Eibach Lift: Upper Control Arms or No?

Hello everyone.
I'm not as active, but have been with this forum since late 2017. I recently just sold my 2017 Magnetic Gray SR5 for 33K when I had purchased my SR5 for 33.5K back in June of 2017. I turned around and got a 2020 Magnetic Gray TRD Off Road Premium. Right when I got the new 4Runner I knew I was going to be modding it. So far I have added:
-K&N Cold Air Intake
-TRD Exhaust
-Blacked out the emblems
-Predator Tube Steps
-LED Interior Light upgrade
-AVS Window Visors
And of course as the title says the Eibach Lift Kit!
My question is do I need to upgrade my upper control arms? When installing the lift kit I saw the OEM control arms and can see why one would want to upgrade them. But is it really needed? If I were to upgrade I would go with the JBA STD Upper Control Arms. I don't off road as often as I would like, but I would say I go maybe six times a year for a little back story. But the 4Runner is more of a daily driver for my wife and I. Let me know what you guys think! I just need a little help deciding if I should or not and need reasons. All opinions welcomed.

 

Nice truck and good choice on the lift.

No, you don't need UCA's. However, even though you don't offroad much aftermarket UCA's will improve on-road drivability and handling with the 2.75" lift you have in the front of your vehicle.

It all comes down to the alignment, and more specifically the caster adjustment you can get using stock UCA's vs. aftermarket UCA's on a lifted truck. With stock UCA's at that height, you will still be able to get your caster at the low end of alignment spec, which is fine for some, but not for others. If you think your truck drives fine as is, then leave it.

On the other hand, if you feel your truck wander on the highway a bit more or easily pull one way or the other without the steering wheel snapping back to center quickly, then aftermarket UCA's (and the higher caster number you can achieve with them) will help this.

If I was lifted that high in the front, I would absolutely have aftermarket UCA's. Others will insist theirs rides fine without them

 

I drove one with a 2.5" lift for 4 years with OEM UCAs. This vehicle I did the same 2.5" lift (same amount, different brand), and went UCA.

In the end, I didn't notice much of a difference, but it would be helpful to not have issues with alignment, and it's nice to know they are beefier.

 

Thank you! The OEM UCA just look some "frail". I guess I will just have to drive it more on the highway to notice the wandering of the car. I will be putting 275 KO2s on it at some point and will get an alignment done then. For now I got to put some miles on the stock tires.

 

Totally reasonable.

Don't worry about the beefiness of the stock UCA. They don't break easy.

Aftermarket UCA's are more for alignment, drivability, and getting a small amount of additional travel out of your suspension. You'd have to beat on your truck pretty damn hard to break a UCA (stock or aftermarket). More than likely, other parts will break first.

 

I did the UCAs with the Eibach after I went in for an alignment and the specs were not to my liking. I would recommend doing it all at one time, I did the lift then about 10 days later had the front end back on jack stands doing the UCAs, would have been easier to do it all at one time.

 

I have the ARB bp51 setup on stock UCAs no issues with alignment Or ride it is very close though but I’m about to install a set of JBA high casters next week because it should give me peace of mind on upcoming excursions planned
J

 

Those are the exact arms I am looking to order. It looks like it will take at least two weeks to get to me.

 

Should go great with your red covers

 

How long did it take for you to get yours?

 

8 days

 

Questions of curiosity: when did you order?

 

Ordered September 14 got it the 22nd

 

Make sure you post some install pics

 

Wednesday is my scheduled appointment ASAP

 

I'm at about 10k to 15k with my Eibach Pro Truck Lift and OEM UCA's with OEM sized tires.
Per the Eibach reps on the other boards UCA's are not needed.

My plan is to add SPC UCA's when I go up to my next tire size (33" or 34").

My non-KDSS Off Road handled horribly stock. Tons of body roll and nosedive on braking. That's been cured with the Eibach suspension lift.
Regarding this:

"On the other hand, if you feel your truck wander on the highway a bit more or easily pull one way or the other without the steering wheel snapping back to center quickly, then aftermarket UCA's (and the higher caster number you can achieve with them) will help this."

I'll let you know in the next year or so.

Hind sight being 20/20, I should've just had UCA's installed when I had the lift installed. Needed or not.

 

I installed JBA UCA when I installed the Eibach Pro kit they have great customer support.

 

I think hindsight I should have installed the JBA's also, but I just ordered them last night so I will have to get the truck back on the lift.

 

Got some pics of your install before and after?

 

I installed the Eibach Pro kit springs front and rear paired with the 5100s all around along with 285s. I got an alignment and was not very pleased with the results so I ordered UCAs to get installed, I would recommend just getting it all done at once.

 

Ordered the JBA's will get shipping update soon. But I gotta take the wheels off again. The lift only took a friend and I 2.5 hours to complete so we assume the JBA arms shouldnt take too long

 

I ordered the JBA's as well, they are supposed to arrive next Monday. The reviews on them are too good to pass up and try anything else. I was considering the Camburg ball joint UCAs simply because I didn't want red but hoping the color grows on me.

 

I have JBA's on my ORP, installed with an Elka 2.5 IFP set at factory default of 1 1/2". Were they essential? No. But alignment is no issue, and at full droop they won't hit those big coilovers.
With JBA's there are three grease points - you can see two here in the photo. Some have complained the polyurethane bushings are susceptible to squeeking, but I've had no problems so far. I've greased them once. I had a thread on here asking about which grease is best - JBA recommends plain old lithium. Others suggested synthetic grease, and also, one review I read said silicone grease is best. I asked JBA but they didn't respond to my email, I guess I should have called them, but I just made up my own mind, lol.
JBA's are a lot beefier than stock. Those stock UCA's are just pressed steel. When you take them off, they look a little feeble.

 

I took a look at them while installing the lift and it was just sad looking how flat they were.

 

What grease did you end up going with?

 

I went with JBA's as well with my Kings, no chopping and no headaches with rubbing. I'm running Toyo AT III's in LT285/70/17 and Method MR702's. Love this set up. I've lost about 2.3 mpg. I am researching gears @ 4.88 now to weigh the benefits if any.

 

Yeah, I decided to use silicon. A bit expensive, but extremely sticky. Also compatible with polyurethane. It turns out stickiness is the issue. You want something that doesn’t easily wash out. That’s why, I assume, JBA specs lithium, which is just a soapy additive to help the grease stick. The only problem is that lithium grease is petroleum based, so I was unsure about using it. JBA recommends it, so it must be ok. After a year or so, I’ll report out on my thread, and we’ll renew the discussion. Maybe silicon grease is a mistake, if it is, I’ll find out and let you know. Seems good enough though, so far.

 

Just to give you a quick rundown, this is what kind of grease bushing manufacturers send you with their polyurethane bushings:

Prothane - Silicone based with PTFE
Energy Suspension - Silicone based with PTFE
SuperPro - Silicone based with PTFE
Daystar - Silicone based with PTFE
WhiteLine - Lithium based with Moly

https://www.suspension.com/blog/the-best-grease-for-polyurethane-bushings/

 

This is the grease I used
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LDJ3XQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gETDFbZC03B5J

 

Thanks, Nimby. I guess what I really wanted to know is how to prevent squeeking. If I end up with squeaky UCAs I know it will drive me crazy. Lol. I guess my plan is to be religious about greasing and hope for the best. One major manufacturer says to loosen the UCA bolt, so you don’t deform the bushings with grease! I hope I don’t have to do that! But when I greased them, I did jack up the vehicle and greased them in a droop, relaxed position.