Colorado B.S. Thread

Sotted last week in Jersey.

 

good point... which lot did you say you parked in again??

 

Who are those buc-freaks in here?

 

Initial experience with Tru was positive. They seem to have identified the cause of the mystery popping noise and provided suggestions for how to address it. Since they didn't do anything other than diagnosis, they didn't charge me. They emailed me a report with technician notes, images, and a video of them demonstrating the cause of the issue which will be useful for filing a warranty claim with SPC.

 

Another case of the "this is acceptable play" with the SPC UBJs? I've purchased a grease gun to keep loaded with the "SPC approved" grease and loading up the UBJs every few thousand miles since installing a new set. The last set were maintained as recommended by SPC and still went sloppy in under 20k miles of mostly pavement use.

 

They didn't say it's acceptable play. They told me it's preventing them from performing an alignment and the balljoint will either need to be rebuilt or replaced. Since my UCAs are just over a year old, I contacted SPC for a warranty claim. They told me there were issues with a batch of these during covid, so I may qualify for an outright replacement from SPC. Filing the claim now, so we'll see what happens.

 

I have not stepped inside Tru Automotive myself - but your experience is encouraging. There was also this article/review on Trail Tacoma site that references Tru.

@mybrainishuge - how was the waiting area at Tru?

 

I didn't mean to make it seem like Tru said that. Hopefully you won't get the canned response from SPC like many of us have received. SPC's level of "acceptable" play is past the point of popping and loose-ness.

 

im glad your experience was a positive one.

So the spc arms are the issue?
Thanks for the update
Much appreciated

 

I agree SPC is dropping the ball!!
Its totally unacceptable,and the ball joints are not cheap.

 

Im literally parked right underneath the security camera tower.

On Monday I’ll inform you of any irony…

 

They have tanning beds, complimentary massages, chocolate fountains with fresh fruit, and just for setting food inside they give you a free set of maxtrax and snorkel like every Tacoma owner's dream... The waiting area is fine. It's nothing special. The "shop" element of it is pretty minimal. They have some merch along the walls, but not much. I just dropped off my truck and left, so I wasn't paying too much attention to whether they have comfortable chairs.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound defensive or combative. I was just clarifying what they said about it. Maybe there is a certain amount of play that some mechanics consider acceptable, but the tech at Tru thought mine was bad enough to warrant repair or replacement.

I've called SPC twice. The first time was about a year ago when I called to ask if they have a local recommended shop for adjusting their UCAs. The guy was friendly and eager to help. He referred me to ToyTec, but I didn't end up taking my truck there. The second time I called was today and I think I got the same guy. Really friendly. I had to do very little explaining before he said it sounds like I would qualify for a warranty replacement. He emailed me requesting more details so they can process it. The guy at Tru told me

What I've appreciated about both times I've called is how quickly they answered the phone. I didn't have to go through a phone tree. It rang maybe once or twice and a guy picked up and said, "This is Jack with SPC..."

That's the current theory and it seems plausible. I was hearing a popping or clunking sound while turning through a dip like in intersections. If the balljoints have enough play then it makes sense that it'd move around and probably make some noise during that.

 

More like palladiumy, or platinumy, and or rhodiumy...

 

I used to recommend SPC arms to pretty much everyone. This is just my opinion based on my Tacoma and several others that I have worked on: SPC either has major QC issues or has gone to cheaper manufacturing practices. I have yet to see a set of ball joints purchased in the last 4 years make it more than a year without what I would consider unacceptable play. Seems to be a 50/50 chance of getting them to warranty. No matter what’s actually going on at SPC, I don’t recommend their UCAs anymore

 

im fucking dead lmao

 

At some point after replacing many sets of UBJs, it’d be cheaper to just SAS the truck.

 

we need a business nerd to do a cost benefit analysis spreadsheet

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2014-toyota-tacoma-15/

Saw this 1 online