SPC UCA failures

I have SPC UCA and went with them because of adjustability. The alignment went smooth and truck rides nice meeting my expectations. I have read reports of them failing which initially had me leaning towards JBA. Anyone have experience with SPC failing or what to watch out for? I currently grease the driveshafts every 5k oil changes and will grease them also.

 

Disclaimer: Have not used these, and don’t know anyone personally who does. What I share is the fruits of my research (a several month-long comparison of over 40 UCA options).

They seem to have a decent warranty if you cover all your bases at purchase time, but I have read stories of warranties not being honored because of a lack of registration/receipt.

I’ve also read that if you off-road it hard, the control arm can snap where the arm meets the bushing. I don’t remember reading about any of them failing prematurely from strictly on-road use.

They seem to be the perfect option for the light-duty crowd given their weight, cost, adjustability, etc.

 

I have them on the shelf for my Runner. I don’t think they have had any recent issues with them and I didn’t have issues with them when I ran them on my Tacoma.

 

I've ran SPC UCAs for 2 years, they've been great for exactly what OverRunner outlined.
I have 3/2 Bilstein suspension lift, upgraded springs, 17x9 0/4.5, LT285/70R17 E, little bit of added weight. SPC arms and ball joints and bushings held up with all that.
What often goes on people is the ball joints and ball joint boots. My boots never ripped, but I blew out one grease seal before from way over pumping the grease gun from inexperience.
Recently replaced tie rods, and my shop said you got 6 months left on those SPC ball joints. I bought a replacement kit from Lordco $200-300 gunna do it myself

 

They had issues during covid because of manufacturer changes due to supply chain, and seem to have now worked out the deficiencies with new stock. From what I gather

 

4 years and over 30k miles...no issues. I just replace the ball joints as preventative maintenance tho

 

Mine were in a batch that was received and failed. When you grab the UCA and test it for any movement or play, it would jolt and move around as well. Ball joints would also spew grease every time i started to drive or take it off on a dirt road. This was even installed by a professional company for more comfortability of having it done properly. Multiple vehicles that had them installed after on the same batch had the same problem.

I ended getting JBA UCA's and yes they aren't like the SPC's but they are similar and I have had nothing but fun with these ones. No problems up to date and I go out just about every weekend to get my fix, so my 4Runner is well used when it comes to it's suspension.

 

My SPCs on my taco were the bad bushings from 2019. It was like pulling teeth to get them to confess & send me new ones. Customer service blows & if you’re assigned “Todd” … good luck. He’s very difficult to work with. I wish I bought JBAs

 

What did you end up going with?

 

I have the replacement bushing they sent me. Pain in the ass to get new bushing into them. They’re fine now but not a fun experience

 

My SPCs started getting bad at under 5k miles. Installed at a professional shop in Commerce City, CO. Took my 4R in for its first tire rotation and they pointed out that the SPCs were about shot. I worked with SPC, $800 later had a complete new set. IMO I don't think I should have had to pay warranty replacement costs for something they knew was an issue. Complete new set of SPCs on now. I will give them a chance but lost a lot of faith in them. I had SPCs on my Taco for over 8 years with no issues what so ever.

 

Thanks for sharing this to save others time and money. I will keep them out of my list for my next project.

 

I read about too many bad experiences with the very common SPC UCA's. That's why I chose the tried and true Dobinson's that have 3 degrees of castor correction built in. You have to have at least 1.5 inches of lift to be able to use these but they are robust and reliable.

Here is what they have to say:

• Complete kit for both left and right hand side, includes new ball joints (Pressed), OE style rubber frame bushings (installed), and washers
• Has 3 degrees of caster built in, no adjustability or settings required
• Made from HSLA (High Strength Low Alloy) Steel, 5mm (0.2") wall thickness, and powder coated black
• Works for any lift height of 1.5" or more. Any height less than that, a proper wheel alignment may not be able to be achieved
• Uses replaceable Japanese-made Sankei 555 ball joints, fully sealed for maintenance free life

 

Please share if anyone knows lifted vehicle friendly UCAs that does not require maintenance like the Toyota UCA.

If there's any long travel friendly no maintenance required ULA and LCA available it would be even better for me to take a look. Haven't decided about long travel yet due to high maintenance.

 

Long travel friendly? If you’re going Long Travel you’ll be buying after market upper and lower control arms. Not SPC.

