If you have aftermarket UCA and if you are the one who bolted the control arms and ball joints, make sure to check those bolts periodically.

Yesterday, I was preparing to replace my worn out centerlink. I took off my front tires for more space to work on, then, I noticed that the driver side bolts (x4) that connects UCA (Calmini) and hi-angle ball joint were VERY loose. Two of 4 bolts had about 1/4" gap... They were basically about to come apart. Okay...I've driven about 7K miles since they were installed, so I know I should have checked earlier...

I did use locktite - blue (sp?) when I was installing UCA. So, I was taking it for granted; I believed that they were secure. The passenger side had no sign of "coming to loose."

I think that you have to bolt ball joint and UCA if you purchased them from Calmini or AC?

Just thought to remind about this to those who installed UCA before someone reports an accident on a road....

Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to check mine out this weekend.
John

Two things to watch out for when doing ANY mods that involve suspension, steering, brakes, etc.:

- Use proper torque on fasteners
- Use new lock washers or Nylock nuts upon reinstall
- Re-check fasteners after 500-1,000 miles

I have an idea to help with this that I will probably do on my truck. The threads for the ball joint go all the way through so I think I'll get longer bolts, put Loc-Tite in, torque them down, and then put a Nylock nut on the end to help lock them in place. That should take care of it!

I have the AC UCA and had the holes on both the control arms and ball join drilled out and re tapped to accept grade 8 hardware. Havnt had a problem with anything loosining up since. I too had the same problem twice that you created this topic about and had to do something about it

In preparation for my UCA install this weekend I decided to take XSAL's advice (and ChuckH's idea) and buy longer grade 8 bolts and some nylock nuts to secure the ball joints in place.

photo

Do the nylock nuts look like they will interfere with anything or does it look fine? Maybe I am just being paranoid...

Hey, That looks great. That's what I eventually need to do to secure them.

How long are those bolts?

1.5"

I had to hunt around to find the proper bolts, Lowes/Home Depot didn't carry what I needed. I had to go to a specialty nuts & bolts shop ( Tacoma Screw Products, Inc ). Ironically, the nylock nuts cost more than the bolts themselves.

They may possibly hit the spindle at full turn and droop. The only way to figure that out is to install them and cycle everything.

I would definately agree here. There is a possibility that you may either tear your ball joint boot or worse do some damage to the ball joint.

When I completely compress the boot, it doesn't come close to touching the nuts, but I will give it a shot and see what it looks like installed. Thanks for your input.

Looks great dandingo! I don't really see anything that would be in the way, but I haven't actually cycled everything. That's one of my next projects. Glad you found the bolts at Tacoma Screw...I won't waste my time going to the other stores. BTW, Home Depot doesn't carry squat in the way of nuts and bolts. About the only thing I go there for are power tools.

Follow-up:

Once installed, the nylock nuts came no where near to interfering with any moving parts. Thumbs up...