NorCal Offroading

I haven't heard anything bad about 'em. For me, I don't like having that ball joint adjustment. Sure, helps the alignment tech but it's one more unnecessary link in the chain that can fail.

 

We're headed down south in a couple weeks if anyone is interested.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/another-mojave-run-3-15-3-17.41513/

 

Why no?

 

'Cause it's ball joint and can/will limit travel. See post 638. If that thing comes loose while off road, you're likely (worst case) to lose a wheel and everything attached to it. Now, if you want a street queen/ off road at 15 mph, sure go for it. Just my .02

 

Also possible with a uniball set up

 

Limit travel?

 

Or provides more nuts/ bolts and a sliding mechanism? Go for it, your truck.

 

Both uniball and SPC increase travel. A uniball is not a true 1 piece ball. They are still bolted together....

Absolutely true my truck. So then does that mean the Heim joint is bad because that has even more parts to go bad then a single uniball or the SPC?

 

Uniballs are more reliable and just stronger, may give more travel too. But they will require more maintenance and will need to be changed out sooner. If you wheel alot, I'd definitely go uniball. Ball joint if you're just an occasional wheeler. If I had a choice, I'd be going with Delta Joints.

 

I can agree they are stronger and require more maintenance. I will also say they are more reliable then OEM, IF they are maintained and cleaned properly. I can say I've seen more Uniball UCAs fail then balljoint style and that's mostly due to lack of care and attention to the equipment as well as there are generally more uniball on the trails.

They are also harder to replace (the joint not the entire UCA) then any ball joint style. So the ability to do a trail fix and carry an extra one to just toss in is big to me.

I have also seen balljoint failure. That's commonly from driver error (commonly same as uniball) picking a bad line and hitting it hard or to much skinny petal when thinking and finesse would serve better.

Along with seeing some failures, I've seen dozens more take a beating on both types. So the breakage is the exception not the rule for either.

I also agree if my truck was dedicated to daily or weekly abuse, or it was a race truck I'd go uniball. But considering I live right on the coast, I wheel 1-2 times a month (1-4 days a trip) and I travel long distance. The balljoint is better in my opinion or in my application I guess would be a better way to state that.

 

Just to throw my 2 cents in....
Ive used all of the above. I like the uniballs over the ball joints. But damn they get squeaky and I had to replace at 30k both times due to wear. Living in snow country decreases life expectancy really quick.
I now run the icon delta joint, best of both worlds. fully sealed joint with a zerk fitting on the top. I haven't had any squeaking at all. Seems like it drives more stable than my previous uniball setup. But could just be that I remember the end of the life of the uniball.

 

I've only had my delta joints off my truck for 2 days and I already miss them.

 

I probably skimmed too much of this thread. What happened to your uca’s?
Also, once the truck gets out of surgery, when’s the next NorCal trip??

 

Next trip is in 2 weeks 15-17 to Mojave.

 

Ya I didn’t miss that post. Truck won’t be ready till after the 20th.

 

T2S is in April.
We can't really do any trails in NorCal until the snow melts.

 

Wasn't getting enough camber and caster so I swapped out the Icon Tubulars w/Delta Joints for some Camburg UCA's. When it's time to replace my balls, I'm going to get Delta Joints if they have a retrofit kit for the Camburgs.

 

Ahh gotcha. Ya I had the same issue with my old uca’s switched to billet icons and they work great. No rubbing.

 

Yup, I think those are the best arms out there. I should've just got those from the start.

 

It’s tough to see the damn price tag. But after speaking with Matt at mcm, we decided it was the safest route to make sure I could get the alignment the way I wanted. Only downside I have now is that I can’t get a set of tires to last past 35-40k. Stupid mountain driving.

 

Haha! I am FAR too easily amused. By the way, what is t2s?

 

My STT Pros have 15k on them. 2 tires just blew. And the other 2 are about 40% gone.

 

LOL, that was intentional. T2S is Tundras to Sedona. Huge tundra gathering every year in Arizona. We're going this year. Anyone is welcome to caravan with us.

 

I had high hopes for longevity. And not ripping on trail.

 

I run the same tire in the summer. Tire performs great while wheelin, but Ive got some real deal cupping issues through the entire tread. Ive got about 15k on em and will be replacing a couple months into spring. Ive tried everything, but its the roads, so I've come to live with it.
You blew two of em?! I'm impressed, I have put these things through a lot and I haven't had a blowout yet

 

I wouldnt say these things wear fast, for me at least. They are just mud tires and driving 45-55mph on curvy roads 35k a year would punish all tires out there. My buddy runs toyo mts and his wore just as fast.

 

I will be going with 295/75r17 wildpeak AT3Ws soon. I've had them before and loved how they performed with everything that was thrown at them.

 

Well, only blew one and the next day I found a huge blister on the other one on the sidewall. Personally, I think driving on the highway aired down for like 30-40 minutes might've contributed. Then hitting a rock at high speed finished it off. Also bent my cam tabs and knocked my alignment way off.

 

hahah damn that musta sounded great inside the cab on that hit. Ya before I got my compressor put on, I noticed some issues driving home aired down with my st maxx a couple years ago.