Uniball ball joints vs oem style

bloombloom88 · Jan 15, 2013

I've been looking for some upper control arms and icon uses uniball type joints in their arms. I've never heard of these before, what are the pros and cons between uniball and oem type ball joints?

If guns kill people, then pencils misspell words, cars make people drive drunk, and spoons make you fat...

Rock$tar · Jan 15, 2013

Longer service life and more range (allows the suspension to drop out further) are the biggest advantages.

If your looking at the icon control arms, look at the Total Chaos ones. Total chaos came out with theres first, Icon just copied there design almost to the tee.

Readylift also bought out a small desert race shop in cali not to long ago (forget the name) and now they sell there products under there name (series 1). They have some new uppers which are not bad and they also have steering kits to replace your tie rods (ball and cup) with hiem joints. I purchased them and can say they are awesome.

4x4Hemi · Jan 15, 2013

Rockstar id love for you to go into more detail on those hiem joints?? benefits?

Im going to be getting new uppers but im unsure which ones, its either kore or icon, or maybe the ones your suggesting.

In your opinion whats best though? kores right now are the cheapest so would there even be any advantage over more expensive icon ones?

Rock$tar · Jan 16, 2013

Sorry was a type, there Heim joints.

Basically its like a uni ball. They are supposed to be stronger then tradition ball and cup style joints since the pressure is applied over more surface area. If its true or not I dont know, but almost every truck that races in baja uses them so they must be good

The kores are nice, but there outer joint I don't think is as strong as the icon or chaos ones. Only complaint I've heard about the kore ones is the inner joints can squeak when dirty. Very light coating WD40 generally fixes that.

Photo%202012-12-25%206%2018%2020%20PM.jpg

Thats the tie rods I purchased, you can see the heim joints on the ends there and compare them to what your stock joints look like.

4x4Hemi · Jan 16, 2013

those are alot beefier looking then the stock ones haha thats for sure.

ill have to check out chaos ball joints for sure thanks man!

Caldwell · Jan 17, 2013

the OEM upper control arm / bushing angles has always been a major concern for me, hence why i have yet to lift any of my vehicles in the past. i know the OEM can handle up to a certain amount, but the life is basically cut in half, and asking for problems down the road. I may hold off on my planned level / 305's a while longer for a more optimal set up, and lasting performance.

ill be checking back on this to learn some more info

bloombloom88 · Jan 17, 2013

Rock$tar said:
Sorry was a type, there Heim joints.

Basically its like a uni ball. They are supposed to be stronger then tradition ball and cup style joints since the pressure is applied over more surface area. If its true or not I dont know, but almost every truck that races in baja uses them so they must be good

The kores are nice, but there outer joint I don't think is as strong as the icon or chaos ones. Only complaint I've heard about the kore ones is the inner joints can squeak when dirty. Very light coating WD40 generally fixes that.

Thats the tie rods I purchased, you can see the heim joints on the ends there and compare them to what your stock joints look like.

Thanks alot for the input bud, I'm still unsure of which ones ill go with.

I've been hearing that the uniball joints squeak and make noise when they get dirty, and that's the LAST thing I want to hear.. So it makes me want to stick with the typical oem style ball joint.

If I stuck with a ball joint, but aftermarket with a beefy arm, will it still allow for more range of motion vs the factory ball joint?

If guns kill people, then pencils misspell words, cars make people drive drunk, and spoons make you fat...

bloombloom88 · Jan 17, 2013

I like those tierods too.. Any benefits going with those vs factory tierods?

If guns kill people, then pencils misspell words, cars make people drive drunk, and spoons make you fat...

Rock$tar · Jan 18, 2013

These are much stronger there factory tie rods is the main reason. My OEM ones wore out in under 30,000km

Just to let guys know I got the icon control arms from performancelifts (forum sponsor) for a very good price. Ill be installing them after I get back from my next trip offshore (leaving tomorrow morning). My OEM ball joints have 1/4 inch of up and down play in them right now so I don't feel safe doing much driving on them untill there replaced.

Litew8 · Aug 17, 2017

What are my options for tie rod ends. Want something better then oem.

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk

Uniball ball joints vs oem style

bloombloom88

Senior Member

Rock$tar

Senior Member

4x4Hemi

Senior Member

Rock$tar

Senior Member

4x4Hemi

Senior Member

Caldwell

Senior Member

bloombloom88

Senior Member

bloombloom88

Senior Member

Rock$tar

Senior Member

Litew8

Senior Member

Similar threads

Latest posts

Staff online

Members online

Forum statistics

Share this page