Convince me NOT to buy Freedom Offroad UCA

Ok, so I've researched UCA's a ton and still feel apprehensive.

First off, I do NOT want uniballs. I live in Indiana with road salt and all that, so those are out.

These look to have much beefier arms than SPC and are half the price. They correct castor from what I have read, but not camber.

A couple reviews on Amazon state they had to trim and very small amount of metal on their coil spring bucket, but aside from that they seem to get good reviews. I don't see this being a huge deal. I would actually just bend that lip slightly and not remove any metal, looks like it would work. *got this idea from review pics on amazon*

Tacoma guys seem to really like them and have had good luck with them.

If I buy these I will purchase them with an extra set of ball joints right off the bat. I'll just store those on the shelf should I ever need them.

I'm leaning heavily this direction and want to get everyone's input. Money is obviously a huge driving factor...

ALSO, I should add that I already have new front end parts waiting.
*Both new lower control arms with bushings-Toyota OEM
*Both new lower ball joints - Toyota OEM
*Eibach complete springs and coils (Front and rear)

So I'm not just slapping some new UCA's and hoping for a new ride, I'm redoing a lot of the front end wear-able components.

Adding a link:

$390 Freedom Off-Road Front Upper Control Arms For 2-4" Lift Compatible With 01-07 Sequoia/ 01-06 Tundra

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L7C72P...olid=2S0HB703CVOQ3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

How much are they? I've never heard of these.

 

Alright, I think I found them on Amazon for $340. I wouldn't call that half the price of SPC since I paid $575 delivered for mine. They are certainly cheaper though. Personally, I would just pay the additional $235 and get SPC. That being said, Amazon has a great return policy so you could always try these. If they crap out in a year you may be SOL though.

 

@00TundraZ

If you've got the means to grind that down, I would do it. I wouldn't just let it rub like this guy. Also, some of the guys with Total Chaos had rubbing too. That's a pretty sad design flaw for such expensive UCA's. Knowing that, it wouldn't really concern me that Freedom had the same issue. It seems like an easy fix.

 

I agree. They seem well built. And maybe I could be a guinea pig for other 1 gen's.

I also added a link to my 1st post. My bad, should have done that right off the bat!

 

A problem I always have with Amazon reviews (and Yelp, and others) is it's hard to know how knowledgeable the poster was. The well known brands of UCA have a comfort level from so many truck enthusiasts installing them and being around to advise how they've been years later. That's hard to match with a few Amazon reviews, where maybe the buyer didn't know that grinding a bit of coil bucket is fairly common.

That said, the one bad review that mentions crappy hardware caught my eye. A brand cheaping out on hardware when their product is holding your truck up scares me.

I won't say don't buy, but if I were on the market for UCA I would save a little longer for $200 worth of peace of mind.

 

I definitely get where you're coming from. It's hard to gauge on their skill level and such. Crappy hardware or issues with that could be the installer used air tools and threaded the crap out of everything. It's a crap shoot I know. I personally think the SPC arms look thin. Maybe that's just me, but these are definitely beefier for sure.

I'm either buying the Freedom's at the end of this week or I am waiting another month and buying the SPC's later.

 

The Colorado made SPC's are bullet proof. Adjustable too. Quite beefy if you were actually holding them in your hand.

 

Nice score at $575!

Where did you get them for that price? Messaged a vendor for forum pricing or what? Everywhere I see them they are $639.95, so almost half price

 

Found them on eBay brand new from a reputable seller for $565, soooo looks like I'm likely going to be saving for them.

My main takeaway is that Freedom Offroad's customer service is absolute garbage. That's huge to me. A company that stands behind their product is more important to me than $200 extra for a quality part. Guess it looks like I'm waiting even longer. Oh well....

 

eBay is where I got mine as well.

