Elevate Suspension Ball Joint Upper Control Arms Review for the 3rd Gen Toyota Tacoma
I’ll admit, my Tacoma build is a very slow work in progress, but I have learned a lot along the way; such as which products are actually worth their money and which ones I regret spending my money on. Since I plan on upgrading to larger tires in the future and wanted to future proof my rig, I was in the market for some upper control arms. Rather than going with what everyone else was going with, I came across the Chromoly Ball Joint Upper Control Arms from Elevate Suspension.
After looking over the specs and features, I decided to pull the trigger. As of now, they have been installed for roughly a month and have been through a ton of daily driving and two off-road adventures and I look forward to testing out more of their capabilities in the future.
Why I Chose Elevate Suspension
Since I lifted my Tacoma, I knew I needed to upgrade from the stock upper control arms just for longevity purposes, get back wheel travel, and just upgrade for larger tires in the future.
When I was researching my upper control arms, I came across the popular choices (like SPC and DirtKing) but decided not to go with these because; one I didn’t want the hassle of having to explain the adjustable upper control arms to the alignment shop; and two, I couldn’t get a solid answer on whether people were really satisfied with these upper control arms. After reading a lot of reviews about Element Hard Parts other products, It was clear to me that they were producing high quality products and had great customer service and that’s something I can get behind.
While on the product page, some of the things that stood out to me were the OE-Quality sealed ball joints and maintenance free bushings. Since my truck is my daily driver that just so happens to be being built into an overland rig, I wanted something that would last a long time and that I didn’t have to deal with the headache of having to maintenance all the time.
The price also played a big factor as I really wanted to maximize the performance while keeping it on a reasonable budget. For only $599.95, this seemed like a great deal compared to the alternatives on the market and even saved me a couple hundred I could use for other mods.
Quality
When I first opened the packaging with the upper control arms, I was pretty pumped as they felt like a solid pair of upper control arms and overall pretty beefy which was a good sign.
After my first months use, the ball joint boot is holding up great, and still looks and feels brand new. The ball joint itself did loosen up a bit as expected which is a good sign because it didn’t really move out of the box.
I can really tell that the materials and quality was very thought out when making these upper control arms and they have a solid feel which makes me believe they will last a long time.
Unlike some aftermarket upper control arms, Elevate also takes the liberty of pressing your ball joints in for you making it awesome if you are in a hurry to get them installed. It comes with everything required so you can install them as soon as your package comes in.
Performance
After they were installed I could immediately tell there was more wheel travel than the stock upper control arms. After an alignment, I immediately took my truck to some small off-road trails and put them to the test. I noticed that I was getting more travel and the ride was much better.
As far as the offroading they have seen, it hasn’t been anything crazy like Baja racing or extreme rock crawling but for the average washboard road, small rocky hill climbs, and uneven terrains that I’ve seen, they have performed great. I’m pretty positive that these would also be a great addition for those who use their Tacoma on more harsh routes.
Technical Specs
1.25-inch diameter, .120-inch wall 4130 chromoly tubing
OE-Quality Sealed Ball Joints
Squeak-free, zero maintenance bushings that require no grease
Built in Camber and Caster for proper alignment and handling
Two Stage Gloss Black Powder Coat and Finish
Reinforced bushing pivot barrels
OE-style ABS routing provisions
Comes with all needed hardware
