SPC Upper Control Arms Maintenance

Recently got some SPC UCAs installed on the Taco and noticed they have grease fittings. Just wondering if that’s something I need to do regularly? If so, how much?

 

The instructions say to do it every few thousand miles if you do a fair bit of offroading, most people myself included do it every oil change. Just a few pumps of moly grease with a grease gun.

They were greased after installation right?

 

Yes, they were. Is the black rubber seal thingy supposed to look bulgy after greasing? They're not right now I'm just wondering.

 

That's the boot that holds the grease, it's supposed to look that way. Just a heads up, after you grease them a few times you will likely see some grease coming out the bottom of the boot, and it's normal. Just have to wipe it off. The old grease has to come out from somewhere. Just don't go putting a dozen pumps of grease in each side at once, just a few pumps is all it needs every few thousand miles. But you will start to see the old grease come out eventually.

Just figured I'd mention that since sometimes people see grease coming out the bottom of the boot and think something's wrong.

 

Sounds good, thanks for the info! I forgot to ask the shop before I left and I bought all the parts from them so I have no packaging/instructions

 

Here you go, should be for the 3rd gen part number SPCs..but the maintenance instructions are all the same anyway

https://www.spcalignment.com/instructions/25480-INS_WEB.pdf


You'll want to keep that handy if you want an alignment shop to adjust them sometime, since it has the different settings on it for caster adjustment.

 

Thanks! One last question, is the boot supposed to look full/bulgy the entire time? I could have sworn when I left the shop after the lift was installed it looked full, now it looks kind of deflated. Probably have driven 1000 miles since then.

 

Probably just means the grease has moved around a bit after the arms articulated when you drove around for awhile. As long they were greased after install you're fine. If they were overgreased you'd probably see the excess coming out the boot.

 

Those are excellent UCAs for the money most likely the best on the market in terms of the benefits they offer.... however if you do any serious wheeling the old ball joint on the 25470 wears out real quick...here’s the link to the updated ball joint for reference. Haven’t been able to break this one.
https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/263012058498

 

Do you need to jack the front up to grease these, take the pressure off? I did a couple of pumps and grease started coming out of the connection (between gun and nipple). The bag doesn't fill/look overfilled either. My only other thought is after 10k, they are still full. Did I screw this up?

 

I don't jack up the truck when I do mine. Sounds like your zerk fitting on the ball joint might be blocked up or not working right. Should be easy to replace though, the zerk fitting should just thread in/thread out

If you had too much grease in the boot you'd know it because it comes out the bottom of the boot when it gets too full

 

Saw this thread, and had the same problem. Talked with the techs at toytec, and they said with 3rd gen tacos, you need to flip the original mounting bracket 180°. So the spacer goes so that the original bracket will face as far forward as possible, then take your original bracket and flip it, then mount it, this should give you an extra 1/4" on each side... Or so they say... I haven't flipped mine yet, but will when I get home, I'll post pics too if you want.

 

Update: techs were right. Flipping the original bracket works fine, added maybe a 1/4" of space. The first pics are before, 2nd set is after.

 

I grease mine every oil change. (Every 8K)

 

I know this is a pretty old thread but I just got some SPC UCA’s on my first gen with a 2.5” lift and had to set my caster to +3.2 degrees to fit 275/70 17’s is this pretty normal? I know +2.5 is about max factory settings in the green so I’m not too concerned. Just noticed one side was rubbing bad and the other was fine

 

The tech at the dealer thought my balljoints were blown out. I was concerned after he told me that, but a little research relaxed my anxiety. He obviously wasn’t aquatinted with SPC. I don’t blame him. I’m glad he pointed it out.

 

I have a 3rd gen, but my caster is at 4* and it seems fine. However, I have heard it’s possible to move the wheel forward without going out of spec on caster.

 

yeah the boots aren't completely sealed and with all the added grease that SPC calls for every few thousand miles or so, that old grease has gotta go somewhere...doesn't just disappear lol. I just take a shop towel and clean it up a bit every time I add a couple pumps of grease

 

Yup. It’s a PITA to get in there with the wheel and on, but might save some time to leave it on.

I shouldn’t have been concerned because I’ve owned other equipment with grease zerks, but I took the techs concern serious