Old Manu Emu upper control arms - anyone running these? They look easy to maintain

[chrissurfr]

Hey guys,

I ran Total Chaos UCAs on my old 4unner and want to make my life easier for the next one.

As I'm planning my build, I'm shopping around upper control arms that are easier to maintain.

These look appealing - who is running these? I plan to run them with extended travel kings.

UCA0004 - Old Man Emu Upper Control Arms - 03+ 4Runner / 07-14 FJ Cruiser/03+GX

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Captain Planet]

I went with JBA mostly because if the balljoint does take a shit, I can just replace it without a press. It just unbolts. Has grease zerks as well.

 

[4Person]

I installed them recently, but I’m still trying to dial in my lift so I haven’t had much time to check them out. Build quality seems great (to be expected from OME). They are greaseable and have a nice cap to cover the zirk. I reached out to OME to find out more info on recommended grease intervals and what kind of ball joint was used and they ghosted me. It’s possible that I greased them too much because I’m a bit newer to being a driveway mechanic.

The garage that I took it to for alignment couldn’t seem to get as much caster as I was hoping for, so my tires rub at the moment. I’m not sure it that’s the garage or the UCA. I’m planning to take to to a different garage to see what they can do.

Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful on it at this time, but I’ll update when I can.

 

[Tuco S.]

I reached out to OME to find out more info on recommended grease intervals and what kind of ball joint was used and they ghosted me.

Terrible sign if that's the case.

The garage that I took it to for alignment couldn’t seem to get as much caster as I was hoping for, so my tires rub at the moment. I’m not sure it that’s the garage or the UCA. I’m planning to take to to a different garage to see what they can do.

My guess is these probably don't have much if any more built-in caster than oem UCAs. Their marketing literature is almost intentionally vague on the subject...."You can expect between +2.5 to +3.5 degrees of caster with a 2 inch lift." Seriously? +2.5 degrees is below the oem range for acceptable caster. You should be able to get +3.5 degrees caster if not more with oem UCAs on a 2" lift.

 

[honda250xtitan]

Terrible sign if that's the case.



My guess is these probably don't have much if any more built-in caster than oem UCAs. Their marketing literature is almost intentionally vague on the subject...."You can expect between +2.5 to +3.5 degrees of caster with a 2 inch lift." Seriously? +2.5 degrees is below the oem range for acceptable caster. You should be able to get +3.5 degrees caster if not more with oem UCAs on a 2" lift.

this...if i'm buying uppers i'm specifically checking for added castor to account for lift.

 

[Jeremy556]

I installed them recently, but I’m still trying to dial in my lift so I haven’t had much time to check them out. Build quality seems great (to be expected from OME). They are greaseable and have a nice cap to cover the zirk. I reached out to OME to find out more info on recommended grease intervals and what kind of ball joint was used and they ghosted me. It’s possible that I greased them too much because I’m a bit newer to being a driveway mechanic.

The garage that I took it to for alignment couldn’t seem to get as much caster as I was hoping for, so my tires rub at the moment. I’m not sure it that’s the garage or the UCA. I’m planning to take to to a different garage to see what they can do.

You need to find a different shop to align it. They made your caster worse than when you came in, without making anything else better

That's too much grease, the boot needs to be sealed.

 

[4Person]

I just spoke with ARB over the phone and got some answers. They confirmed that there isn’t much published maintenance information available to the public at this time, so unfortunately I guess you’ll just have to take my word at this time if you are considering these UCAs.

They confirmed that there isn’t much additional caster incorporated in the design. +2.5-3.5 is what they are designed for and they wouldn’t recommend more than that. (So, that doesn’t exactly help me out a ton, but I’ll get another alignment from a different shop and see if I can get a little more than current.)

As far as maintenance, they recommend marine grade chassis grease every other oil change. The ball joint used is OEM and can be replaced with OEM. The tech didn’t know if OEM ball joints would have a removable zirk fitting though (so you can use the provided cap), so they also sell a replacement ball joint (part #UCASP0012).

And they didn’t think I damaged my boot from overfilling (shown above), so hopefully that is also correct in my case. I probably would have went with JBAs if my wheels didn’t have 4.75” backspacing, but I didn’t want to chance them rubbing on the UCAs. I’ll keep trying to make my setup work and provide some updates when I have them.

 

[Sullivanbrown]

I am also looking at the Old Man Emu upper control arms, and wanted to get an update from anyone who is using them. I just got a 2 inch OME suspension lift on '03 Sport with Toyo Open Country AT3 285/70r/17 tires. It rides great and the alignment is straight. A few have suggested UCA so I am looking. OME seem durable and low maintenance on the ball joints, and a good price.

 

[hawkcharmer]

Did you ever get this sorted? Im looking to purchase OME UCArms as well.. How are they holding up? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks

I just spoke with ARB over the phone and got some answers. They confirmed that there isn’t much published maintenance information available to the public at this time, so unfortunately I guess you’ll just have to take my word at this time if you are considering these UCAs.

They confirmed that there isn’t much additional caster incorporated in the design. +2.5-3.5 is what they are designed for and they wouldn’t recommend more than that. (So, that doesn’t exactly help me out a ton, but I’ll get another alignment from a different shop and see if I can get a little more than current.)

As far as maintenance, they recommend marine grade chassis grease every other oil change. The ball joint used is OEM and can be replaced with OEM. The tech didn’t know if OEM ball joints would have a removable zirk fitting though (so you can use the provided cap), so they also sell a replacement ball joint (part #UCASP0012).

And they didn’t think I damaged my boot from overfilling (shown above), so hopefully that is also correct in my case. I probably would have went with JBAs if my wheels didn’t have 4.75” backspacing, but I didn’t want to chance them rubbing on the UCAs. I’ll keep trying to make my setup work and provide some updates when I have them.

 

[AlumniCU]

Have them with OME lift, maybe 9 months. Alignment is great, no complaints. Haven’t greased them yet.


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