Upper Control Arm preference

kevinb_NJ

kevinb_NJ

Member
Hey all, I did a search to see if there was a thread here on the 5th Gen section but couldn’t come up with a comprehensive listing. What aftermarket ucas are people running with their lifts and do you have any preferences?

I have a mild 2” lift with bilstein 5100 and OME 2885 coils. No issues with rubbing or anything but I think the alignment could be better.

I’ve looked at Total Chaos, Icon, SPC, and Camburg. Any others I should consider?

Thanks!
 
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I'm in the same boat as you OP. About to go up to a 2.5" with Dobinson 302/325s. I've been reading a ton of various threads on here and a few Facebook groups about UCAs - it doesn't make it any easier to decide.

I'm strongly considering JBA UCAs. The price point is very appealing and it seems that maintenance is very straight forward (greasing the zerk every 10K). I'd check them out.
 
Another vote for JBA. JBA's are awesome! They use ball joints which are enclosed so you don't have quite the upkeep of a uniball setup. They really have a large range of motion for being an original ball joint setup. Great company, great communication through the buy process, all around great product, and super easy install. I have put these on several vehicles. Most recently on my 5th gen 4runner with Icon stage 2 lift and they work flawlessly! My lift is 3" Front/2" Rear... They would work no problem with your mild lift for sure! Hope that helps!
 
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Another vote for JBA here.

I've had them on for 2 years and 40k+ miles paired with Bilstein 6112 up front and 5160 with Icon 2" coils in the rear, with no issues at all. Lots of highway miles and fire roads, I don't do any hard wheeling.
 
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I think the question you'll have to answer is whether you want uniballs and/or rubber vs poly bushings. Then make the call on which UCA you want given those decisions.
 
I’ve only ever ran total chaos components on my Toyota’s and have never had a single issue that wasn’t my doing. Quality and service is second to none in my opinion. Wouldn’t go anywhere else.


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Will JBA allow you to reach that magical 4 degrees of caster?

Also being a ball joint is it better suited for winter environments and all the road salt and such?
 
I have Icon Delta Joints and I strongly recommend JBA's... haha

Nothing wrong with my icons... they have about 10K miles on them and no complaints, but for the price, quality, serviceability, and customer service you can't beat JBA. I wish I had gone that route and spend the extra money on something else.

I recently helped install a pair on my buddy's '16 limited and it went flawlessly. Real quality workmanship, great communication with the owner of JBA, and speedy delivery.

newbian said:
Will JBA allow you to reach that magical 4 degrees of caster?

Also being a ball joint is it better suited for winter environments and all the road salt and such?
Click to expand...

My buddy was also able to get 4 degrees of caster easily. As for winter serviceability, I can't imagine it would be any worse. If you end up needing a new ball joint, you can literally go down to autozone and pick up another. That's a big plus over the rest of the bunch.

Scroll down to the bottom of this link and see what I mean.

JBA upper ball joint replacement
 
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newbian said:
Will JBA allow you to reach that magical 4 degrees of caster?

Also being a ball joint is it better suited for winter environments and all the road salt and such?
Click to expand...


I was able to get 4.7 and 4.9 degrees for my caster numbers with JBA UCAs. Not sure about your second question. I would assume so though since it's more enclosed in a rubber boot.
 
I like what I've heard and seen about JBA in build quality and company-wise, but can anyone speak to the wheel size issue? He specifies on the site specific offsets and backspacing that should be used with aftermarket wheels or they might catch / rub / scrape the outer corner of the arm. Is this an issue with all UCAs because I've never seen it mentioned anywhere else.

I've been looking heavily at Dobinson's UCAs they're the only ones I'm aware of that use an OEM style ball joint that requires no maintenance / greasing. It seems like most of the flavors of UCA you can read about on this forum are decently designed / manufactured- the SPC and JBA are the most inexpensive, which I think is why they're most popular. That's not a comment on their manufacturing quality, just mentioning it.
 
mteolus said:
SPC here. No issues. Also didn't have to do a BMC with 285's.
Click to expand...

Same here.
Just be certain you can find a tech that is familiar with SPC adjustments or one that can read directions. I get my alignments done by a tech I trust at my dealership and alignment is perfect with no BMC needed with Nitto RG 285s.

I had Icon tubular UCA prior to the SPC and the Icons were a noisy and the return in the steering wheel was sluggish to boot.
 
JBA here with 4.1 caster, no idea if he could have gone more i just told him 4*, no experience with any other arms
 
newbian said:
Will JBA allow you to reach that magical 4 degrees of caster?

Also being a ball joint is it better suited for winter environments and all the road salt and such?
Click to expand...

After I installed them with my Eibach lift, the before alignment caster was over 5 deg.
 
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