Which UCA's to go with for 3.5 lift?

I've been putting off getting new UCA's for awhile now since I lifted the front of my truck. Seems like it is necessary. I lifted the front of my truck with Bilstein 5100's on the 4th notch and two 1/4" coach builder shims. My total lift height is 3.5" my UCA's do touch the coils when the truck is jacked up. I had the truck aligned at a local shop, they said they had no issues aligning it. But their printer was down and I did not get the alignment specs. My truck drives straight and the wheel returns just find after making a turn. I have had my new tires on for about 3-4k miles and there is no sign of uneven wear. So with this being said I believe it is within specs. I would like some advice on which upper control arms to go with. I have used the search bar and the most informative post I could find was:
Everything you need to know about Upper Control Arms (UCA)
The replies were all from different Gen trucks. I drive mostly on the road with hardly any off-road. When I do I drive slow. I also live very close to the coast, so I occasionally go to the beach. I do not want to go with uni-ball's. I would like to be able to grease the ball joints and possibly the bushing. Not sure if I would need the adjustability the SPC's offer. I'm happy with the way my tires sit in my fender wells and they do not rub. I do not ever plan on running bigger or wider tires. The JBA's look like they would be nice but not sure how 1st gen people like them. I'm wanting to make a decision and ordered some soon since I will be doing some other front end work, would like to do everything at once.

 

Also how much gap does ya’lls truck have between the bump stops and the lower control arm? I installed coach builder bump stop extensions, since I did the shims also. I did not use the washers that came with the 5100’s. Right now the the closest part on mine is less than an inch. Seems to be awfully close IMO.

 

That's a lot of suspension lift for a 4wd.

For upper arms your choices really are SPC, the cheaper Mevotech version (SPC 100% but sold under Mevotech name), or JBA. Every other arm I know of uses a uniball.

SPC have been proven as a good option, as far as the alignment it will baffle many alignment techs. You would need a competent off road shop to get use from the upper ball joint alignment.

JBA is a fairly new product, a few guys here run them happily. Price is right on them, they just haven't been around long enough to build a good or bad reputation.

As far as your bump stops, that spacer seems a bit big for either 1/4" or 1/2" shock spacer use. The stock bump has no give, but you need some level of spacer under it since you ran spacers (shims).

 

Just looked into these. Looks like its hit or miss on whether or not you get greaseable ball joints. Shipped to the door for 460 is awfully nice compared to SPC's shipped to my door for 576. I like the idea of being able to grease the bushings on the JBA's not sure how I feel about the red. Little to flashy for my taste. I may try the Mevotech.

 

If I have it set in the position I want I don't see why the alignment shop would try and move the ball joint. Unless its just out of whack. I would assume I would have it at the 0 caster?

 

I have run SPC's on 5 of my rigs now. One of my past Tundras, my FJ's and my old Taco. I used to run ICON's but ran into ball joint issues early. I love the SPC's because of their bulletproof nature and the amount of adjustment you have for the money. I have beat the living hell out of mine on my Taco and my FJ (both lifted 3") and have had zero issues. I just installed them on my new build for my Tundra

I like these (Durobumps) and run them on my FJ and other Tundras.

https://durobumps.com/product/2nd-gen-toyota-tundra-front-durobumps/

 

Set the ball joint in the neutral position and pull it all the way back towards the outside of the wheel well. It is "D" in the attached diagram. Keep in mind that this is for the 07-13. I don't see yours being much different.

 

Just notice the first sentence. I have heard this once already. Is there something wrong with the setup I have? I haven't had any issues other then the typical grease sling from the inner cv boots. I plan of rebooting them or trying to re-clamp them. I also do not like the way my sway bar links look I believe they are to short now. I'm replacing the sway bar and the link hopefully this week if I get all the parts in. I am going with the Hell wig and the OLC Forged Ball Joint Sway Bar Links.

 

Damn they are proud of those! Lol. I would need two sets. I will have to measure how long mine are with the extensions. The Durobumps are 2" believe that is pretty close to what mine are currently.

 

Since you have 4wd it is recommended to stay near or below 2" of lift in this fashion so that your working axle angles stay tolerable to the boots. You'll want to look up cv boot mods, keeping the cv greased is important.

It also puts your upper and lower arms into hard angles, you are trading down travel(droop) for ride height. Could lead to a bucky ride if you hit bumps with any speed and might accelerate bushing wear.

You can find longer and beefier sway bar end links to help the sway bar. I believe there is a sway bar spacer as well for FJ cruiser which fits the Tundra, it lowers where the sway bar mounts to the frame to help correct the geometry. You may want to research that a bit as well.

 

Appreciate the information. I'm looking into cv boot replacements for what will be best for my application.

It's honestly not a bad ride at all. But I definitely understand that it could/will wear parts out quicker.

I think the links I ordered will be what I need. But if I feel they are still to short I will look into the spacers you mention. That is nice to know, first time I have heard of that being an option.

 

Thanks for the instruction sheet, they don't show that online when your buying them.

 

You can run one per side and leave stick bumps on the other end as a failsafe. I run SuperBumps, the Wheelers off road bump stops. Wheelers recommends to run one per side in the rear part of the arm but I ran on the front part to be closer to my coilover. Mine almost touch the lower arm at ride height so they get involved pretty quickly but they're soft enough to hardly notice. They squish to the same length as the stock bump stop allegedly. I am around 2" higher than stock.

Durobumps are an improved version of what I have and at a comparable price. If they existed back then I would have got them. They give more clearance before engaging and are shaped to better contact the lower arm, mine hit on the corner.