light racing UCA help

was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem. Last year went to get my trucked aligned and the ball joint on my LR UCA was toast along with the bushing, so specialty products sent me new ones. Now fast forward to last week. I noticed that my tires were wearing a little funny so i brought it over to my friends shop, and guess what the ball joints are shot again. Now i don't wheel my truck, sadly its more of a mall crawler (learned along time ago don't wheel a daily driver). Anyway has anyone else had this problem?

 

Brutalguyracing has had his LR UCA BJ's replaced a couple times

 

I've heard of others having this same problem. You get what you pay for, is the old saying. Go cheap, get cheap.

 

nice ha ha you would think that they would last a little long.

 

You would think so...

 

the thing is that they really weren't that cheap i mean they're only $150 cheaper then Camburgs. I just figured i would try them because i like the idea of adjustment with them.

 

Mine have been just fine . Ive heard some issues early on with the LR ball joints but those were corrected (allegedly).

 

The problem is the amount of lubrication that is in the BJ from when it is shipped. If you don't lube them when you get them, the amount that is in there may not with stand weather and abuse. The last set of LR UCA's that I instaleed had significantly more lube in the BJ's than any of the previous ones, and they changed their lube to a different type as well. They may have finally figured out that the lack proper lubrication has been their problem and future sets will be OK.

 

well I have to wait until monday to get a hold of SPC, but i hope that they will replace them. Also if they look like the need more lube what should i put in there?

 

I've taken the boots off of them and cleaned all the old grease out with a rag. Then whatever grease that you use for your drive shaft is fine, but if you want, I would recommend Lucas Red N Tacky. When you do lube them, over lubing is not a bad thing, really get it in there and work the joint around, then put some in the boot and slide it back on, then re clamp it. Once it's back together, make sure you purge all the excess lube out before tightening them to the spindle. You can do this by pulling the boot as far out as you can while it is still clamped to the BJ and inserting a small screw driver or an awl between the post and the boot, then press the boot down as far as it will go to purge all the air and excess grease out of the boot. You want to really compress the boot, because when you install the BJ to the spindle, the boot will be compressed and you don't want it to over expand the rubber.

 

just to post an update, SPC is sending ball joints for free, now that pretty good customer service i think

 

^I'm glad they are taking care of you. Were they interested in looking at your old set to see what went wrong with them?

 

not really they just wanted me to email them some pictures of them, even though pictures don't really show that they had play in them. But hey i'm impressed with their customer service!