Wow! That’s some amazing DIY automotive work. I would have given up halfway through and taken it into a shop and paid hundreds of dollars. It quite impressive what you do.
Hi Chloe, just a little tip. Always paint areas were you have removed paint, inner fender, because rust is the enemy! Also, I raced jet ski's 6 years and recommend putting a small amount of grease on o rings. It holds them in place during installation and keeps them from drying out and getting stuck. Seals better.
Great job, Chloe! Did my Taco control arms a few years ago. We wrestled with that long bolt for hours.! For hard to reach spaces with your socket/breaker bar try a U joint socket extension ( some guys call it a wobble socket). It’s a great addition to your tools kit. Cheers!
When it's time to upgrade to HD leaf packs, I hope you do it in house, cause Jesse R and a couple of other youtubers took their's to a shop to have them installed. I just did mine on my 🌮, it's definitely do able. I just need a second pair of hands and mechanical assistant (multiple floor jacks), they're heavy!
Check your star bolt. I have these on my truck. Mine just snapped. I have a video of it. They warrantied mine and they don’t come pre assembled now and the owner recommended torquing the star bolt and using lock tight. I would 1000% double check yours before it snaps on you. Luckily I was only pulling in my driveway. I was just going 80 on the highway.
Haha I just commented on another video of yours saying you should use torque equipment to make the videos more professional. I havent even finish watching the video but I can tell this is legit.
Great video. It is nice you have a large, clean garage with all the tools you need to complete the project. I was surprised you did not coat the metal that you bent with paint and/ undercoating. However, you are no longer in NY. So, I guess it is not needed.
This is nice I have no problem with bending the metal a bit. I checked AllData for the procedures and it says to simply cut the bolt. Thanks for the tip!
Chloe , your channel is my go to before installing anything on my truck . I always check this channel for needed info Always can count on a honest depiction of what I should expect . Just saying thank you very much Ma’am . 👍
Same way I doit Chloe. Have no idea why Toyota didn’t leave a little cut out ther for that bolt or just use 2 smaller bolts like 19 $ up Silverado 1500s. Strange. I’m guessing they do all this before the body actually goes on. So they don’t care how much trouble it is for us to remove. Lol.
@@sunstyle52 not necessarily better ride quality but they do help tremendously with getting the right alignment as well as clearance for bigger tires as you can adjust your caster settings greatly as compared to the factory ucas. Alot stronger than factory as well and allows for more movement and travel compared to the factory units. So if your lifted trying to fit bigger tires or off road alot then these are Definitely worth the upgrade.
@@J.NOBODY.1 where's the caster adjustment? does the uca move back and forth on that long bolt? Is that what she said was set from Element? How much more caster do you get over stock? My '19 TRD OR DBCB floated BAAHHHD when it was new. 54k mi now and the front has settled, but still wanders more than I like. I could add some toe, but that would just eat the tires.
@@mattinthehat22 with factory upper control arms you mainly adjust caster from the lower control arm bolts and the tie rods to get it all dialed In. With adjustable upper control arms based on which you get you can get some adjustment from the ball joint arm and the rest comes from the rod ends that are adjustable like the ones Chloe is showing. That's what gonna give you the ability to change how the wheel sits in the wheel well. I'm not sure on how much caster you get over stock but it's maybe an extra 2 degrees or something like that. I have a 2021 trd offroad tundra with icon suspension but im not super happy with the suspension. Just wanders on the road and doesn't feel good like the factory suspension did. Definitely felt more stable with the factory bilsteins.
A tip for little people Chloe......put the tire in front of the spindle and sit down putting your feet along side each side and use you ankles to lift the wheel onto the studs!
Great job on the install, look forward to hearing about your review when testing them off road. I'm looking to do same job and replace my lowers at the same time, your video is of big help. Thank you keep up the good work and look forward to your future mods! 🤙
@@ChloeKuo Only thing I have criticism of is that you didn't choose to go with the bolt cut & swap procedure (which toyota recommends); that way you could avoid bending the pinchweld and cracking the paint. Basically, loosen the nut until it's almost off, put the bolt out till there is enough clearance between the head and UCA to cut the head off, then using the nut as a head, pry the bolt back out the rest of the way. Install the new bolt backwards (as toyota recommends) and you are done. Also buy some metric crowsfeet for torqueing those hard to reach areas, just remember to multply your torque value on the wrench by 1.083 since you will be changing the leverage of the torque wrench. I'll be putting my delta joints on in a few days and will be going that route.
