What UCA did you go to after SPC and why ??

My spc ucas ball joint went out so I replaced that. Simple enough process and when I went back to get an alignment. They showed me that my bushing on the passenger side have gone out as well.

After looking for new bushing it looks like it's pretty hard to find new bushing and seems as tho spc might be going under ??!?
So rather than spend even more money on a dying brand.and just delaying the process of switching arms What would you recommend for upper control arms.

So far I'm leaning towards total chaos

https://sdhqoffroad.com/products/05-current-toyota-tacoma-prerunner-4wd-upper-control-arms

Also considering the icon Delta joint

https://www.iconvehicledynamics.com...-accessories-05-up-tacoma-tubular-uca-dj-kit/

What are y'all's recommendations. On something that has and will stand the rest of time.
My current setup is extended travel ads shocks with spc ucas
And 265/75/ r16 ko2s

Thanks in advance.

 

I have the icon delta joint. Just like with any UCA that uses poly bushings on the eyelet part of the UCA make sure you know how to grease it properly. Have to loosen the UCA bolt before pumping grease into the bushings. If you dont the bushing will swell up and cause the UCA to shake on the highway. this is probably common sense but oops ask me how i know. Other than that the icon UCA are fine i didnt have any issues running that with 33s but once i put the 35s on i wished I ironically wished i went with the SPCs as they allow more alignment adjustment. If you arent picky about your alignment then the icons will work perfectly for you

 

@pp2small thanks. I'm not picky about alignment. And probably won't ever go up in tire size. How many miles have you got on your icons?

 

I went with OME UCAs, they seemed to be less finicky than some of the other options and the price point was there. I got the additional amount of caster needed and have had zero issues with them in almost two years of having them.

 

I'm running JBA High Caster UCA.
Well made in the U.S.A., and they have zerk fittings to lube without loosing any bolts.
Alignment was spot on!

https://jbaoffroad.com/jba-a-arms.html

Cheers

 

thats perfect. given your 2 choices i would lean towards the icon. Mainly because the delta joint is much less work to maintain and its pretty strong IMO, i think your spindle will bend before the delta joint fails. Plus you can find them for pretty cheap when they go on sale.

I had about 15k miles on them before i had to replace the UCA pivot eyelet bushings. Put about 1k miles since then with no issues. My steering shake went away after putting in the new bushings

 

Went with Dirt King from @AccuTune Offroad

 

the bushings are pretty cool where they are designed you dont have to loosen the bolt. from a maintenance perspective this is a huge win plus the pricing on these UCA are great.

BUT please please do not use petroleum based lubricant on rubber bushings. Use a silicone based lube. Not sure why JBA has a callout of MOLY EP LITHIUM GREASE.

 

Did you go with the boxes or tubular
And heim joint or uniball?

 

https://www.headstrongoffroad.com/s...r_2005__Toyota_Tacoma_(PAIR)_-_DK-811903.html

These seem pretty interesting

 

Fixed ball joint oneshttps://accutuneoffroad.com/product/dirt-king-upper-control-arm-urethane-uniball-05-tacoma/

 

My guy! I also went to DK arms after 18k miles on my SPCs. they've been great for 4 months an 2000 miles. picked em up from @memario1214

 

Hell yeah bro. My SPC’s lasted a while as well but was done with them. Definitely stoked I moved on

 

+1 for these I'm almost a year and a half with mine and they are still solid.
My spcs made it 8k before everything was shot. Yes the adjustability is great and gives the best alignment but I'm not about to start doing uca rebuilds every other oil change.

 

Definitely bro I’m with you

 

For your use case I would probably stick with the stock UCA. I don’t see any benefit of aftermarket UCA unless I cannot get the truck into alignment due to a lift, my tire is rubbing, or I’m doing something radical to the suspension that requires a different UCA.

Where did you hear SPC is going out of business?

How did you determine your balljoint was toast? What inspection method did you use?

There is some good info about UCAs in these videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huMztKaHsUE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InQnp42pfts

 

@gudujarlson complete free play in the ball joint. Was my method of inspection lol. And I have extended travel shocks I don't think stock is my best option.

 

I currently have the Total Chaos UCA's. They are solid, but I don't like lubing them nor doing the clean/dry lube thing on the ball joints (and they squeak like crazy when they get wet). If I were to do it over/ change out my TC UCA's, I would go the sealed Dobinson's route.
DOBINSONS UCA PAIR TUBULAR STEEL SERIES FOR TOYOTA HILUX / TACOMA / FORTUNER (WITH BALLJOINTS PRESSED) (dobinsonusa.com)

 

i have jba std high caster, 30k miles, no problem. greased every 5k miles. have 4.8/5.2 caster. been to jishua tree, death valley, mount rainier, utah mighty 5, moab doing trails, everglades, shenandoah, new river gorge etc, treated me well, no problems whatsoever.

 

30k is really good and what I expect when I spend money for aftermarket UCAs. I have SPCs and just replaced bushings and ball joints with about 20k miles. The parts are not cheap either but upgraded to the X-axis bushings so I will see how long these last. SPC definitly has the best versatility for getting a good allignment with their adjustability. Ran Icons several years ago with 33's and just barely got enough clearance. Talked to Icon recently and they said they have updated theirs but didnt get that far in discussing what. The old Icons I had were adjusted by loosening bolts on the arms near the bushings. No harder than disconnecting the ball joint on the SPC and changing the setting on the plate. That said SPC had quality issues a couple of years ago (covid?) but my new bushings and ball joints seem fine and they answer the phone when you call. Have not heard anything about them going under but we are all in the most disfunctional economy I have ever seen. Everything I buy is heavily based on robustness, longevity and future avaliability. What size tires are you running and type of suspension?