LR UCA Spec-ride bushings

Seems I have a worn spec ride bushing after about 30K miles. I have the newer style LR UCA and just replaced the balljoint. SPC sent me a set under warranty because they had some play. Are the bushings hard to replace? I'll have to remove the UCA to confirm but it did seem very loose and had some play when I replaced the driver's side balljoint.

I don't think I can blame this on poor quality product, I ride pretty hard in rough conditions but I might be moving to a JBA UCA in a couple years since they seem simpler and cheaper to service.

On a side note, after Toyota warrantied a front axel because of a torn boot (broken stabilizer bar link ripped it), they aligned my truck with 3.1 - 3.3 Caster. Love the little extra caster compared to the 2.7 I had before, much more stable on the road.

 

i accidentally cut my old bushings out too far and cut into their extremely thin cups and i welded it up and sold them. After the trouble i had with SPC within 2 years, id recomment buying something else if you can.

 

Thanks for posting this, especially when you feel that it is not due to product quality.
Most people either press or cut the old bushing out.
The JB UCA appears to be a fixed position which typically does not allow for large caster, you may want to contact them first to see if the location is outboard of the stock position.

Sorry, not familiar with your LR/SPC UCA problems (from the content of your message), though there was a period where many people had failed welds, which was a quality issue. I have over three years and 40k on mine with no issues other than surface rust.

 

Got time to change my bushings. Actually, only my rear left one was shot but I still replaced both on that side. The other side was as tight as the day I installed them so I didn't bother replacing them. The only thing I can think of is that I did hit a very nasty rut at 60 mph a couple months ago and it might of damaged the bushings on the left side. Anyways, I just cut out the inside side of each bushing at a 45 degree angle with a sturdy box cutter to clear the metal tube and used the 1/2 inch threaded rod method, with a large washers and a large socket (1 1/8" I think) to push it out as I lightly tapped on the bushing housing. They popped right out. Installed the new ones using the same method as described in the instructions. The first one was hardest as I was trying to figure out how to do it but the second one took less than 15 minutes to take out and replace. Replacements are 35$ + shipping for a complete set (both UCA's) so it's probably worth replacing the bushings as oppose to buy new UCA's.

 

If you have the new bushings, where the sleeve is separate from the bushing, then the swap is easy. Take a look here if you have the old style.