Thank you for this. I have been wanting to swap uca since I upgraded to 6112's & 5160's, but I am absolutely not bending my fender like this on a truck with 20k miles on it. Nobody can convince that doesn't completely destroy its integrity, and I live on the ocean so trying to unsure paint reaches every crevis is pretty much impossible. I always knew I could cut the old one out, but wasn't sure how that helps get the new one in. Glad to hear there is room to slide it in from the cab side.
Seems the most difficult part of any UCA disassembly/assembly is the long UCA bolt. Thinking it would be a whole lot easier to just order a new UCA bolt and cut-off the original UCA bolt??? Seems it would make this application a whole lot easier especially not tearing apart your pinch-weld🤙🏽 Great video CK but damn that @elementhardparts UCA at $1200 is pretty and all but I think the SPC UCA is hard to beat for adjustability & price.
@DeuceDeuceBravo id never do that. In the event the nut comes loose, the bolt could slide out and off come your control arm. At least the other way from top down (front to back) gravity would keep the bolt in place until you hopefully realized something was wrong.
@@dnadeau819 Not a concern. That's how Toyota dealers do it. If you're worried about it then put some Loctite on it Look at all the other bolts that literally face directly down; .nobody worries about them. 👍
I was wondering if you might know someone at the Toyota dealership. They could have given you the service info on how to remove those control arms without bending the metal. You really have a lot of courage to tackle that type of job. Good work as always with the truck and the video. Looking forward to your next video.
Yeah the body is lowered onto the already assembled chassis assembly in production. There is no other way to get the bolt out unless you removed the whole cab from the frame. I had a thought to maybe clean up the bending of the pinch point. Maybe on either side of where you have to bend up, after moving the lines that run behind it, make two small slices maybe like an inch long with a cut off wheel then use duck bill pliers or sheet metal vice grips to bend metal up between the cuts. It would bend cleaner and easier. Then after bending back, maybe touch up the area and tack weld or even jb weld the sliced areas.
Adjustable wrenches work great to bend sheet metal.Adjust it down to pinch the sheet metal, and bend in small increments.Flip wrench around if you need to bend it further.Bend sheet metal back into place in small increments.Much cleaner and easier!Still a nice job though!!
Great job on the UCA install video!! IMHO those UCA are over kill for a daily driver with mild off-road use. They are more difficult to adjust, more expensive and the uniball doesnt last. I feel a better option especially if you buy them through RockAuto is a set of SPC UCA. You'll get the same articulation, but easier to adjust to fit bigger tires (up to 33s) without trimming and the ball joint will last much longer at a fare price. Keep the videos coming you're doing a great job!!
Spc ball joints and bushings go bad fast, like really fast. Tacoma world has plenty of reviews from people that have had their Spc uca's fail with less than 20k on them. These uca's are far superior to the Spc ball joints, that's why they cost twice as much.
holy smokes this is one of the best install videos of seen for any part install period! I knew it was gunna be a good one when she started off showing all the tools necessary then had great shot angles and explanations while going through the motions. well done!
You don't tighten them until th truck is sitting on the ground. Alternatively you can use a second jack and lift up the spindel until the hub is at ride height and then you tighten the bolt.
Nice install Chloe, you are very paced and stay on target. I’ve been waiting some time for my new fabtech lift kit to arrive and found out they cancelled the uca’s, so now what. Watched your Video and enjoyed it so much I bought a pair just like yours. Can’t wait for them to get here. They look a lot nicer than the tubular one that came in the kit. Bit pricie but should be worth it.
Probably not the safest but i cut my cam bolt off with an ocillating tool and reverse the new bolts back in without having to bend the fender. Unfortunatly they say by installing it reversed, could leave to loosening the nut easier overtime. Its been over 2k miles and it seems loctite and 100ftlb solved the potential issue.
