To uniball or not

[cbans]

I have c&t beams that are plated now. I was going to go with poly pivots, but now I am not sure. I was reading threads about changing to uniballs and trying to figure out if it was worth it to me. The truck is a daily driver; will the uniballs tighten up the play in the frontend a bunch and how much vibration will I end up with? Thanks for any input.

[philofab]

You will only have vibration with uniballs if something is wrong, IE wheel bearing, unbalanced tire, broken axle, ect.

If you aren't going with a uniball, go with a rubber bushing instead of the urethane. The urethane binds and destroys itself quickly.

[Mr. VanDii]

I'm doing uniballs. They will be awesome!

[cbans]

You will only have vibration with uniballs if something is wrong, IE wheel bearing, unbalanced tire, broken axle, ect.

If you aren't going with a uniball, go with a rubber bushing instead of the urethane. The urethane binds and destroys itself quickly.

I would assume that there would be good difference in the deflection (upgrading to the uniball) is that right? I am asking these questions cuz I am not going to be able to do it my self and I checked the thread on the install and I know it's not going to be a cheap upgrade.

[VintageIronFab]

I did the uniballs myself -- I personally think is worth while and pretty easy to install. I forget the cost but it wasn't that expensive for the parts. What kind of labor Cody are you looking at? I don't think there's more than 3 hours labor max to do it.

[cbans]

I was looking at your thread and if I have to pay somebody to mock it up check it, put it together tear it apart etc. Then that ends up being quite a bit more than just having beams built and I install them while rebuilding the front end.

[dtbback]

What size uni also do you guys order? I know they need to be machined down to fit in the stock pivots.

[motoxscott]

You use a standard 1" wide series uniball (AIN-16T/AIB-16T) in a standard width cup that you machine down a bit on either side and use correctly sized spacers for a 9/16" bolt and the proper width to go into the factory mount. You can get the full kit from Richer Racing or Camburg ready to go.

- Scott

[PaulW]

You will only have vibration with uniballs if something is wrong, IE wheel bearing, unbalanced tire, broken axle, ect.

If you aren't going with a uniball, go with a rubber bushing instead of the urethane. The urethane binds and destroys itself quickly.

I would assume that there would be good difference in the deflection (upgrading to the uniball) is that right? I am asking these questions cuz I am not going to be able to do it my self and I checked the thread on the install and I know it's not going to be a cheap upgrade.

====
I doubt if you will notice any difference between stock rubber and uniball
My rubber lasted about 8 years with heavy off road use in Baja and hardly any highway driving. Miles on the rubber was over 10k. Why bother with uniball until you wear out the rubber.?

[Travisfab]

I think the biggest advantage with uniballs is being able to push your beams forward an inch or so.

[cbans]

Gotta bring this back from the dead. I ordered uniballs from camburg. How are these things going last? I searched and didn't find anything.

[ESHALLBETTER]

Race car parts take race car maintenance. It is going to depend entirely on how you use the truck though. They'll eventually wear out but I wouldn't base your decision on wear. You'll get a lot of use out of them, and they're not tough to replace when the time comes.

[Wrightracing.net]

On daily drivers with heim joints and uniball's, the best way to make them last longer is to run dust covers on the uniball's and boots on the heim joints. They slow down the break down of the joint liner that is affected by sand, dirt and the elements when parked outside overtime.

[dtbback]

I think I remember reading a thread where all those do is trap dirt and lead to excess wear. Have you experienced anything similar with yours?

[Wrightracing.net]

I have not used the boots on hiemjoints but I have used the covers. The covers worked well and kept all the dirt out. When I put my new 1.25" hiems on my radius arms I am going to run the boots for a couple month's and see if they let any dirt in.

[PaulW]

My rig has more desert use than any pre-runner. Used on the crappy Baja roads on a weekly basis for 6 months every year for many years. Never had any need to service or replace any of the uniballs or rod ends. Lasting longer on the Baja roads than the stock setup. Bottom line is wear on the uniballs should not be a concern. No boots on mine.

[cbans]

Thanks for the replies. I am really looking forward to getting the parts in the bronco.