Everything Elka and How They Compare

Interesting. I didn’t think of the xaxis. If this is the case, time to move on from these arms.

 

I'm not saying it's for certain, but it's my belief.

Cheers

 

I replaced mine at around the same range... so sad.
What's the next best choice for our salty roads and climate? I think something sealed is the best.

 

Total Chaos? Open to suggestions as well.

 

There was a bad batch of SPC arms that went out that the control arm bolt bushings/bearings do fail and allow lateral play. If you jack your truck up, and REALLY push in/pull out on the upper part of the tire/wheel you will hear it. I chased this noise for a while before I caught it. SPC should warranty them, they did for me but I bought and had installed through a shop. The shop also does a ton of installs and almost exclusively runs SPC arms.

 

Really appreciate this. Did yours make a loud pop/clunk noise, especially when the wheels were turned?

Im starting to think the arms in general are poorly designed. Parts should last longer than this.

 

They usually do last a long time. I know guys with many thousands of miles on their setups.

Mine started as a very muted clunk, almost sounded rubber on rubber initially like a bad bushing. I replaced my core support bushings (they were shot) and was SURE they were the problem, they were not. It was hard to duplicate on the street, needed a very sharp/square bump. I could duplicate it almost every time pulling into my driveway at decent speed (10-15mph) with the wheels turned.

Washboard gravel roads they would make a racket almost constantly.

Eventually, I found the problem but lived with it for a month or two until I could get it back to the shop. Went wheeling a few times. They were definitely wearing in more and more and causing more and more noise more frequently.

The shop that did mine has had 3 pairs of arms that had this issue. I'm sure they've installed 100+ sets.

 

I'll try and warranty mine, but I'm going to move on to something else either way.

Looking at the options out there, I think I'm going with JBA High Castor uca's.
They have replaceable greasable, sealed ball joints AND greasable bushings.

I'm not going to continue to throw time and money away chasing SPC issues every 10-20k miles. (I drive ~18k miles/year)

Cheers

 

let us know how it goes. Anyone run the new bilstein arms?

 

huge thanks man. My bushings are indeed shot. They did release a bad batch apparently. This was super frustrating, expensive and annoying. On to the next UCA.

 

What is the torque spec for uppers?

 

83 ft/lbs for the uca nut.

Cheers

 

Im really loving my Elka’s but I’m pretty sure my spherical bearings are shot at 20k, but I’ve been wheeling them hard. Squeaky as hell at the moment.

I do love the ride quality though!

 

Look into getting the stainless steel options, appears they've proven to outlast the standard bearings in the front lower eyelet location.

That's what I'll be doing my next round.

 

Thanks.

Can I purchase that directly from Elka? I imagine I’ll have to pull the entire shock?

Do know if it’s possible to check this without pulling the entire shock? I’ve replace my spindles in my apartment driveway before and that wasn’t fun.

 

1. I got misalignment spacers through the US service dealer, elka will direct you to go through a dealer. They're different for the coilover bottom vs. top, vs. rear lower set, FYI.
1. Elka has the basic COM10T, if you check out 303 Shock Services, they'll order the stainless steel varient (FKSSX10T).

1&2. Here's where I got my extra bit of learning from https://adventuretaco.com/replacing-the-spherical-bearings-again-with-stainless-steel/

2. He's got a good writeup and pictures for the lower bearing replacement, and yes you end up pulling the coilovers.

 

OMG, thank you! We’re so lucky to have this awesome TW community.

 

Hey, I never heard of 303 before. Looks like they are just down the street from me in Thornton. Exciting!

 

I actually ordered the lower bearings directly from Elka in Canada for $55 shipped to me in Oklahoma.

On their invoice it states the part as:

Toytec E56IFP lower bearing rebuild kit



Cheers

 

Interesting. I appreciate that. I intend to reach out today.