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SPC adjustable UCA quality questions

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by moondeath, Jul 1, 2016.

  1. Jul 1, 2016 at 1:21 PM
    #1
    moondeath

    moondeath [OP] Well-Known Member

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  2. Jul 1, 2016 at 2:01 PM
    #2
    taco06

    taco06 Well-Known Member

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    I can't let the wife know
    In the beginning they had problems with the bushings. Now they have a new style and seems to work. I had them for about a year. No issues and help out a lot on my alignment. I've noticed they have the new ball joints with the zerk fittings. One thing most do wrong when installing them is torquing the bolt while the truck is on lift / jack stands.
     
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  3. Jul 1, 2016 at 3:02 PM
    #3
    ImpulsedComa

    ImpulsedComa Well-Known Member

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    Are you supposed to re-torque to 150 ft/lbs after you drop it down from the lift?
     
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  4. Jul 1, 2016 at 3:14 PM
    #4
    nd4spdbh

    nd4spdbh Well-Known Member

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    The only quality issues were the initial bushing style (bonded rubber like the LCA bushing), but now with the full floating sleeve non bonded rubber bushings, there are no issues. I have had mine on for some time without issue.

    Also because the inner sleeve of the bushings are not bonded to the rubber, you can torque the UCA to frame bolt at any position of the uca. And the big ball joint can be tightened regardless of location as well.

    The LCA bushings, and lower shock bushing should ALWAYS be tightened at ride height and not full droop unless you wanna rip your bushings.


    My recommendations when installing the SPC UCA. Slide the ball joint ALLLL the way out to the most outboard setting of the slot, then have your alignment guy do your alignment. If you cant get slightly negative camber (-0.2 to - 0.4* of camber) with the caster you want (2.5-3.5*) then and only then move the ball inward on the slot. This way, if you take a big enough hit to move the ball you know where it goes back to (all the way out). or if you need to dis-assemble the upper ball joint, you know where to put it back together.
     
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  5. Jul 1, 2016 at 3:25 PM
    #5
    taco06

    taco06 Well-Known Member

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    Instructions say to torque only when lowered and it has the weight of the truck. Not sure if that has changed.
     
  6. Jul 1, 2016 at 3:38 PM
    #6
    nd4spdbh

    nd4spdbh Well-Known Member

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    Not necessary with latest style of bushings. They might be referencing lower shock bolt and or lower control arm however.
     
  7. Jul 1, 2016 at 3:44 PM
    #7
    Harry

    Harry Science, Bitches

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    Correct new installation instructions mention this as well - LINK

    EDIT - and I have had good luck with these UCAs - no issues, clunks, squeaks so far.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2016
  8. Jul 1, 2016 at 6:11 PM
    #8
    moondeath

    moondeath [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for the responses. Glad to hear good things about them. So whats the deal with them being way less money than other ucas?
     
  9. Jul 1, 2016 at 6:30 PM
    #9
    ImpulsedComa

    ImpulsedComa Well-Known Member

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    So, pull ball joint all the way outward, tighten to 150 ft/lb while truck is in the air. After putting the wheel on and lowering truck, re-tighten to 150 ft/lbs?
     
  10. Dec 22, 2016 at 6:47 PM
    #10
    Zack1134

    Zack1134 Member

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    Ome 3 inch lift 885 coils no spacers , lr uca's , 1.5 blocks in the back till i can afford leaf springs. DC2's and 265/75/16 mastercraft courser cxt
    I have a kind of long question that hopefully someone can answer. I installed the lr uca's back in June and have only put 5 to 7 thousand miles on them . They have the new style greaseable ball joints. I went for my safety inspection today and they failed it for horizontal movement in both ball joints. I contacted m spc by email and was told to lift my truck and try moving side to side by pushing and pulling the bottom of tires , it didn't move with is good . But the control arm does move slightly up and down when I apply pressure by hand. What the email said wasn't clear on if that is normal or not and they're offices are closed so I can't get a response from them any help would be greatly appreciated
     
  11. Dec 22, 2016 at 7:07 PM
    #11
    Degan

    Degan Active Member

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    Not normal. If they have movement the balljoints are bad. Are they not making noise when you hit bumps and stuff?
     
  12. Dec 22, 2016 at 7:15 PM
    #12
    Zack1134

    Zack1134 Member

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    I thought so thank you . That's the weird thing there's no noises when I hit bumps or anything. Hopefully I can reach someone at spc tomorrow and get new ones sent out
     
  13. Dec 22, 2016 at 7:18 PM
    #13
    Pickeledpigsfeet

    Pickeledpigsfeet Well-Known Member

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    I have about 80k on the non greasable joints and now about 10k on the greasable. I will get mine up on the lift after new years and see if mine have any play. Let us know what SPC says when they get back to you.
     
  14. Dec 22, 2016 at 7:20 PM
    #14
    Pickeledpigsfeet

    Pickeledpigsfeet Well-Known Member

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    Did you make sure that they are moving at the bj and not at the frame mount? I have seen them get loose at the mount but then they usually clunk/squeek.
     
  15. Dec 22, 2016 at 7:28 PM
    #15
    Zack1134

    Zack1134 Member

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    I will post and let you know what they say , hopefully they're in tomorrow with the holiday this weekend. Yea It's moving at the balljoints
     
  16. Dec 22, 2016 at 7:33 PM
    #16
    badger

    badger Well-Known Member

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    The only problem I have had with mine is horrible squeaking. The design almost guarantees they will squeak at some point because the poly is bound against the end washers when the bolt is torqued. SPC warranteed mine out at about 9 months. I modified my new set to eliminate that poly on metal binding before installing them to prevent that problem in the future.
     
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  17. Dec 22, 2016 at 7:47 PM
    #17
    steveo27

    steveo27 Ask me about my weiner

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    The same shit everyone else has.
    Ive got a year and a half on mine with no issues.
     
  18. Dec 22, 2016 at 7:51 PM
    #18
    Pickeledpigsfeet

    Pickeledpigsfeet Well-Known Member

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    What did you do to them? I have 90k on them and my bushings are in great shape. I pulled them at 80k and checked them for wear or play and the looked almost new. But i may have just got lucky, so having some ideas on how to fix them in the future would be nice.

    Now i have had COs that squeeked bad, that i thought were the UCAs at the time, but found that was not the case after swapping them out.
     
  19. Dec 22, 2016 at 8:13 PM
    #19
    Justinlhc

    Justinlhc Not looking for a relationship

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    I think I've had mine for ~9 months or so and haven't heard any noises from them. I haven't really messed with them after I set them where I wanted. I think I'd swap them out for a uniball if they were to give out that fast.
     
  20. Dec 23, 2016 at 8:45 AM
    #20
    Zack1134

    Zack1134 Member

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    Ome 3 inch lift 885 coils no spacers , lr uca's , 1.5 blocks in the back till i can afford leaf springs. DC2's and 265/75/16 mastercraft courser cxt
    I just got off the phone with spc engineering dept. The greasable style joints are designed with a anti wear spring on top , so a little up and down movement is allowed. They sent me a pdf file with a diagram and instructions on how to inspect them. So I'm gonna head back to the shop that did my inspection today
     

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