4th Gen - Extended Upper Control Arms with Uni-ball joint

[The Electrician]

I need to buy some for my 07 Is he cranking out more than one set?

sure just PM Brandon@BTF-fab or email him jalopydriver88@yahoo.com he'll be glad to help

 

[The Electrician]

Today finally I received BTF-FAB 1/2" extended upper control arms with uni ball for 4th Gen.

They look great, though I need to pain them first before I'll be able to Install them.

Tomorrow I'll have them painted and installed, I'll post photos of them on Friday at most

 

[Ronin8002]

Glad to hear that you finally got them I am still considering that coilover setup but may wait to see how yours comes out.

 

[The Electrician]

you should also consider BTF spacers + Rancho QL

 

[MikeE101]

you should also consider BTF spacers + Rancho QL

im sorry but i never understood the point of the Rancho QL. when i looked at a picture of it the shocks look like the same size as the stock ones? are they adjustable or something?

 

[The Electrician]

im sorry but i never understood the point of the Rancho QL. when i looked at a picture of it the shocks look like the same size as the stock ones? are they adjustable or something?

yes they are stiffness adjustable with tuned valve and with longer travel, they will improve the ride quality

 

[Ronin8002]

The valving on the struts is adjustable for ride characteristics. Also, the spring seats are slightly higher on the strut body compared to stock; this causes the strut to remain in a position that is extended further down than stock, which results in a mild amount of lift.

 

[MikeE101]

thanks!! maybe i should do this insted of btf

 

[Ronin8002]

Big price difference between the two, but if that's no problem then go for it.

 

[The Electrician]

Here are the BTF Extended Upper Control Arms for 4th Gen.

 

[FLOffroad]

Ooooo, nice stuff.

 

[The Electrician]

Today I've installed the extended upper control arm and they work great

the installation was a direct procedure

• jack the vehicle
• remore the tire
• remove the side bolts of the UCA
• remove the bolt that attached the spindal with UCA
• install the new UCA with putting a new washer for the side bolts and repeat every thing in reverse

only one thing when I ordered them I request them to be extended for 1/2" which i discovered it is just fit with the UCA pushed all the way back and there are no space for a tolerances or further adjustments

so I recommend the the arms extend 3/8" to be more adjustable



For ordering PM Brandon@BTF-fab or email him jalopydriver88@yahoo.com he'll be glad to help

 

[Ronin8002]

Mine are the exact same way. I believe Brandon said that he had to limit the extra length because if they were too long it would have resulted in too much positive camber at normal ride height....more than could be compensated for by an alignment.

So it seems there are two ways to get around the issue of arm/spindle contact on the spring:

1. limiting straps

OR

2. using a smaller strut spacer on the top and making up the rest of the lift difference by preloading the coil springs.

I am currently working on option #2 by modifying the OEM type struts and will order some smaller BTF spacers.

For my vehicle it looks like I will be limited to a 1" BTF spacer on both the front and rear. To make them work I am going to remove the existing mounting studs on top of the struts and install studs that are 1" longer so they can pass though the BTF spacers and extend through the top mounting area so the nut can be installed.

The rest of the lift height will be gained by preloading the coil springs by .75" on the front and .5" on the rear.

This will result in the same amount of lift as I have now with 1.75" front/1.5" rear BTF spacers, but the control arm and knuckle will not touch the springs and the axles will not touch the frame in the rear.

The only disadvantage is that I will lose .75" downtravel in the front and .5" in the rear, but this is not significant in my opinion and it definitely is better than having suspension parts rubbing together.

When you get your coilovers you will be able to do the exact same thing by adjusting the spring seats on them. Or you can eliminate your truxx spacers entirely and adjust the coilovers to give the entire amount of lift you have now (best option, all the advantages with none of the disadvantages).

Today I've installed the extended upper control arm and they work great

only one thing when I ordered them I request them to be extended for 1/2" which i discovered it is just fit with the UCA pushed all the way back and there are no space for a tolerances or further adjustments

so I recommend the the arms extend 3/8" to be more adjustable

 

[The Electrician]

Mine are the exact same way. I believe Brandon said that he had to limit the extra length because if they were too long it would have resulted in too much positive camber at normal ride height....more than could be compensated for by an alignment.

