SPC or Camburg ball joint UCAs in Canada?

Hi all.

So I am revamping the suspension on my 06 DCLB. Here in Canuckistan, parts are hard to come by. If you find something you like, it’ll be 3-4 months to get it, or ship it from the US and get hit with 3-400 in shipping, duties and whatever other BS charge they can come up with.

Anyways, my local 4wheel shop has these in a “Ready to ship” option for around $950 for either set. My question is, I want to “set and forget” the alignment specs. So, which offering would provide a good on-road manners drive, and be easy enough for an alignment guy to dial in?

 

Not real sure what your end goal is but, Check out the link in my sig!
I recommend the SPC UCA's

 

End goal is a mall crawler with 2” rear and 2.5” front lift. @memario1214 , not where I am, they use a de-icing agent.

@toku58 thanks. I have read the thread you made on the SPCs, I just didn’t know if I needed that kind of adjustability.

 

I bought the JBA high caster std uca, direct from JBA to Quebec, UPS was the cheapest shipping like 60$ CAD (it's a 25 lbs box), but i had to pay custom fee. The other shipping option (fedex,dhl,usps) was the double if not more the price, with the chance to still pay custom fee/taxe. Total (exchange rate, fee/taxe,shipping) 865$ CAD. I think it's a good choice for the price with the protected ball joint, greasable bushing and ball joint, higher caster and If you need to change the ball joint any 6292 will do. Like you all my option at my local 4x4 shop was around 950$. The weld are perfect, the red power coating is nice and came with JBA bushing already installed.

I'm still waiting for my Elka 2.5 DC front shock, everywhere everthing is backorder. So i jumped the gun last month for the UCA even if my install date is scheduled in March.

 

How are you liking the JBAs in the winter? I know out there, they love their road salt. Any issues arise, clunks, squeaks etc.?

 

I just wanted to mention SPC is from Colorado. Mine do fine here in Denver & for my Wyoming trips (3 years old) & shipping may be cheaper from SPC (closer to Calgary). They're in Longmont 50 mins north of Denver. Recommend you buy directly from SPC!

***May sure whatever you buy is from a legit dealer/distributor of those parts because if you need to return them to the manufacture they won't always accept UCAs from bogus dealers.***

Also, bogus dealers are "companies" that have sold the UCAs for less than they should & get blacklisted essentially. If you buy SPC, take a picture when you take them out of the box. If you have to return them, they have a strict process. I'd imagine the other UCA companies do that too. My preinstalled pic of mine & I had to submit these because I bought them during the bad bushing year of 2018. SPC has corrected the problem & i got replacements for free! Customer service was tough but I understand why.

 

Thank you for that. Good to know they can handle harsher conditions like road salt. Interesting too, about warranty steps. I’ll keep that in mind.

 

I am just lucky I got excited & took the damn picture

 

I love Spc's and the adjustability of them. They do require a competent Alignment Tech to setup but they seems to work very well.

 

I thought you had set these up before...?

 

well some paper pushers can do it too but it helps having some common sense (something alignment tech's often lack)

 

That’s what has me rethinking these. There’s a few shops around here, but I’d like to take as much “difficulty “ out of a post-lift alignment as I can.

 

Get spcs im sure krave can get you a good deal on them.

 

I have had phone conversations with 2 other alignment shops to help walk them through the procedure as their tech's couldn't understand the SPC literature. If you are after a set and forget the SPC are not the right fit, if you are after a product that will allow you more freedom of adjustment than any other uca that helps fix tire clearance issues on the cab mount then maybe it's worth the little extra time.

 

That REALLY helps. In the end, I’m keeping tire size stock on 17s. Don’t know enough about alignments that I can walk a tech through setup. Finally, CMC is not something I foresee needing with stock sized tires. Much appreciated @a2lowvw and everyone for the insight.

 

Set your SPC's to "F" or "G" and have them do the alignment. When they tell you they can't get the Camber, tell them to use the Sliding feature of the SPC to get the camber.

The thing that almost all UCA manufacturers have been getting wrong all these years is the addition of "CASTER" You only cause problem when you add Caster!

When you lift your truck you loose the CAMBER! "G" setting on the SPC is no additional "Caster" "0" I believe "F" is like adding .25* Caster. This moves your tire away from you Cab Mounts. You will need to trim to from fender liner and minor trimming of the lower bumper plastic.

So when these Companies build UCA with higher Caster essentially they are creating more of a rubbing issue on the Cab Mounts. Which then require CMC to be done or Cab Mount relocation. So their so called "solution" UCA's are actually causing additional problems! (unnecessary issue)
This why I now Only recommend the SPC or the Icon's (But to adjust the Icon UCA correctly???) Your alignment guy need to be a JEDI Master!

 

Thank you @toku58 . I just read your post that you wrote today as well. I think the added steps has me concerned, as I have a rudimentary understanding of alignment. Obviously, more research is needed.

 

No problem! If you have any question feel free to message me and I will do my best to help.
Have a Great Night!