Also, any Long Travel I’ve seen will require some maintenance (uni-ball vs ball Balljoints).

I think it’s worth it if your activities benefit from Long Travel. It is an investment as you can no longer use any OE front suspension components.

Good luck!

 

What I find odd is many well respected off road shops recommend SPC. I was not going the low cost route but trying to build a quality setup. I had SPC recommended with Elka's. Any guesses why shops are recommending SPC? I do agree Dobinson's look like very solid UCA. For a stronger off road UCA there are better than SPC but the adjustability of SPC is nice for easy alignment.

 

I had a local 4x4 shop give me a quote on a Bilstein upgrade. They also suggested SPC UCA’s.

Ultimately, I decided to forgo the suspension/lift and leave it stock.

 

@2021venture
@Slopemaster
My two cents; Bilstein's, SPC's, and upgraded springs were my local shops #1 recommendation for my budget and driving. It's a highly tested 4Runner setup for them in BC, and SPC's in particular have been solid for years. It's really only the covid manufacturing material changes that are a blemish on their record. They're still known for good quality and longevity, hence widely recommended.

That being said
2-3 years out of my covid SPC's and the balljoints have been given 6 months to live by my local guys. I already bought the SPC balljoint replacement kit on discount from Lordco. Right now boots leak a little grease I have to wipe each week.

And I've posted on here for help couple times now - there's a grinding/rubbing noise sometimes when I turn hard left or right going quick up an incline. Not getting any rubbing evidence elsewhere. Could this be the ball in socket metal on metal?

 

Any of you good folks know if you can swap out SPC UCA "OG" zerk greased balljoints, for the new sealed boot model? I would think there's a new replacement kit compatible, just like the OG replacement kit I already purchased.

 

The ones meant for the old tubular uca? l’d call them & ask. That’s the only way to tell for sure

 

I want to explain the process for return if you buy SPC UCAs & have issues

If you buy them - it must be a dealer on SPCs sponser list. I got mine from a friends off road shop & they gave me shit & in the end said I was okay. They’ll ask for a receipt & double check the store isn’t selling the item below the price they demand. So talk to the person you bought it from first.

I had to submit a photo before the UCAs were put on my truck. I was lucky & had snapped a photo of them brand new. I used that & it cleared me.

Then I sent a video of the bushings making noises installed & it was the last step.

They make a great product if it’s problem free! Again, this was on my taco

 

Thanks man!

I've been one of the lucky ones, my balljoints have lasted 2.5 years and I have virtually no play when jacked from lca, as well as prybar under tire. They leak grease tho, especially the one side that I blew the seal over greasing like a rookie .

When you say bushing were making noise, you talking about the two bushings, or the balljoint in the boot?

Also what did the noise sound like!?
I'm trying to diagnose my "grinding" noise

TY

 

update

 

The 2 bushings for the uca bolt. They had a bad batch for about a year. I bought mine because I wanted to support local. It’s was that notorious clunk noise pulling up to a stop. Even my neighbor was like wtf man! He’s an f150 guy but loves my Tacoma. It’s the 2.5 gen with the 4.0 just like my 4Runner. Lift looks awesome now but it was some work getting this far

 

I have installed a ton of them and I really like them for the adjustability etc. I also like carrying one replacement for the trail that is conceivable to replace with limited tools. You aren't changing a uniball on the trail very easily haha. I had a SPC ball joint failure due to not greasing sufficiently. Totally on me. I've been 100% happy with mine and have not gotten a defective one out of the 10+ I've installed for customers. (Not using it doesn't happen, I just have not seen an issue yet; to be fair, I haven't seen any issues with the delta joints either).

 

Saw this thread and wanted to contribute. I got less than 20K miles out of mine before the bushings started to shift around and the ball joints failed. SPC offered to partially warranty them but after the $275 core charge plus the cost to install and an alignment, I'm out over $700.

For reference, I've got a 2015 TRDp.

 

new sealed joints done

 

I’ll stick with my OEM control arms. No maintenance or squeaking.

 

Very true, OE quality often doesn't have these notorious aftermarket issues.
I ain't using OE control arms on a 3" lift and 285's on Spidertrax tho

 

I have convinced myself to go with Dobinsons UCA if or when the SPC fail. What I still find odd is it seems like most well respected off road shops recommend SPC. My assumption is this is based off of easy alignment adjustments.