So it seems there are two ways to get around the issue of arm/spindle contact on the spring:

1. limiting straps

OR

2. using a smaller strut spacer on the top and making up the rest of the lift difference by preloading the coil springs.

I am currently working on option #2 by modifying the OEM type struts and will order some smaller BTF spacers.

For my vehicle it looks like I will be limited to a 1" BTF spacer on both the front and rear. To make them work I am going to remove the existing mounting studs on top of the struts and install studs that are 1" longer so they can pass though the BTF spacers and extend through the top mounting area so the nut can be installed.

The rest of the lift height will be gained by preloading the coil springs by .75" on the front and .5" on the rear.

This will result in the same amount of lift as I have now with 1.75" front/1.5" rear BTF spacers, but the control arm and knuckle will not touch the springs and the axles will not touch the frame in the rear.

The only disadvantage is that I will lose .75" downtravel in the front and .5" in the rear, but this is not significant in my opinion and it definitely is better than having suspension parts rubbing together.

When you get your coilovers you will be able to do the exact same thing by adjusting the spring seats on them. Or you can eliminate your truxx spacers entirely and adjust the coilovers to give the entire amount of lift you have now (best option, all the advantages with none of the disadvantages).

is arm/spindle contact on the spring an issue???

it is only happening when the tire become air born

as long as it is not hurting the CV, the lower ball joint nor the steering rods, I'm quit happy with the extra wheel articulation. actually it gives more to the off-road capability of my Ursula

 

[Ronin8002]

is arm/spindle contact on the spring an issue???

it is only happening when the tire become air born

as long as it is not hurting the CV, the lower ball joint nor the steering rods, I'm quit happy with the extra wheel articulation. actually it gives more to the off-road capability of my Ursula

As you said it only happens when the tires become airborne. Depending on the type of terrain you drive on it may happen frequently or not at all. I would prefer that it not happen at all, but I tend to think in terms of the worst case scenario. For me it does not occur too often but like I said I think I can prevent it from happening without losing lift or doing too much extensive modification so I will try what I described in my last post and see.

I think the only time it is bad is if the spindle gets caught in between or hangs up on the coils...though it does not look like that would happen to your truck based on the photos. On mine the spindle slides a little on the coils and the uniball cup touches the spring but only at full suspension droop. It is not a very big problem but something I would like to see if I can fix. You may get some of the coating on the springs scraped off (as I have) but that would probably be the worst thing that might happen.

The CV's and lower ball joints/steering components should be fine.

 

[The Electrician]

As you said it only happens when the tires become airborne. Depending on the type of terrain you drive on it may happen frequently or not at all. I would prefer that it not happen at all, but I tend to think in terms of the worst case scenario. For me it does not occur too often but like I said I think I can prevent it from happening without losing lift or doing too much extensive modification so I will try what I described in my last post and see.

I think the only time it is bad is if the spindle gets caught in between or hangs up on the coils...though it does not look like that would happen to your truck based on the photos. On mine the spindle slides a little on the coils and the uniball cup touches the spring but only at full suspension droop. It is not a very big problem but something I would like to see if I can fix. You may get some of the coating on the springs scraped off (as I have) but that would probably be the worst thing that might happen.

The CV's and lower ball joints/steering components should be fine.

I have the springs scraped as will and this is happinning from the first time I installed the Truxxx spacers.

And becuase I jump my Ursula on dunes with speed I can assure you James the scraped spring and fast damaging upper control's ball joint is the worst case scenario. And hopefully with BTF UCA I will never get the uni-ball damaged as OEM

 

[TexasArmadillo]

I love this thread.

 

[The Electrician]

a quick review:

the arms work great, with the new polyurethane bushings I feel the handling and steering is more precise and firm specially in corners on-road and off-oad

I wonder if another 4th gen owner has tried the arms and what does he think about them?

 

[stepj19]

Well my stock upper control arm finally let go today! The left one snapped but luckily I was only doing about 15mph. The left wheel folded under the explorer. The cv broke in half. And the brake line ripped in half. Needless to say. I called Brandon today and left a message. Hopefully he calls me back soon so I can get these ordered today. And anyone else who is using stock Uca u should really order these. I'm just lucky I wasn't going faster!

 

[stepj19]

I got em ordered so I'll post some pics when I get them on