Upper Control Arms - Camburg or SPC

[2018SilverRunner]

Hello all, I am new to the forum and also new to owning a 2018 TRD Off-Road 4Runner w/KDSS. My wife and I purchased it last Saturday so we have owned it for a little over a week now. I am looking into suspension and I figure on such a nice truck, I might as well do it right the first time. Go big or go home. I am looking at King coilovers and shocks, Toytech rear springs, differential drop and also some kind of upper control arms. I am leaning towards the uniball Camburg upper arms just because I like most things made by them and they seem like a pretty stand up company. Possibly looking at the balljoint upper arms as they are quieter and less maintenance. I have also been looking at the SPC racing arms. I like the adjustability but that could also be a downfall. I would like to have a simpler design - less to go wrong/loosen. Any input is greatly appreciated. I know there are other designs such as Total Chaos, Dirt king, Icon etc but they are all $$.

 

[o9T4R]

I went from Total Chaos UCA's to SPC's recently. They squeaked like crazy and required to much maintenance. I have not noticed any difference off road with the uniball and SPC's except how much quieter they are.

 

[2018SilverRunner]

I went from Total Chaos UCA's to SPC's recently. They squeaked like crazy and required to much maintenance. I have not noticed any difference off road with the uniball and SPC's except how much quieter they are.

do you still have your Total Chaos arms or did you get rid of them?

 

[o9T4R]

do you still have your Total Chaos arms or did you get rid of them?

Sold'em

 

[Taco bill]

I might as well do it right the first time. Go big or go home.

Camburg uniball, hands down. Do it once, do it right.

If you wanna be a mall crawler and can't handle a tiny bit of maintenance, Camburg also makes a ball joint arm.

There's really no comparison. Camburg engineers and builds race proven suspensions and trophy trucks. SPC is a budget parts seller.

 

[2018SilverRunner]

That's what I was thinking. the King's with the Camburg arms should perform pretty damn good. It will mainly be the wife's dd but on weekends and stuff it will be our camping/hunting/family car.

I like the adjustability of the SPC but at the same time it is more stuff to loosen and mess up.

 

[jonb2]

Ours is our daily driver and have been using the SPC arms for about a year and half with no problems at all. Reasonably priced and works well. Adjustments were easy. Mainly purchased because I raised the front about 2.5" and the caster was too low. Fixed the problem and rides great.

 

[empty403]

Hello all, I am new to the forum and also new to owning a 2018 TRD Off-Road 4Runner w/KDSS. My wife and I purchased it last Saturday so we have owned it for a little over a week now. I am looking into suspension and I figure on such a nice truck, I might as well do it right the first time. Go big or go home. I am looking at King coilovers and shocks, Toytech rear springs, differential drop and also some kind of upper control arms. I am leaning towards the uniball Camburg upper arms just because I like most things made by them and they seem like a pretty stand up company. Possibly looking at the balljoint upper arms as they are quieter and less maintenance. I have also been looking at the SPC racing arms. I like the adjustability but that could also be a downfall. I would like to have a simpler design - less to go wrong/loosen. Any input is greatly appreciated. I know there are other designs such as Total Chaos, Dirt king, Icon etc but they are all $$.

For UCAs, all will eventually squeak due to the sleeves rotating in the poly bushings - they need to be greased from time to time. I use synthetic marine grease in mine called "Green Grease". I haven't had any bushing squeaks. Uniballs are stronger than balljoints but also require more maintenance and will also eventually make noise. If you plan on doing high speed desert runs get uniballs.

SPCs are not gusseted where the arms meet the bushing housing and they use the weaker balljoint. Some have also had theirs rub their tires. The Icon steel UCAs with the new Delta Joint is a good compromise between a uniball and a balljoint. However, if you live in an area with snowy winters, get balljoints. Imo, Camburgs with balljoints are better than the SPCs. FYI, well designed UCAs corrects the camber and not castor. As you lift the vehicle, the wheels end up with a positive camber, on an IFS.

For a 3" front lift you don't need a diff drop as the diff will only drop about 0.3" and not by 1". Any higher than 3", you are just sacrificing ride quality for looks. Filthymotorsports and King actually recommend a 2.5" lift for the best performance. I'd recommend getting the Kings coilovers with compression adjusters and rear shocks with the double bypass option. Get front springs anywhere from 550lbs to 650lbs - depends what your plans are for the front end (full steel bumper, winch and/or 2nd battery). Same goes for the rear. Medium rear springs are about 200lbs spring rate and heavy are 250-300lbs.

Since you have KDSS, you will not need swaybar relocation brackets.

Make sure to reset all your OEM bushings to the new lift height, otherwise they will prematurely fail/tear.

Go through Filthy Motorsports and they will provide you with the best advice and solution for your needs.

 

[Cndnmax]

Make sure to reset all your OEM bushings to the new lift height, otherwise they will prematurely fail/tear.

Can you elaborate?

 

[empty403]

Can you elaborate?

Because the collar inside the OEM bushings don’t rotate freely, they all need to be reset to the new ride height whether it was lowered or lifted.
While the vehicle suspension is settled, down on all tires and under its own weight, loosen and retighten all bolts to all bushings. There are OEM 22 bushings. Not resetting them is the main reason bushings tear if a vehicle is taken off-road, even just occasionally.

 

[2018SilverRunner]

I was thinking of going with the 600lb front springs on the king coilovers. I will never put a full bumper or winch or anything overly heavy but I would like the added spring rate. The rear bypass option is out of my price range. I am just going to get the rear shocks with adjusters. As far as the diff drop, some say it is just added security. It is only $30 so I will buy it and probably install it.

I live in an area where we typically get a decent amount of snow in the winter so I was thinking of going with the Camburg ball joint upper control arms. They seem like the best made and the company has been answering all my silly questions

 

[4RunnerINprogress]

I had Camburg Balljoints with my old 5th gen setup with Toytec/Bilstein lift and love them. I have Kings on order with Toytec rears and the same Camburg Balljoints on order for my new setup.