Icon UCA sleeve too short need help

Hi there,

My name is Chris and I have a 2013 Tacoma that I have your guys stage 3 kit installed on. I’ve had the kit on for maybe give or take 7,000 miles or so and have been having major issues with noise coming from the UCA’s. When I installed the system it was noise free for a couple of days & then developed a bushing squeak/noise. I used Superlube (as recommended on many sites to deal with noise of the bushings) and made sure to do it with the through bolt loose while raised in the air. I have lubed them 3-4 times (not over-greasing, made sure of that) and the noise would come back almost immediately. When rocking the truck back and forth you can see that the bushings are rotating within the arm (not supposed to do that, at least I don’t think so).

This past weekend I tore apart one of the arms to try and swap the grease out since I wasn’t convinced it was working right. I removed the bushings and sleeves from the arms and cleaned out, re-greased with lucas red grease (was also recommended) and put back together. This morning I noticed the same sound coming from the bushings (rotating again in the arms). While inspecting the hardware I noticed that the sleeve that goes into the bushings is not long enough to make contact with the washers (it’s too short). While I can’t measure it as it’s installed in the truck they definitely do not sit flush with the bushings when installed. I am convinced that is why my bushings/UCA’s are making the noise that I for the life of me can’t get silent.

My bushings are fine. Is there a way to warranty the sleeves? I’m sure all 4 of the sleeves are too short as I have the same problems/issues with both sides of the truck. While it would be a PITA to remove the sleeve to measure it as it’s on my daily driver. Is there a way to just purchase 4 of sleeves?

I looked over instructions and message boards from some of the other companies (Total Chaos/Dirt King etc…) and they seem like they’ve had the issue before with the sleeves not being long enough and had to mail out new sleeves to correct the problem. I’ve searched online for a while now and this is the only thing I can see that’s causing the noise. I can feel it when grabbing the UCA at the pivots with the noise & I’ve triflowed the uni-ball. It’s not coming from there. While I had the arm off the truck this weekend I checked the uni-ball and it was still very tight.

I attached a generic picture I found online showing what I’m talking about. Any help with this would be awesome.

 

From my understanding, the sleeves do not need to contact the washers. They are purposely short to allow for compression so that proper torque can be achieved. Could it be possible that the noise you are hearing be coming from somewhere else on the suspension? Uniball perhaps?

 

I believe the sleeves are supposed to contact the washers. If they didn't you would never be able to tighten them without heavily deforming the bushings.

If you could see your bushings turning in the UCAs, it's not supposed to do that. You are only supposed to lube the inside of the bushing where the sleeve goes. Also your sleeves don't look too short to me, this allows the washers to tighten up to prevent the bushings from spinning in the UCA, hence no lube on the outer dia of the bushings & inside the UCA eyes.

Also when you lube them, you should be loosening the UCA bolts completely, pump grease until you see it start to come out between the bushings & the washers, then reighten the UCA bolts. Also retighten the UCA bolts at ride height. Don't pump grease with the UCA bolts tight, the excess grease won't have anywhere to go & will deform the bushings.

 

The picture I listed was just for reference (not my parts) but showing the similar issue.

Tonight I’m going to torque the bolt to 85-90 ft lbs. was the only thing I’m sure I did t get tight enough

Icon’s instructions show to lube the entire bushing inside and out. I made sure this time there’s lube everywhere. It’s definitely not for a lack of it. When I removed the bushings after using super lube there was hardly any in there which was weird. The sleeve was almost dry. So I thought maybe the super lube got all watery and why it didn’t stay put. Plus icon instructions didn’t say what kind they recommend.

Come to think of it when I pump grease it comes out of the sides of the bushings (not between the washers) with the bolt loose. It’s done that since day one. The bushings have the grooves on the inside of the bushing but don’t look like the total chaos ones I’ve seen(or even the picture I listed for reference). Maybe the grease never gets to the sleeve hence why it pushes out the bushings around the arm? Could be why no matter how much I lube the sleeve is dry feeling.

At this point I’m tempted to by a new set of bushings and sleeves from wheelers and see where it goes. I’m at the point if it doesn’t fix it or Icon can’t help me I’m going to have to try a different companies arms (total chaos etc...) as the noise just bothers me. I do expect some because of the suspension being changed out but what I have is excessive.