🔥🔥🔥🔥let go!!! Great video very informative I love that you have a passion for trucks it amazing Toyota Tacoma are my favorite trucks keep up the great work Chloe💯💪🏾
I’d recommend finding a good deadblow mallet if you’re gonna continue with home mods…they are sand or small ball-bearing filled hammer head… little effort more ‘ompf’…
Hey Chloe, thanks for putting this together! Much appreciate your info. One question, the torque spec you mentioned for the castle nut is 100 ft-lbs in this video and I just came from your another video which is for your FOX coilover installation. You pointed out the torque spec for the Castle nut is 80 ft-lbs in that video. I am wondering the difference is due to different years of vehicle or something else. Thanks in advance.
jimini cricket, they must be good for $1200 dollars, those are the priciest control arms I've seen so far. You should get yourself an 18V mid torque Milwaukee or Ridgid impact since you remove lug nuts and suspension bolts, they blast through anything short of a crankshaft pulley, I keep it in the back of my Outback. Also on the bent inner fender I would use some primer or other rust preventer before putting the cover back on
Thanks once again for the inspiration, Chloe! I've had a pair of Element Hard Parts' chromoly UCAs sitting in my garage waiting to be installed. Now I'ma just do it, but got to thinking of upgrading to these billets. I hope you share the results / experience u got with having them alligned. That may be the deciding factor for me to trade these up before I've even got them on! :D
Nice work chloe! I had to bend my frame as well when installing the UCA my bro and I straighten back up and paint it primer black look lagit, Let us know when will u be coming down to Northern California for a 4x4 truck MEET! will be cool 😎
You have the heim mounts, wondering if these are going to survive in harsh winters and how it feels as a daily driver... Its either heim mounts or urathane bushings.
My ground clearance is about a foot, maybe a little more. I have adjusted the front shocks to give me the exact same height from the ground to the bottom of the fender flare, 36.5"
Ok, so do these control arms get rid of that upper wheel tilt-out whenever you lift the front of a taco? I mean, are the dimensions on the three mounting points exactly the same as the stock arm? Because if I’m not mistaking,, the geometry says that the new arm should be shorter if it’s going to pull the upper wheel inward. Inquiring minds want to know 🤷🏼♂️
Yeah a half inch impact is nice but the lugs and maybe one or two other bolts are the only thing you can use it on because they’re so big and bulky. A swivel can help a little bit with hard to reach places
@@brandonlee3892 yeah hard to reach places you use rachet drivers but I use my 1/2 for most of my suspension lifts no need toy to break the torque of a nut or bolt
Great video! The only thing I would note for advice, which is probably a personal preference, is how you remove the upper control arm from the spindle/knuckle. I was taught to take the castle nut off and thread it on upside down until the bolt and nut are flush, then you can hammer the nut from the bottom side and don't potentially mushroom the bolt or damage your spindle from hammering.
No one ever shows doing the driver side which is the hardest. I bet the shit out of everything in the inner fender. Still couldn't get the bolt to come out. I ended up having to cut the bolt
Oof you should definitely be using 111 molykote o-ring grease on that o-ring. It’ll last a lot longer and keep the o-ring in place where it needs to be.
Great video! Watching your videos has helped me a lot. I have decided to go with 3” lift. Is there anything that I need to change like that UCA and anything else?
While I do own a M18 Mid torque, My M12 Fuel Stubby 1/2” routinely removes my Tacoma lug nuts no sweat. Occasionally if someone else waay over tightens or they are rusty, it takes a few extra secs . But all in all it has zero issues on nuts. Amazes me how powerful it is for 12v.
Any mod for my tacoma, I installed myself. I was very skeptical about installing some new control arms. You make it look too easy. My only question is will you need an alignment after installing these? I'm not the most mechanically inclined, but I've learned a lot so far.
With the upper control arm bushings , I'm curious if it makes any difference to tighten and torque the bolt with the truck at ride height rather than full droop ?
I have a 2020 Toyota tacoma zero offset rims. I did a three inch lift already. My question is did installation of these UCS’s cause rubbing on the top of the tire at all? And how much clearance between tire and new UCA
I'm embarrassed to as this because I know it's gotta be in the instructions and I should already know the answer but did they say to hit the zerk fitting before heading out or just good to go and regular interval greasing
Hello there, I put on 275 70 R 17 on my 22 Tacoma. The tire when I make tight turns rubs against the control arm. I was told if I put a one inch space around. It will rub against the wheel. Well, what can I do? Thank you.
