UCA Questions

At what point can I or should I, replace the upper control arms with something aftermarket? Does it really need to be done with a lift? What are some of the best choices for occasional weekend wheelers? I think my OEM ball joints are going out. I don't have a lift yet and not quite sure when I will be able to get around to that. I have a 15 4.0 4x4 DC SR with completely stock suspension.

 

Can’t go wrong with SPC

 

if you are not planning to lift your truck anytime soon, look around of craigslist or FB market place. a lot of upper control arms for sale from 2nd, 3rd gen tacomas and 4th, 5th gen 4Runners. they will all work and people usually sell them for about $50

 

Wrong. 4Runners are not all compatible. Different size ball joints on 4th Gen.

 

really? i didnt know this. i only thought they would work because i used 5th gen upper control arms on my 4th gen 4Runner. seemed like they were the same.

 

Once you lift the truck to 2.5"+ , an aftermarket UCA is required. SPC makes a good budget arm or you can go with the higher end brands like TC,DK, or Camburg. Definitely check craigslist if you don't plan on lifting, i'm sure you can find OE stuff on there for super cheap

 

you are correct about finding stuff on FB marketplace all day long, but there are different ball joints between the 4Runner and Tacos. Same UCA design but different ball joint length and shank, you will notice if you go to put in the cotter pin and the castle nut isn’t even close to the hole. They don’t share the same spindles because of this as welll. Cruisers and 4runners and Lexus GX are the same though.

 

The above is 100% true.

 

well new moog UCA's are only $50 each So why buy used?