Dreaded_Marauder
New member
Being the mechanic I am I’ve seen lots of aftermarket control arms wear out very prematurely. I have never once recommended anyone with a Toyota ifs to get a pair. The price is extreme and they wear out before the factory does on the regular. You can get away with not installing a set really with no problem on a lifted application.
Now with that being said, I just installed a set of Icon tubular delta joint upper control arms on my 2018 TRDOR. I’ve got just over 68,000 miles and about 67,700 have been with it lifted on Bilstein 5100’s. For about 40,000 miles I ran them at 1.75” in the front and a 1” rear spacer first and then changed out for rear 1” springs. About 28,000 miles ago I brought the front up to 2.5 and changed the rear springs for bilstein 400lb 1.5”.
I am obsessed with this vehicle and have always maintained it and driven it with care. Being a mechanic with an alignment rack I’ve also aligned the damn thing about every 2-3 months. Once “Wayne” reached his final form, with the full 2.5 lift, I noticed the rear thrust angle was off about .2 degrees. So I bought an adjustable rear panhard to bring it dead straight again. My front specs were now out of factory tolerance at about 2.1-2.3 degrees of caster with .2-3 positive camber to give me a tad more caster. That’s all I could get.
I always thought the flighty feeling on the freeway was just the nature of the beast with being on 33’s, lifted 2.5”, running a roof top tent, drawers, and all the gear in the back. Now that I’ve had these installed, and I’m sitting at 4.3-4.5 degrees of caster and 0 camber, I can unequivocally tell everyone that will listen that upper control arms that correct geometry are needed once you run out of adjustment range. It makes the ride so much more comfortable since I’m not correcting the vehicle every bump I hit. The steering wheel feels heavier now in the best way possible. I’m enjoying the commute through construction on the freeway these past few mornings more and I’m now trying to find the rough parts to feel the difference.
If you made it this far I applaud you. The long and short of it is, do it. I have become a believer and will always add these to a suspension package when warranted. Btw, I bought these used with worn joints and rebuilt them for $500. Was I willing to pay $850 for these new, no sir. But here’s to learning and hoping these things make it at least as far as the factory ones did!
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Now with that being said, I just installed a set of Icon tubular delta joint upper control arms on my 2018 TRDOR. I’ve got just over 68,000 miles and about 67,700 have been with it lifted on Bilstein 5100’s. For about 40,000 miles I ran them at 1.75” in the front and a 1” rear spacer first and then changed out for rear 1” springs. About 28,000 miles ago I brought the front up to 2.5 and changed the rear springs for bilstein 400lb 1.5”.
I am obsessed with this vehicle and have always maintained it and driven it with care. Being a mechanic with an alignment rack I’ve also aligned the damn thing about every 2-3 months. Once “Wayne” reached his final form, with the full 2.5 lift, I noticed the rear thrust angle was off about .2 degrees. So I bought an adjustable rear panhard to bring it dead straight again. My front specs were now out of factory tolerance at about 2.1-2.3 degrees of caster with .2-3 positive camber to give me a tad more caster. That’s all I could get.
I always thought the flighty feeling on the freeway was just the nature of the beast with being on 33’s, lifted 2.5”, running a roof top tent, drawers, and all the gear in the back. Now that I’ve had these installed, and I’m sitting at 4.3-4.5 degrees of caster and 0 camber, I can unequivocally tell everyone that will listen that upper control arms that correct geometry are needed once you run out of adjustment range. It makes the ride so much more comfortable since I’m not correcting the vehicle every bump I hit. The steering wheel feels heavier now in the best way possible. I’m enjoying the commute through construction on the freeway these past few mornings more and I’m now trying to find the rough parts to feel the difference.
If you made it this far I applaud you. The long and short of it is, do it. I have become a believer and will always add these to a suspension package when warranted. Btw, I bought these used with worn joints and rebuilt them for $500. Was I willing to pay $850 for these new, no sir. But here’s to learning and hoping these things make it at least as far as the factory ones did!
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
arty:
