Upper Control Arm problems

So last night I was driving down the highway when all of a sudden my steering wheel went inverted and my drivers side front wheel flexed in toward wheel well. Had to call AAA to get a tow truck because every time I would move forward and back it sounded like it was getting caught on something or wheel would lock.

From what I could see it looks like the upper control arm needs to be put back through the rear upper control mount.

I’m probably doing a terrible job explaining what is going on but has anyone had this ever happen?

I’ve been pretty busy with the army so my truck did a lot of sitting around and collected a bit of rust on the upper control arm mount’s nut.

 

Idk but pics would help. Crazy on a 2017 too? Too new to have those issues. What have you done to it? Lift? Tires?

 

Here are photos

 

Yes 6” lift and 35s, I know this causes added stress but this isn’t my first Toyota with this lift and I’ve never had these problems.

 

Crazy looks like they were stock upper control arms? I’m no expert but I’ve read here for anything over 3.5 you should change the upper control arms. Could have just been too much for the stock ones? Idk though I’m sure someone who knows more will chime in. You have to wait for the west coast guys to wake up lol

I’m doing a 2.5 ome lift with 35’s in a couple weeks and I’m changing over to the spc upper control arms just for piece of mind

 

Yes stock upper control arms... I probably should change over mine after this as well. I appreciate you responding

 

Let's see the pic of area of UCA'S

 

I would no better time than when you break something lol

 

I bought mine used, '14 26000 miles, came lifted 6" stock UCAs, never had an issue, You hit a pothole or something?

 

Looks like the thru bolt on the UCA fell out. Hopefully you didn’t damage anything else and just need to get the bolt back on.

 

While the bolt is out, upgrade them.

 

I don't think anything else is damaged so yes hopefully just the bolt! I will definitely be upgrading them.

 

Yeah it looks like the UCA nut came off and the bolt backed out. I haven’t seen that happen before. Maybe it wasn’t torqued properly. The factory bolt is pretty stout and recommended to reuse with all the after market UCA’s I’ve seen. Shouldn’t have been an issue with stock. Hopefully it’s an easy fix.

 

Consider the heim joint version of these when shopping around

 

Anyone have any recommendations for after market UCAs??

 

I have Total Chaos heim UCA’s. They are very nice. Any reputable aftermarket UCA, TC, Icon, Camburg, etc. will be fine in my opinion.

 

There’s nothing wrong with the stock arm. It probably fell out because it wasn’t torqued correctly. Is your alignment in spec?

 

It should be good. Probably would be a good idea to realign after this happened, thoughts?

 

I am in agreement with @Yota18. It's already questionable. Order some aftermarkets and drive on.

 

I apologize for not being quite the most informed, this is my first truck I am trying to get seriously into and do some of the work on it myself. So I'm trying to learn! I appreciate all the help and info you guys are throwing at me!

 

As long as something didn’t shift you should be ok. But I would get one just to be safe, especially if you don’t know your numbers. If your numbers aren’t in spec I’d definitely consider new UCAs. If they are in spec, I’d keep the stock UCAs and throw that $800 into something else.

 

True @joonbug UCA’s are definitely not necessary if you can get a good alignment without them but I think it’s a solid investment. Especially if you plan to use your truck off road.
I would absolutely get an alignment after replacing the UCA bolt though.

 

http://stores.mcmfablv.com/07-tundra-uniball-upper-control-arms/

I’d recommend getting some MCM uppers, great quality and fairly priced. The amount of stress on your truck with that much lift is bad enough, mid travel UCA’s will help alleviate a bit. Those coilover lift pucks don’t help you out much either imo. Good luck man. That could’ve turned out a lot worse than it did.

 

Glad you were able to catch the issue before something major happened.

We offer Heim Joint Upper Control Arms that are designed for use on 6" or higher drop bracket lift kits. Heim upper control arms are fully adjustable to allow maximum tuning of caster and camber. We don't recommend using a Urethane Pivot UCA for your application

TOTAL CHAOS - Tundra Upper Control Arm
Part #87500-H (Heim Pivot Upgrade)



We'll be back in the office come Monday. Contact Us or one of our Authorized Dealers if you have questions

TOTAL CHAOS
WWW.CHAOSFAB.COM

 

In case anyone wanted a follow up, the bolt was not tightened enough when lift was put on causing the nut to fall down and strip the bolt. Everything's good now and Toyota didn't charge me anything outrageous to fix. Thanks again for all the help!