After market UCA's loosening by themselves

Question to people running aftermarket UCA's.

I have been chasing a clunking noise when turning the wheel back and fourth while parked. Noticed the UCA's has some movement. Went to tighten the UCA nut and noticed it was pretty loose and did not have any drag.

The Nyloc feature was worn out.

When I removed the suspect nuts i noticed that there is a gap that opens up in between the frame and UCA.



Has anyone seen this condition when installing aftermarket UCA's?

• Condition exists on both sides.
• Gap closes when torqued
• ~1/8" GAP

 

Ho Leeeee shit. I was just in a thread the other day about this.....I see your bolts are installed uphill, which is opposite factory if you didn't realize that already.

I was in the camp that this didn't happen

 

Loctite 242 it.
Done.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/uca-installation-removing-the-bolt.667134/page-3

 

New nuts got loctite upon installation

 

Things can definitely go south if that thing were to come apart. Wasnt aware of the direction difference between stock and what i have. I may change it around when i take it apart next, thank you.

 

"The Nyloc feature was worn out"

Nylon Insert Lock Nuts (sometimes called Nylok/Nylock) are not the same as a standard nut with Loctite on it

 

New nyloc nuts from the dealership got installed when i noticed the old ones had the secondary retention worn out. Used loctite in conjunction with the new harware. Not going anywhere for now.

My question is mainly, why is there a gap between my UCA's and frame when i de torque the UCA bolt. It closes when i tighten it up, but its as if i am flexing the whole UCA closed by doing so

 

Aye, blue loctite ftmfw. I swear by that stuff. Ya know, when your life depends on it, the $50 bottle seems less pricey

 

Like you and others have mentioned, just replace the nut and use Loctite.
Your biggest concern should be that gap. I don't have the same UCA as you do, but when I had to install mine, I had to pry it a bit to get the washer and UCA in position.
What aftermarket UCA brand is that?

 

You should have metal spacers in those rubber bushings that attach the uca to the frame...with a gap I would suspect yours are too short, missing a spacer or the washers are the wrong ones. It should be snug before you apply any torque.

 

LSK

 

Going to reach out to manufacturer tomorrow and see what they say. I had thought about adding washers to fill the space.

 

Apparently LSK had issues with their earlier produced UCAs. If anyone is running their UCAs and they notice this defect. Contact them and see if you can work out a replacement.

New arms arrived yesterday.

 

glad you got this sorted. definitely looked like an arm manufacturing problem. If i were to guess, the arms were built too wide with the spacec in there between the arms and mount and would cause the nut to loosen up. i've installed a couple different brands of arms and they are all built too tight to where you need a pry bar to spread them a little in order to install.

 

How are the arms holding up?

 

I was under the impression that installing the long through bolt “uphill” (opposite of factory orientation) was a big no no. If you do lose the nut, the whole bolt Can slide out..that’s a rather large problem haha

 

@Ez2typethis I see you have the newer sealed uppers from LSK. Did you use washers like you would normally use on tradition bushing type? Or did you have source something with a. Smaller OD it did you just not use washers at all? Also, if it makes a difference, I plan to have their UCA mount gussets installed too.

 

Holding up good. Used a lot of corrosion preventative compound on the shanks of the bolts and good quality grease everywhere else. No anomalies so far.

 

They didn't seem to have any forward to aft play when I put them up. So I didn't use any washers. Not sure how the gussets will change that up though.