SPC Control Arm SNAPPED

I noticed my truck was gradually becoming bouncier than usual and was developing some serious bump steer, so I took a peak at the suspension today and saw that one of the bushing sleeves completely broke off the control arm. I don't know how long it was broken for, or how long it took to completely break, but it was probably a couple days at least. I really hope I didn't do any damage to anything else.

Has anyone else had this happen? My ball joints wore out a little while ago and I had to replace them and hadn't gotten around to contacting SPC yet. I know that ball joints have been an issue for them, but I didn't expect the actual arm to fail. I drive on windy mountain roads near cliffs regularly, and if the other side broke off too (which would only be a matter of time if I hadn't noticed), it literally could have killed me.

I just emailed SPC and hopefully they will get me some new control arms in the mail ASAP, because my truck is my commuter vehicle and I'm supposed to be going on a road trip very soon. These control arms are about 4 years old and really haven't seen much hard use.

 

Old style arms and bushings had that issue

 

Wow, to state the obvious, that could have been really bad! Good thing you decided to have a look around.

 

Dirt king ftw

 

SPC, never again.

 

At least SPC was quick to get back to me. They are shipping me new ones. I'd love some Camburgs or Dirt Kings, but I can't spend another $600 right now. I hope it's not this hot next week when I install them. It's been in the 100's here and the thin air and Utah sun don't help.

I really hope they fixed whatever design flaw mine had. If it didn't void the warranty, I would weld gussets onto the new ones like the Camburgs have, but I guess I will just have to keep an eye on them and hope they hold up.

 

The old style bushings allowed rotational forces to get transferred to the arms , especially if the bolts were torqued with the truck on the hoist