 

Oh, yeah forgot about that part about the pic not being your's, in the pic they obviously aren't Icons. Still the sleeve doesn't need to be exactly the same length as the bushings installed but not considerably shorter. Mine weren't either.

I don't remember what Icon recommends on their instruction sheet but I don't agree with lubing the outside diameter of the poly bushing on suspension parts. The sleeve inside the bushing is what's supposed to pivot, not the entire bushing inside a suspension arm or leaf springs. If you look at poly bushings, they have grooves on the inside for grease, the outside rarely does unless it's a part that's designed to. You don't lube the outside of the bushing cause that can help make it rotate on the arm. Some people lube the outside of the bushing to make it easier to install with their bare hands but I don't do that.

When you pump grease into the zerks, grease gets forced through the grooves on the inside dia of the bushing h between the sleeve. Again no grooves on the outside of the bushings, the grease should not be pumping out between the outside of the bushings & the eye of the arm.

This is how I was taught & have always done it, lube only the inside. I do 5he same for my leafs also. This is also how TC recommends doing it. Go on youtube h watch TC's video on UCA servicing.

BTW I'm also running Icon tubular UCAs. Not sure exactly what noises your bushings are making but poly bushings will alway make some squeaking but it shouldn't be loud when properly lubed. I can only hear mine squeaking if I'm driving slow with the radio off, windows down, & I stick my head out the window to listen for it. Other than that I never hear my poly bushings squeak while driving.

Proper grease is important too. I always use a synthetic or silicone based grease, silicone would be better. For my Icon UCAs I use Super Lube, just the synthetic stuff, not their silicone formula. This is what TC recommemds also. For my leaf springs I use Formula 5, the stuff that Energy Suspension supplies with their bushings which is silicone based & & thicker than Super Lube but because my leaf springs don't have zerks, that will change tomorrow though & I'll be using Super Lube as well withbthe greasable shackles. I've seen one company recommend moly grease but I don't understand the reason for that for poly bushings. The majority recommend silicone.

 

I just wanted to say thanks for replying. What your saying is making sense. I’ve looked at the TC video and instructions and see they go in dry. The Icon ones are vague but I get it. This weekend I’ll pull them off and do the dry fitting of the bushings on the driver side and see if that works better. Right now my passenger side one I did makes no noise rocking the truck but the driver side sure does. If that works at some point I’ll redo the passenger side one. It’s just such a pain in the rear getting the bolt and washers to line up. There’s an AC line I feel like is close to where the bolt has to pass through.

I should be able to clean off everything and get it to where I have to press them in like on the TC video.

Thanks again for your help. I’ll post back with what seemed to fix what side.

 

No problem. Yeah I hear ya, not quick & easy to take it apart to redo it. Hopefully this might solve your issue, if not, I'm about out of ideas except for making sure they're torqued properly as you mentioned. I'm not a torque nazi but the UCA bolts are ones that I do torque for aftermarket with poly bushings. Yes please let us know what happens.

 

@spunger1
Have you been able to isolate the sound to bushings?
If the bolt it torqued the spec the washers and sleeves will come in contact with one another so it's unlikely, not impossible but unlikely.

Are you upper control arms Uniball or Delta Joint?

 

Hi there. Thanks for responding. They are the Uni-Ball UCA’s. At first I had them lubed wrong and they were dry (as if the superlube I used disappeared). The one side I regressed according to the instructions with different grease and will torque the bolt tonight. Currently that side is silent or is at least quiet to my standards.

Now my driver side makes noise like nuts and it’s the same sound I tried to combat this last weekend. I’m pretty sure when I remove it there will be no grease in there. I could try to just pump grease in but want to be sure everything’s good. Not the end of the world.

If I grab the arms and have someon rock the truck it’s pretty noticeable. You can feel the noise at the joints. It’s not the Uni-Ball but the bushings making noise. They have for a while now but I wanted to get them to quiet down. I know the noise is not the normal poly bushing noise.

One question I have which every other companies instructions show is to put the bushings in dry and just lube the sleeve and the insides of the bushing. Icons instructions make it look like you lube the bushing all over. Just wanting to clairify on that. Do you live the outsides of the bushings as you push them into the arms or they should be dry? When I installed the first time I lubed everything with superlube and it was dry inside the bushings. I’ve pumped like half a tube through them so I know there’s grease. I was surprised to see it dry. Last weekend when I took the arm apart I lubed everything inside and out (control arms inside, bushings inside and outside and sleeve). I fear I may have done it wrong but so far it’s quiet. I want to assemble/do it right as I don’t want to keep removing and installing the arms.

