SPC vs Icon

Ok, so I have a "poor mans lift". Got a 2015 Tacoma Offroad TRD, did a add a leaf in back and coil spacer lift in front. I dont offroad much so for the most part I am happy with this and dont want to spend the 5k for a true lift that I will rarely use. I think 1.5" in rear and 3.5" in front, done by Maui Offroad in Oahu. They do good work. Also got the body mount chop. I bought SPC upper control arms for the lift to help with the alignment.

Its been a little over a year and my UCA ball joints now need to be replaced. I am going to see if this can be covered under SPC warranty. I dont offroad much at all, and mostly just love the stance of my truck.

Went to get alignment after downgrading tires from 285s to 265s and was told my lower control arms were seized. Confirmed this was true. Got those replaced along with tie rod inner and outers (and rack and pinion as that was leaking, but had been for a while). I was at the Goodyear shop who did alignment last, to check why i am hearing pops when turning and this is when i discovered that the ball joints are bad. Mechanic said he would either go with Icon UCAs or lower to a 2" lift in front to minimize the angle forced on the UCAs. He said the 3.5" lift in front is uncommon and likely causing the issue. What are your opinions? I rarely offroad, and really just want a reliable daily driver that can offroad here and there but dont need anything serious. Would prefer to keep the stance though.

My question is, what do you think of replacing the SPCs with ICONs? To keep the stance, this was the mechanics recommendation, but my understanding is the SPCs are more adjustable and better suited for daily driving with light to moderate offroading.

Would love to hear some opinions...

 

Anything higher than 2.5"-ish of lift is almost certainly going to cause issues with stock geometry, notably CV angles and driveline angles.

The SPC UCAs are... mixed bag at best. Some people have no problems, some people have nothing but problems, including premature failure of bushings and BJs.

I had a lot of problems with SPCs with only a mild lift, and after several RMAs/warranty replacements at very low miles, I switched to Dirt King tubular uppers, which are fully serviceable with standard/easily available bushings and BJs, and have extra caster built.into the geometry without having to deal with the proprietary SPC parts, or find a tech who knows how to actually use the adjustability of the SPCs.

The major advantage to the SPCs is the hyperadjustability but unless you have other extreme mods (fixed UCA adjustment plates, extremely large tires) you do not need that adjustability. Many non-adjustable UCAs have a degree or so of extra caster built in, which will let you easily push to 4.0+ caster to clear larger tires.

 

Repair the SPCs and lower your lift. Don't the tires look undersized since you're running 265s with a 3.5" lift?

 

SPC uca's are notorious for wearing out quick

 

Over 50k miles on mine with a good chunk of that off pavement and I'm on the original ball joints and bushings. SPC has had a few bad batches of ball joints and issues with redesigned bushings failing but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another set. I have to wonder how many of the bushing failures were due to people installing them improperly.

 

The ubjs and bushings on the SPC aren't phenomenal

 

JBA UCAs are highly recommended on this forum and I plan to go with that option in the near future. Just want to put that option on your radar if you do decide you need new UCAs. Your first choice and probably the most economical should be replacing the ball joints on your current UCA if you have no other issues. No matter what UCA you run, the ball joints need maintenance and after mileage, replacement.
I think bringing down your front lift to less than 2.5” is a good idea as explained above.

 

Mine have been on the truck since 2016 and haven't given me any issues. I grease the UBJ when changing the oil every 5k miles and greased the bushings upon install before everything was torqued at ride height.

My truck is quite a bit heavier than stock and it's driven in snow, on dusty desert tracks, and occasionally through mud when I can't avoid it. My plan is to refresh the lower control arms next fall and I am considering tossing in new UBJs and UCA bushings when I do but I'm also hesitant since there isn't any noise or play with them now.

 

I wont touch SPC UCA's with a 10 ft pole..... went through 5 sets of those shit xAxis joints.... thats 5 UCA set replacements. Ill never go back.

 

That is why I'm hesitant to replace the bushings...no reason to open that potential can of worms if it ain't broke.....

Well, that and I'm strongly considering a +2.5 LT setup.

OP already has the SPCs and the UBJ replacement on them is much easier than swapping bushings.

 

Yeah if you have the specride bushing style SPC uca, keep those, i got 50k miles out of my spec ride, then decided to to the "upgrade" retrofit kit to xAxis joints and then proceeded to need to replace whole arms every 10k miles after that of all street driving.

never again.

 

I've got the Icon delta joint uca's with a 2" lift... been great so far with zero issues. From what it sounds like your mechanic knows what he's talking about.

 

This! Running SPCs but had Icon billets before and sold/replaced with the SPCs due to Icon lack of adjustability. Running a 3" lift 33" tires and replaced my SPC bushings and joints after 30k with moderate offroading and wanted to uprade to x axis anyway. Like them but keep them greased with proper grease.