SPC LIGHT RACING UCA'S

He was not gentle, but he took care of the stuff he had just like I do. I have over 40k on my TC bushings and they look brand new. They even still have the mold marks on them or they did two years ago when I last cleaned them. Ill be taking them off for a cleaning and service very soon so Ill be sure to post some pics. I'd bet money the bushings still have the mold marks visible on them and are not worn away.


Not Scott. Cop from the shore who never took it offroad and a guy from NY who wheeled moderately. I personally helped the cop change his out to TC and the other guy I just saw break at a meet. We have discussed this many times already and in the midtravel thread there are many examples of these arms failing. Sometimes leaving people stranded in the middle of know where many states away from home or in one guys case he was in another country when his broke off.

 

I have the SPC Arms on my tacoma. Maybe 20,000 miles so far. No serious rock crawling but ALOT of washboard fire roads and mild jeep trails.

Last time I took it in for an alignment the tech said he thought there might be a little bit of play in the drivers side ball joint. Not enough to be concerned about but something to keep an eye on. I expect parts like this to wear from the use I put them through. 20k is a little early but if it lasts another 50k before it needs to be replaced I can live with that.

I am not gentle but not abusive at the same time. Uniballs aren't really an option here because I would be replacing or rebuilding them each year due to the salt and stuff on the winter roads.

 

Just let me know where I need to drive and what food to bring!

 

I have 4 years/30-40k of salt/mud/sand on my uniballs with zero issues and no play. As long as you get stainless they will last. My chrome balls only lasted 9 months (1 winter).

 

I have roughly 70k miles on mine and they have been great up until now. Nothing structurally wrong with them, just need new bushings.

 

Makes since. When did they start offering stainless?

 

No need to roll your eyes. You've had your experience (and have witnessed many others). Ive had mine. I think everyone has the intelligence read and make their own decisions

 

Whats wrong with the OEM? Should be able to stand up to all of that

How much are you lifting?

 

Ive just had a second set of balljoints fail on me, spc is replacing them but i didnt even have 15000 on these last ones. bushings are fine.

 

I've had my UCA's for a little over a year and yesterday when I had the oil changed the technician said the ball joints were bad. I looked at them and there wasn't any grease build up around the boot but the boot on both sides seemed pretty flat. Also, the stock LCA ball joints are bad and those boots do have grease buildup around them and look pretty flat. I have an extended warranty on my truck through the bank I got the loan from so the LCA ball joints should be covered but I'm gonna have to take care of the uppers. Anyone have a write up on replacing them? Doesn't look too hard, would just like some direction/info on the job. Figure I could do it since I did install my lift.

 

Does this seem to be more a 2nd gen issue?

 

I thought your truck hasn't run in like 2 years

 

I was looking at some of the instances of the light racing uca's breaking and came across a very interesting statement from spc on why this is happening.
It was on a 4 runner forum and a guy was having some noises from his. He talked to a spc spokesperson about it and the snapping issue with some of these arms.
They said the main reason is people aren't greasing the inside of the spec ride bushing and the pivot sleeve with enough grease. Spc talked about how important it is to use their supplied grease with this step and use an efficient amount.
I'm just guessing that not greasing enough leads to binding and then eventually something has to break and it's the arm at the weld that snaps.
Also the supplied grease is like a cv axle grease where it is less likely to wash out.

 

If that is the case, what is the reason for not greasing them at the factory? Harder to install etc? Without a zerk, its hard to fill it with grease. How is this done properly?

 

You can remove the boot but also i do agree an say there should be a zerg fitting on there just for ease of maintnents...

Sign of a bad ball joint isnt nessisarly grease build up around the boot but a abnormal of axle and radial movement

 

I heard that a lot of companies stop putting the zerg fittings on them to prevent people from over-servicing them and blowing the seals or boot like in the past

 

zerk

 

OZ-T, I couldn't remember if you have LR UCA's or not? If you do what do you think if them?

 

Yes I have them , and I have had no problems in 4 years so for me they are working just fine

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I've had mine for about 2 years now and I've had no problems as well.