 

Eibach has Upper Control Arms. Looks like an SPC. $550.00

$616 Eibach Tundra Pro-Alignment Toyota Adjustable Front Upper Control Arm Kit 5.25485K Compatible with Toyota Tundra 2000-2006

https://www.amazon.com/Eibach-5-254...33------------&vehicleName=2006+Toyota+Tundra


https://eibach.com/us/i-3002-pro-alignment-toyota-adjustable-front-upper-control-arm-kit.html

 

It's even the same part number from SPC but with a decimal added lol.

@00TundraZ the SPC arms are definitely not thin whatsoever, I was concerned about the ball joint area when I bought them but it's a hefty piece once it's in your hands.

 

I installed them back in April as my ball joints were shot and figured I'd try them. I got them for about $200 at the time with a coupon. They did contact the coil buckets, but I just hit the edge with the angle grinder and it was good.

They felt solid and well built. The box said they were made in Taiwan. I gave them a coat of Spraymax 2k clear before install as I had no idea how the metal and powdercoat would hold up. They are still looking new so far and I have no complaints though I haven't given them a good offroad work out yet.

 

Are you sure you positioned those washers correctly? That doesn't look right but I could be wrong.

 

Have you looked at the Zone offroad UCA?

 

Will be worth it saving up! SPC has good customer service. Made in Colorado, not overseas with questionable steel and ball joints.

 

I don’t believe zone makes them for the 1st gens.

 

I’m thinking I will go this route. I have spent good money and only bought quality parts this far. I don’t want to skimp and regret it. Honestly my main reason is customer service. I think the freedom off-road one’s are fine from what I’ve observed. But I have only heard terrible reviews of their customer service. That’s a deal breaker. Plus the SPC’s are adjustable. Kinda cool.

 

Well dang, that makes my choice harder! I really appreciate you chiming in!!!

 

I’m gonna get a set for my third gen. Seems like Tacoma guys have had good luck with them to.

 

Well balls... you guys aren’t making my choice any easier!

 

It was the only way I could see to install them. It wasn't like OEM where they sat close, the bushing sleeves on these were longer. I did see some other installs mostly with SPC having similar concerns. I'm not really sure the washers do anything on these arms though.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/lr-ucas-washers.145380/

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/i-have-a-qestion-after-shop-installed-my-lift.590976/

That's probably my only real gripe about them. Lack of any written instruction. A simple sheet detailing the included parts, a diagram and some torque specs would have been great.

Here's a picture from Dobinson for a Taco.



These are my before/after alignment specs:

Code:

Before: L/R
Camber: 0.1 / -0.3
Caster: 0.8 / 0.7
Toe: -0.57 / -0.43

After: L/R
Camber: 0.2 / 0.1
Caster: 1.1 / 1.2
Toe: 0.04 / -0.06

 

Weird seeing the bolt hang out that way, and doesn't look like the inside bushing has a washer on the first pic.

Edit: tiny washer inside I see

 

I run the Freedom UCAs on my DC Tacoma. But about to start building my Sequoia now, and pony’d Up the extra money and bought the SPCs.

No real complaints about the Freedoms, seem bullet proof, but for UCAs it’s all about geometry. Maybe I need to take my truck to a better alignment shop that is better with lifted trucks, but they just couldn’t get me into stock spec without the truck pulling right... also this shop is a mom and pop top rated in the area, and I have. 3” OME LIFT...clearly I chose the SPCs for my new build for this very reason.

From Amazon the SPCs seem rather cheap, got mine for $520 delivered on Prime shipping.

 

I just finished installing camburgs and had to grind down an 1/8” of the front to center of the coil bucket. I didn’t think twice about it. The extra material I removed was just that, extra.

 

Trust me the spc are beefy

 

Agreed, I have the Freedoms on my Tacoma and got the SPCs installed on my Sequoia and both arms are way beefier than stock. Don’t think that should be a concern in either.

Only issue I have with SPCs is that given their adjustable they seem like they stick out a bit more, and could cause some rubbing issues depending on your wheel off-set and/or size.

I am still running 275/70r18s but I already bought some spacers so I can run the 295/70r18s I am wanting to run to avoid rubbing at the UCA.

 

I'm.interested to see a tundra on 18s. Usually it's all 16s 17s and 20s