Replace upper ball joint or entire control arm?

[brianhuntRVA]

I noticed one of my upper ball joints is leaking grease. I probably already know the answer to this but: Should I replace just the ball joint or replace the upper control arms on both sides? I have approx. 2.5"-3" of lift up front so my alignment is not exactly where it should be anyway.

Also I have read that Light Racing and SPC upper control arms are the same. Is this true? How difficult/time consuming is the replacement?

 

[fdbyrne]

I really can't speak for what you should do about your ball joint since I don't have a lift or know anything about them.

I can say that swapping out the upper control arm is really easy. It's so much easier than the lower. One long bolt and one nut holding it on. No way to mess it up really.

 

[Park]

Im about to do an UBJ swap on my 3rd gen. Im not sure how similar our control arms are but in my case it is much easier and affordable to simply replace the ball joint. You will need to press it out but fortunately you can rent kits from most auto part stores.

Here is the write up I am using. Again, I dont know the differences between the control arms but I assume it would be a similar process.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/162849-3rd-gen-upper-ball-joints-ubj-easy-way.html

 

[dchild]

If you can afford it, replace the entire UCAs. My lift was smaller than yours and the additional caster was very welcome.

Yes, SPC arms are the same as Light Racing. I am unsure of the details but I believe SPC acquired Light Racing or at least some of their IP. Be advised that some have reported issues with welds failing on the LR/SPC UCA's; the company claims to have fixed this in more recent generations. Many (including myself) have run them with no issues.

Don't expect alignment shops to touch the UCAs, at least not for the standard alignment price. I recommend setting the caster adjustment one click higher (more caster) than the instructions say when you install. Also there is a large nut (32mm IIRC) to torque so make sure you have a big socket; an adjustable wrench will get it tight enough to go buy a socket though.

 

[robaroni]

It took me about 3 hours to replace both sides while drinking beer and watching the NFL draft in my garage. Pretty easy and you feel extra manly afterwards. Just watched a video on YouTube first.

 

[brianhuntRVA]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'll just bite the bullet on a new set of uca's. I found a video online and it looks pretty straightforward. Dang, just when I thought I was done replacing suspension parts...

 

[brianhuntRVA]

As a third possible option, what about replacing just the boot? Looks like you can get OEM boot kit for under $10. Assuming the joint is still ok, any downside to this?