Performance1

I did a LOT of research before I invested in a nice "midtravel" set-up for my '99 4Runner. One of the things that concerned me was some posts (here and on other sites) with some people complaining about noise or squeeks after they made the leap to aftermarket upper control arms (i.e. Camburg, Total Chaos, etc.) and/or shocks (like Donahoe, Icon, King, Sway-A-Way, Fox, etc.) One thing lacking however was anything about service life and how these annoying noises were dealt with.

Curious to hear what others have experienced about this topic (maint, replacement timeframes, use, etc..)

Here's what I've encountered so far with mine:

Total Chaos Upper Control Arms - UCA's
Replaced all urethane bushings after only 5K miles. WHY? Used "regular" shop grease and my mechanic routinely overfilled or "ballooned" the bushings when he was lubing the zerk fittings. Since replacing and using ONLY Daystar Lubrathane grease (supposed to be the only grease used with urethane bushings), I have put on an additional 14K quiet and trouble-free miles.
Remove/replaced both upper uniballs at 12K miles. The teflon liner was completely worn-out... the noticeable "slop" and squeeks were cured with these being replaced.

Donahoe / ICON 2.5" Coilover Front Shocks
Seals are holding-up fantastically (almost 19K miles)
Lower COM10T spherical bearings replaced at 12K miles (same reason as uniballs above).
Upper COM10T spherical bearings life is estimated to last 18K-24K miles. (at 12K they were in very good condition)

Use my truck sees
Approx 50% onroad, 50% offroad. This truck is by no means babied and I prefer to drive at a higher rate of speed than most. Dirt roads here are muddy at least 30% of the time, dusty 30%, and in-between the remaining 40%. (I'm sure this dirt/dust does a great job at wearing-out the uniballs and spherical bearings at a rapid rate.)

Hoping others can chime-in with their experience!

jij0226

iTrader: (1)

I am also thinking of getting this setup from wheelers. How is the ride offroad? Do you have a lot of weight upfront with the 700lb coils?

CYi5

When things get really squeeky/creeky on bumps, it's the lower heims on the C/o's. You'll hear it every time the spring compresses. This means it's time to rebuild coilovers...approx. every two years to a tune of ~$300 depending on what needs to be replaced. This is speaking from my experience.

On two sets of UCA's, two different trucks, and a combined mileage total of 80k i've never replaced the UCA uniballs (camburg.) I'm not saying you don't need to, I probably should, lol. I just haven't noticed any crazy slop issues to date. They'll be on the check list next time the tires are off. Mostly street driving with occasional hard wheeling trips.

Performance1

jij0226 - Ran my 4Runner for about 6,000 miles with the original DR/Icon 650lb coilovers. The reason I swapped-out those coils with 700lb ones was due to weight of my rig. (Tried to get Eibach 700lb coils but couldn't wait so went straight to King). My engine is a stock 3.0L TurboDiesel, which is heavier than even the gas V6. With the diesel plus a pretty heavy aftermarket push/brush guard, I'm certain my front end is at least 8% heavier than a 4cyl with a stock bumper.

Bought both my coilovers and UCA's from Wheelers Offroad. Great customer service! The ride compared to stock is HUGE..... so much more comfortable to drive offroad.... and really soaks-up the bumps dramatically better than stock shocks and springs.

I've since added the Light Racing jounces, so I have been toying with the idea of maybe switching back to the Icon 650lb coils to gain a little smoother ride and let the jounces soak-up the big hits. Maybe when I actually need a complete shock rebuild.......

CYi5 - Since this truck is in Central America, and sees a LOT of dirt and mud, I'm sure that's a big reason why my heims/spherical bearings and uniballs get their teflon lining torn-up in as little as 12K miles. What's funny is you don't really realize the slop over time.... but after the "squeek" gets to ya and you finally change them out..... boy do you notice how much tighter your steering/suspension feels.

Jeff the marmot

I've used the Camburg UCA for several years now. The exact components of the Camburg product have likely changed since then. I only had to replace one of the uniballs after all these years.

The primary source of squeeking for me was at the ends of the main pivot tube where the foot-long bolt passes through. If you torque that long bolt to Toyota specs, you're just about guaranteed to have squeeking. The problem is it's not a lock nut, so if you use the original Toyota nut, you have to torque it a lot so the nut doesn't loosen and fall off. A better solution is to use an all-metal lock nut on the same Toyota bolt so you can just snug it up to avoid play, but not need to torque it really tight which would produce squeeking.

Performance1

Jeff - good recommendation on that nut.... I'm still using the factory hardware with my Total Chaos Upper Control Arms (UCA's) and like to keep that nut torqued significantly less than factory specs for exactly the reasons you wrote. I find that the nut ends-up getting progressively looser over time, so it's merely an item I keep an eye on and periodically tighten. Might be a good idea to find a good quality nylon locknut instead.

Well! It's been almost 9K miles since I last changed 'em, but it's looking like the teflon lining for the UCA uniball is already worn out. Pulled the big bolt off (the one that bolts the UCA to the spindle arm) to inspect. The uniball still has it's nice chrome finish (unlike the last ones I changed which had been significantly worn and had started to have rust spots) BUT there's noticeable slop..... I can actually feel a small amount of play... a new uniball has absolutely zero play. I'm sure that the lining is toast....

Net is - With the conditions this truck sees, the uniballs will need to be changed every 9,000 miles. I love the travel of my suspension and wouldn't ever return it to stock. $100 in uniballs every 1.5 yrs is worth it. (Looks like the spherical bearing ends in my DR/Icon coilovers last a little bit longer than these UCA uniballs)