Upper control arms 1 gen

Looking to install 3 inch lift on front and 2 on rear want to go with spring lift no spacer so 2 part question which shock spring assemble and the most important which Upper control arms are okay but don't break the bank

 

Whats your budget?

 

The best upper control arms are total chaos or possibly solo motor sports. A good choice for cheaper is SPC. For coilovers there are many options. For the full 3 inches there are radflo, ads, icon, and fox because they are available in extended length option. I believe king says they are only 2.5 inches of lift because they are not extended length. Old man emu is a very good choice. Give about 2.5 inches, super high quality and durable, and very reasonably priced. Also cant go wrong with bilstein 5100s on using an old man emu spring.

https://yotamafia.com/product/radflo-stage-1-lift-kit-1st-gen-tundra/

https://www.1stgenoffroad.com/store/c18/TundraSuspension#/

https://www.shocksurplus.com/products/fox-2-5-factory-series-coilovers-pair-883-02-026

 

Love this question.

@mertintech Yeah, what's your budget? You can get some quality parts, check out Camburg's kits.

https://camburg.com/?bb_year=4382&bb_make=4702&bb_model=4704&post_type=product&bb_cat_id=



OR something on the cheaper side, check out https://4x4.fatbobsgarage.com/tundra-c781.aspx

 

I have a mild lift (2.5" front) and am running these, happy.

 

Don’t buy the generic knockoffs Ebay ones they’re junk and aren’t to spec

i know from experience

i bought the uniball style uppers and they were junk

 

I bought some new JBA off-road ones from a member here and I’m happy with them. I was looking at Freedoms as they have some pretty good reviews and don’t break the bank. Again, for another $100 over the freedoms, you can go with a ‘premium’ brand.

 

budget 1100 to 1500 all in

 

I recently went with the Bilstein 5100s with Old Man Emu 2887 Springs. I got about 2.5 inches lift (front) and am very pleased with the ride quality. Was looking for some budget UCAs. I went with Freedom Off-road. Got them off the 1stgenoffroad website, someone posted the link above. That whole set up was about $850.

 

Access cab or double cab?

 

DC

 

So you are happy with the ride and feel you get from the freedom control arms and when the truck is on hoist does the spindle not contact the spring .

 

Same.

 

There's also the Mevotech arms out there that are rebranded SPC arms for about $150 less.

I'll also argue that for a daily driver truck the SPC arms are a better choice than uniball arms.

My 2 cents order the Eibach 2.5 units from @Toytec Lifts using the forum discount code and the Mevotech arms from Rock Auto. Gets you out the door at just over $1k and the only special tool you'll need is the press for the upper ball joint.

 

So has any one used the movetech control arms do they hold up ok

 

Mevotech arms are rebranded SPC arms (old spc stock) unless you get the ones that look exactly like OEM. Those ain't what you want for a lift.

 

Why do you need upper control arms? Are you maxing out your factory ball joints? I’m guessing not.

I’m asking cause I know they aren’t needed. You don’t need gobs of Castor to track straight down the road. Higher offset wheels correct for lack of castor as well. The CV’s have limited travel, you start pushing these things to 3” lift, you’re running out of down travel. Also you start putting the TRE’s at steeper angles and they are already not the beefiest.

I put 40k a year on my truck and I’m on 285’s and beat the $hit out of my truck on washboard roads. I’m at 1* negative castor and I track straight down the road with no bump steer. Upper ball joints are $51 from the dealer and can be replaced without pulling the whole front end apart.

I’ve owned and currently own multiple 4Runners and Tacoma’s. My 5th gen runner I’m not impressed with the gobs of Castor I picked up from the installing the JBA UPA’s. I replaced the stock uppers cause they contacted the 6112’s. Also, uniballs squeak when they get worn in and rust.

In the end it’s a big investment if not needed.

 

You make some great points. The wheels offset does change how the steering wheel centers itself. It's all about kpi or kingpin inclination. Pretty interesting how high or low offset wheels and even tire size can change kpi for better or worse. I've noticed that wheels with low backspacing tend to help center the steering wheel just because your tire is now turning out and in around the imaginary line drawn when connecting the upper and lower kingpins to the ground. Almost like caster, but not quite the same feeling for me.

My truck is running somewhere around 2-2.5* caster. It wandered a bit at 1.75* so I bumped it up. These trucks especially start losing caster on downtravel quickly so anybody running with nearly no downtravel from ride height is looking at low low or 0* caster. I think my truck runs into 0* at the bottom of the droop, but my truck is damn near airborne at that point and I likely won't notice a lack of caster.