Advice on Balljoint UCA

Was looking into changing my UCA but wanted to stick with Balljoint UCA due to the low maintenance... Just wanted some advise on what brand I should lean towards? Hard to find any good Youtube videos for any reviews but I see a lot of shops using Camburg. I know once you do enough digging around you will start to see bad reviews for any product and it gets you spooked out lol.

https://caliraisedoffroad.com/produ...rformance-ball-joint-upper-arm-kit-cam-310079

 

Look into JBA UCA's

 

JBA is the way to go. You’ll never see any vendor actually recommend them though. They sell direct to the customer only, they have zero authorized middleman retailers and nobody will recommend a product they can’t sell to you for a profit, but JBA control arms are the best way to go in my opinion. There’s no holiday sales, no Black Friday deals, no group buys, it’s just a great product at a fair everyday price. They are stout, proven reliable, high quality arms with caster built in. They have a cerakoted high articulation ball joint with 90 degree range of motion - more than a uniball and without the noise and constant maintenance. They are low maintenance, they don’t make noise, easily greased, and the ball joints BOLT in. I had no problem getting 4.5+ degrees of caster on both sides with the rest of the alignment angles exactly where they should be. I’ve never actually heard of one of their ball joints failing, but IF something did happen to go wrong and you break a ball joint on a trail it’s nice to not need a press and a specialty part to get it going again, in a pinch you can replace it with an off the shelf readily available AC/Delco #45D0062, Raybestos #500-1062, and Moog #K6292 (used on GM trucks from 1988 to 1996) from any parts store while you order the proper JBA replacement. I don’t think there’s an easier more convenient setup for if things go wrong, and you won’t find better customer service.


It’s also worth mentioning the recently updated the ball joints include improved ball joint boots and the new style bushings don’t need the upper control arm mounting bolt to be loosened to properly grease the bushings without deforming them.

 

I have a brand new set of camburg uca never installed and still in the box and you can make me an offer if you’re interested

 

#FACTS

 

100% agree. Jba are the way to go. I have them and they've been great. Customer service is amazing. But the uca itself is easy. Easy to install easy to maintain. Soooo easy to swap ball joints or boots(just did this last weekend). And the reviews are great.

Second option to look at would be dobinson uca.

 

https://youtu.be/huMztKaHsUE

https://youtu.be/InQnp42pfts

...worth a watch

 

That video actually came up in my feed last week when searching for install videos. Good info. It's very thorough.

I got the OME UCAs with my Eibach kit. (Front coil overs are delayed, )

 

JBA's here. The things that sold me on the JBA's were the reviews of people who had them talking about the ease to get the right amount of caster during alignments. The customer service is great, they were very helpful when I ordered. I'm sure some of the other control arms have the same attributes as JBA.

 

A word of warning JBAs May have issues with rubbing for larger tires sizes (285) depending on your backspacing. I really wanted JBAs but can’t make ‘em work with my 285s on TRD pro wheels.

 

I also vote for JBA customer service unmatched. Some service required every 5000 miles but no complaints or problems.

 

This is typically an issue with any of the OEM wheels and larger tires. Not just a JBA UCA problem.

 

what did you end up going with as I do already have 285 K02’s?

 

im struggling between Dobinsons, Camburg X joint and OME. Kinda leaning towards the Dobinson bc it requires 0 greasing.

 

sounds like I need some advice then ☹️

 

Edit: trd pro wheels with 285s will rub... I messaged jba directly

 

When I was researching UCAs, I did come across mention that the JBAs extended outward more than some others, making it harder to fit some wheel/tire combos. Looking at it, it looks like the hardware to make the ball joint “bolt-in” takes up a bit more room than UCAs without that option.

The SPC control arms also have adjustable plates on top that might also mean they extend further out, so definitely verify those if you were considering them.

I’m still on stock tires and stock UCAs after my lift, so it’s not direct experience…just thought I’d mention it.

