05+ lifted Tacoma's need for aftermarket UCAs?

Schattenjager

Expedition Leader
Using the OME Medium lift on my 06 to clear the excellent Cooper Discoverer 255/85/16 While all the number show up in the GREEN zone of the alignment machine, they are at the edge. IS this OK or should I be looking at upper control arm replacement? Tire wear seems OK and the alignment Slee had done for me after the lift proved to be WAY off. I think perhaps the shop doing it for them forgot since every thing was far out of spec and the truck is gently used most all the time. Nonetheless, just having realigned it, the drive is greatly improved. Have any of you stayed with stock UCAs and wished you had upgraded? Any of you with aftermarket units glad you did it? Waste of money?
 

Adventurous

Explorer
I had a set of 885 coils on the front of my 07' and kept the stock UCAs. It was aligned by Firestone and they got things as close to factory alignment as they could. It drove a bit twitchy, had a tendency to wander, and wasn't very grounded feeling. I wish I had had a chance to see how it drove with aftermarket control arms but it was totaled before I had the opportunity.

After that experience I purchased a set of Light Racing UCAs for the lift on my 15'. Hoping that they will prevent all those unpleasant characteristics I had from before.
 

SGTCap

Adventurer
I'm not real impressed with my LR UCAs. I'm not wild about the sliding ball joint design. I think I'm going to replace them with Desert Racing or Icon UCAs.
 

ADVW/Liam

Adventurer
I have the OME 886 with a 10mm lift enhancer, and the little metal rings that go on the lower spring mount on the shock. I just installed the lift enhancer last saturday (Oct 18th) and the wheels are out of alignment... Before I added the lift enhancement, it was properly aligned with the stock UCAs. I have not had it realigned, as I was debating on getting new UCAs. That said, I think the main reason people were getting new UCAs is because of the ball joint angle and more stress on the componets from the geometry change and heavier weight from larger wheels and tires, bumper and winch, and hard wheeling. I'm trying not to drive my truck too much until I get the UCAs becuase my tires are showing a little cupping. I do have a 300 mile trip coming up on the 1st.

Another thing that probably threw my truck out of alignment is that I loosened the lower control arm at the alignment tabs to move it far enough down to get to the top of the coil pack to install the lift enhancer. I marked everything, but I'm sure something is off.

If my trip chews up my tires, It'll give me a reason to get the new tires I want. Something in the 33x12.5x17 range.

So, to answer your question "is it needed"... I think it depends on the use of the truck. I play in the dirt with mine, so I have UCAs in my future.
 

soonenough

Explorer
I'm actually really surprised you were able to get your caster back into 'the green' after installing a lift. I have full OME suspension on my 08 Tacoma (886s and Nitrocharger Sport shocks up front, heavy leaves w/ AALs and Nitrocharger shocks in the rear). After I installed the OME suspension, I ran it about a year with the stock UCAs before I installed Light Racing UCAs, and IMO the LR UCAs made a huge difference in the ride of the truck. If I were to start over with a 2nd gen Tacoma build, I personally wouldn't consider installing the suspension without doing the UCAs at the same time. The truck feels more stable at speed, it doesn’t wander or track with the road nearly as much, the steering is much tighter, and the suspension handles bumps so much better.

With a 2"+ lift and the stock UCAs, the toe and camber were able to be corrected, but the caster could never be brought back into spec (this is a well documented issue for 2nd gen Tacomas). The more positive caster you're able to get out of the suspension, the better the truck will ride. IIRC, the most positive caster they were able to get for me before the UCAs were installed was ~ +0.7º. Now with the LR UCAs, I'm over +2.0º on both sides, and it's amazing what a difference it makes. One thing to note, however, is that when I replaced my UCAs, I had ~130k on the truck, so the stock UCA bushings were undoubtedly worn. The new bushings was likely some of the improvement I felt after the install.

I was actually impressed with the build quality of the LR UCAs, especially their ball joint. I personally was not interested in uniball UCAs because I don't want the maintenance hassle of the uniball, so the LR was the best choice for me. When I bought mine about 2 years ago, Headstrong Offroad had the best pricing on them. Not sure if that's still the case or not.
 

MTaco

Adventurer
I drove mine for about 2 years with the stock UCA's and it always felt squirrely going down the highway. After installing the Light Racing UCA's it made a world of difference. A lot more in control at highway speeds. I recommend them.
 

Schattenjager

Expedition Leader
Just ordered a set, thank you kindly. Pays to shop - a boutique 4x4 shop here in Colorado charges $65 more for the exact same set as I found online. Shipping was $9 and no taxes. Looking froward to posting a review.
 

Adventurous

Explorer
I got mine through ToyTec and can't recommend them enough. They were helpful, good to me on price, and I went and picked them up at the shop.
 

ANDYROO

Adventurer
We run OME 886 up front on our 2010 DC Taco and initially didn't change out the UCA's. The ride was super squirrely on the freeway. As soon as we added Icon UCA's and had the alignment re-done the freeway ride was 100% better! Tire wear over the past 12 months has been as expected.
 

86tuning

Adventurer
I've found that the tacos drive fine as long as there is more than 2.0 deg caster. If your lift is higher than 5100s with the perch at max height then you'll want the upper arms.

On an older truck with rusty alignment bolts you may need new lower arms as well. It's easier to check before doing any suspension work. Just paint mark the cams and then loosen the bolts to see if you can adjust them. If not, save up for some lower arms too.
 

Schattenjager

Expedition Leader
Had the arms installed today and the alignment was also dialed in. In short: WOW! The extra bit of adjustment these make available makes an appreciable difference in drivability, restoring the factory precision and feel. The alignment shop is guessing my MPG will increase a bit and the tire wear will be extended.
 

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