What type of joint should I use for my 2003 Tundra with a leveling kit?

I have a 2003 Tundra with a 2.5" leveling kit and need some extended UCAs because my ball joint knuckle keeps hitting my coils when the truck is on a lift or when I hit bumps too fast and the shock extends before the weight of the truck brings the UCA away from the coil again.

Right now I'm debating getting Uniball or OEM style joints. I've heard that Uniballs give more range of motion and are more durable in general, but require a load more maintenance and aren't great to drive in certain conditions.

I'm not a crazy wheeler, but I'm on a budget and don't need extreme performance and would rather get something that just works as opposed to being extremely overkill.

Any input would help

 

A fat one



But seriously, what suspension do you have? What state do you live in? We need a little more detail. Pics of the problem would be good too.

 

Lol! You beat me to it.

 

I live in northern Oregon, I have the 2.5" Rough Country Suspension Lift/Leveling Kit. I have the Premium N3 shocks and Lifted N3 struts. 1" block in the back and my front shock is quite a bit longer, causing the upper control arm to angle down and my ball join rubbing the coils.

 

I knew someone would

 

Uniballs kind of suck with salty roads and snow. Mine last about 1.5 winters, but should be replaced every spring. That's about $50 every spring if you don't need new misalignment spacers and you use anti-sleeze when you assemble everything.
Food for the noodle.

 

We don't salt roads here but we do have snow. I'm fine with paying 50 every spring but I don't want them to be a maintenance nightmare.

 

Maintenance on uniballs is replacement. You can kind of clean them, but if there's dirt or smoo on them then chances are it's inside the race and has already done the damage. Uniball maintenance is like gasoline maintenance. You use it and replace it.

 

For less cost and easier maintenance, you might want to look to SPC, the Mevotech version if SPC, or JBA arms. They all use a flipped ball joint that gives more angle tolerance. SPC being the more expensive is a few hundred less than Camburg or Solo.

That said I've had Camburg uniballs for a decade and only changed my balls once, but I don't drive in snow and we don't get much rain here. They were overdue for replacement when I did, but they were just clicking around.

 

I get the "joint" issues....

 

I would suggest SPC UCAs

 

I've been looking at the Freedom Off-road ones which are non-adjustable but at the proper angle for my ball join and made for a 2-4" lift. Do any of you guys know about this brand?

 

We have some members running those.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/convince-me-not-to-buy-freedom-offroad-uca.47646/