 

I assume the inside of the tire (285) is extremely close with stock UCA's and touches with the JBA UCA's on stock wheels?

 

Here another but don’t know anyone that has them.
https://youtu.be/ydp5VhgHtXY

 

This^,

Back when I was looking for solutions to keep my 285’s and remove the spacer lift, a local shop gave me a quote for a Bilstein shock upgrade to include JBA UCA’s. Although it was a solid upgrade, he never mentioned the possible pitfalls, namely tire rubbing with my OEM Pro rims on the JBA UCA’s and squeaking with the poly bushings. I discovered these possible issues through my own research. Needless to say, I would have been super PO’d if I spent all that money and had to deal with even more issues.

I canceled the job and went back to 265’s. The stress did not outweigh the small benefits of 285’s.

 

The 'squeaking' poly bushings can be avoided with a silicone based synthetic grease which I found out the hard way years ago, as for the TRD Pro rims, don't they have a positive off-set?, moving the tire closer to suspension components? I'm not sure on this, seems I read this in tire/wheel combos on the forum.

 

Trd pro wheels are 17x7 with +4 offset(4.16 bs)

 

So will Camburg or Dobinson UCA not rub with 285 K02’s on TRD pro wheels? I see a lot of TRD pros running Kings and Camburg UCA with 285’s with TRD pro wheel setup on 88Rotors youtube channel but don’t see anything on the UCA rubbing in the comments

 

I’m not sure but I plan to reach out to Dobinsons and Camburg to see back spacing requirements. Keep in mind TRD pros already have some fender liner mods. There are plenty of folks with lifts and 285s on stock TRD wheels so I’m sure UCA options without use of spacers exist. Any one that can chime in please do.

 

Just sent camburg a email this morning so hopefully I hear back from this week.

 

So I spent some time looking at tech specs and here is what I found. Under tech specs on the X joint Camburgs it says these have a "Max" back spacing of 4.75" with 16-20" wheels and 285/R70/17. So unless Im reading this wrong you should be able to run 285s on stock 7" TRD Pro wheels (4.16" BS) up to 3" of lift without rubbing. Where I get nervous is I have seen some folks say the BS on the TRD wheels is 4.5" and thats getting closer.

Dirt King has basically the same specs but says that with 33" tires the front section of the cab mount and tire liner may need trimming. Maybe DK is just playing it safe but they seem to be suggesting a BMC might be require.

Dobinsons have no tech specs.

Curious are you just looking to add the UCAs on the TRD Fox suspension or are you upgrading that as well?

 

Gonna tag @Crikeymike from Exit off-road as I've seen him comment a bunch on the Dobinsons UCAs. Mike we are looking for info on minimum backspacing possible with the Dobinson UCAs. Both @tdicarlo and I are looking for UCA options with TRD Pro wheels and 285 BFG K02s. I saw at least a couple YouTube videos that are running the Dobinsons UCAs on stock TRD Pro wheels and 285s so Im guessing it will work but having confirmation would be great.

 

I have both Dobinson and OME. Would recommend both. Seems conversation is focusing on clearance:

Dobinson = using with FN Wheels FX Pro, 17x8, -0mm offset, 4.5" backspace, 285/70/17 and have about 2” clearance
OME = factory TRD PRO wheels, factory 265/70/17 and have about 2-1/2” clearance. Edit: I now have 285s on this setup and there is about 2” clearance

285s should be fine on either UCA and factory TRD PRO wheels.

 

I second the JBA. Although as JBA stands for Jeepin by Al, I totally understand why some Toyota folks try to avoid them ...

I have them on the Liberty CRD and they are of very high quality. I plan on getting a pair when I get a front lift, either via OME or fox. I personally do not mind the issue with rubbing, I plan on getting some beadlock wheels with zero or negative offset so the wheel gets further from the upper arm, there are debeading issues with using the stock rims with wide tires while going low in psi, which I definitely want to avoid so getting a new set of rims is sort of mandatory for me.

 

This is what AccuTune stated