-4 days.
Some people had mentioned that they were similar to other brands of UCA on the market and wondered if these were a re-brand of another manufacturer's product. I found these Poly performance ones and based on the photos they appear identical save the powdercoating and little zerk fitting cap. Even the product descriptions are quite similar. Both descriptions are fairly vague about what ball joint they use.
Please Wait... | Cloudflare
Initial unboxing, they were packed and shipped very well with tons of protection. The powder coating is very high quality. The little OME sticker not so much... almost falling off when I first pulled them out but oh well, didn't buy them for the sticker.
Install was straightforward and surprisingly easy.
Notes from install that I can recall off the top of my head.
-The washers on the long stud bolt that connect the UCA to the frame stay in their original orientation and position relative to the bushings. Results in a small space between the edge of the bushing and the washer that wasn't there with the OE bushings but doesn't seem to affect anything.
-Some people reported having to bend the angle between the mounting bushings on the OME UCAs a few MM wider to fit the bushings into the bracket. Mine slid right in and fit great.
-Dont torque the long bolt until the weight of the car is on the suspension, this is relatively easy to do once the tires are back on. However there was only enough space to tighten one click at a time and getting to 85 ft-lbs takes some patience and strength. May be easier with a higher quality torque wrench.
-The long bolt slides in front to back of vehicle, in order to get a wrench on the nut for this bolt (rearward portion of the bolt) I had to remove two 12mm bolts that held brackets to the frame for ABS lines. Once you remove the bolts you can shimmy them out of the way enough to get your wrench in there. Leave these unbolted until you've made your final torque adjustments.
-The ABS speed sensor line has a bracket that bolts to the rearward arm of the UCA. You need to be careful no to put too much tension on this line during removal and installation.
-If you just bolt this bracket to the new UCA it results in an angle that puts new tension on the line. I bent the inner portion of the bracket a few MM using a channel lock which allowed me to install the bracket rotated a few degrees in a manner that relieved the tension on the line that runs through the bracket.
-There is a little aluminum cap/dust cover with an Emu logo on it that goes on top of the ball joint. There is a provided hex screw to secure it in place. This goes into the same threads as the zerk fitting so need to remove the zerk fitting to screw it in. There is a little indent on the backside of the dust cap to store the zerk fitting when not in use but it does not fit in there securely. I just taped it in with electrical tape and once the hex screw is tightened it is held in place between the cap and the top of the ball joint.
I ended up calling ARB to ask about the ball joint greasing. Per the technical rep that I talked to:
-The ball joints are pre-greased from the factory and do not need to be greased at installation.
-He recommended greasing the ball joints approximately every other oil change which seems reasonable.
Alignment:After install I asked the alignment tech for between 3.5-4 deg of caster. He ended up aligning it twice trying to get it above 3.5 and said he was unable to, if he adjusted the caster it threw the other measurements too far out of whack. Ended up with 3.3 and 3.5 which I am happy with. The last alignment with the previous owner and stock UCAs maxed out caster at 1.2 and 1.1.
Other than that they have been silent for the handful of miles I've driven on them. Truck drives a little better, but I also replaced inner and outer tie rods and sway bar bushings and links at the same time so tough to tell what exactly made the difference.
New UCAs do no contact my coil at full droop. See photos below. There is more space than I had with stock UCAs.
Feel free to fire away any other questions you guys may have. Overall I am happy with the purchase and install was straightforward/uncomplicated following write-ups/videos that I was able to find easily.