Thanks again for responding. I thought if those sleeves were not the correct length no matter how tight I torque the bolt to they will never pinch the washers and sleeve together. I’m pretty sure it’s an install/lube deal. I used a Lucas red grease that people suggested online and so far so good.

 

I wanted to post an update as it may help someone else with Icon UCA"s and noise issues.

I am on week 2 after re-doing everything. I removed arms from truck, cleaned out all old lube, re-lubed everything with Lucas Red & Tacky grease, placed back together, and I've been noise free so far. It is smoother riding and in all aspects what I expected from doing this. I also lubed the sway bar bushings with the same grease and so far, I have nothing but silence. It's kind of scary how quiet it can be as it's stock like.

Originally I used super lube, and to be honest I'm not sure how well it works but it turned to toothpaste in the bushings and when I pulled them apart there was nothing in the bushing. What was in the bushing was like paste and not grease. The sleeve itself was bone dry (as in nothing came off of it with a rag). I know when I installed them there was plenty I smeared all over it as well as pumped into it. I pumped over half a tube in trying to get them to quiet down so I know I had grease in them. When the noise first started I did the normal of jacking the truck up and loosening the bolt and pumping grease into them. I know I did not over-grease them. I have 7500 miles give or take since install, and that seems like an excessive amount of lube to pump through them. I lubed the sway bar bushings with the same lube and it was gone from there as well. I'm not sure how that stuff works, but I tossed anything with the word super & lube. Total disappointment. I feel like if I used the Lucas stuff (or something similar the first round) I would not have had to re-do everything.

I cleaned the uniball out as I was trying everything in there thinking it was that. It was still nice and tight with no excessive play etc... I cleaned it out and didn't lube it back up and it's quiet as can be.

So to anyone having major noise issues with the arms, if you used super lube on Icon bushings I'd remove them and clean it out and apply some other brand/make of lube and reinstall. I'd bet something that your noise would be gone or limited compared to what you were dealing with. I know the red or green grease from Lucas was recommended in other posts. I'm sure if I had another brand the superlube (TC arms) would work as that's what they spec, but for Icon I'm going with the Lucas Red & Tacky stuff.

Hope it helps someone else

 

How long did the red n tacky last? I’m dealing with the same thing. Used super lube and now they’re squeaking and clunking to high hell.

 

In the years since I've installed the system, I've had to take them apart fully 1x and cleaned the red & tacky stuff out, repacked everything and reinstalled. It stays quiet for a couple weeks and the noise comes right back. The bushings rotate in the arms (NOT like what Total Chaos shows in their videos). I've seen on Icon's website it looks like they might have redesigned the bushings as they look different than the ones that I have. Each time I've removed everything I've noticed that the sleeve is dry (like no lube is getting to it). If I pump the zerks I get lube pushing out the bushing/arm area so I just leave it at that knowing it's a lost cause to stop the noise. I got tired of tearing apart the arms to stop the noises so it's been left alone now for a couple years. I do have a set of Total Chaos arms that are new (if/when I do work on the truck installing those) OR switching to another brand like Camburg/LSK that use uniballs in the pivots.

The red & tacky stuff worked way better than the super lube. I just use the superlube on other items, just not the bushings.

I have to re-torque my LCA bolts though as I think that could be where some new noises have come from. It's been years since I had it aligned (it holds alignment fine) but the pops I hear in reverse I think are the LCA's.

It's sort of a bummer (the noises). I had a Camaro years ago with all suspension parts replaced with Poly bushings (all aftermarket A-Arms/Panhard rod bar, trailing arms etc...) and no noise what so ever. I tried a lot at first to quiet down the Icon arms but I think it's their design (maybe they've changed something) but the bushings in my case are the noise makers. I know when it's all installed the washers are suppose to bind against the sleeve and those are the only rotating pieces (the bushings should not move). Mine move ever so slightly, but enough to make noise.

 

Thanks for the info. If I remove my arm to regrese off the vehicle, do I need an alignment after I reinstall?

 

Some might say anytime you remove a front end part yes, but I never did and everything was fine.

If I adjusted the coil overs (for height increase or decrease) I’d do it, but for just removing the arms and futzing with them your good.