Are the New SPC UCAs Good To Go??

[Bayou_Pro]

I know this has been beat to death and I've read a ton of stuff but some of the threads have a lot of older info in them. Bare with me please.

Are the most recent SPC arms good quality. Have there been any issues or breakage with arms that have been purchased in the past year or so? I was going with the JBA arms but have 2 concerns.

1: They only come in red. I'm going with Fox COs that are black and silver. I know it's superficial but I like common theme.

2: I like the adjustability on the SPCs and that I can move my tires forward with them that may allow for 285s without the BMC.

Any help of info would be much appreciated.

 

[mscot]

FWIW I told a local SPC and Icon dealer that I was thinking of going with Icon Delta Joint UCAs and they said they sell SPCs all day long with all levels of suspension installs and haven't had problems. Then they touted the SPC warranty on the off chance there are problems.

 

[spoonmectr]

I run them with no issues

 

[cortney76]

I've had mine on for 7 months now and I just grease them every 5000 miles when I get my t4r serviced. They have been great. No regrets.

 

[shrub1]

I run SPC UCA and I wheel my rig.
I've run them for thousands of miles now w/o a single issue.
They are whisper quiet and the adjustability to get back into factory alignment is great. Just be certain the alignment tech can either read the directions and put that into practice or has experience with these.
I'd buy them again.

 

[mteolus]

I've had them for 15,000 miles. No problems. Didn't need a BMC with 285's also. Read on this forum someone with JBA's had to do a chop. Not sure if it was the UCA's or not though.

 

[comtn4x4]

I also run them without any issues. Alignments are a breeze. Maintenance is minimal. Just lube every 5k miles or so. I do have a bmc but my build is probably a bit different than yours. The shop I go to strongly recommends them also

 

[Bayou_Pro]

Thanks guys!! I'm liking what I'm hearing. Was at 4-Wheel parts last week and I was talking to them about tires and doing my alignment after the lift. He mentioned that he thought I might need UCAs and I said something about the SPC and he joking said oh that's the ones that are like a jigsaw puzzle to assemble. He said a lot of the Toyota guys were bringing them in to install. Even though they didn't sell them he said they were very happy with them and they looked to be good quality.

 

[mteolus]

Thanks guys!! I'm liking what I'm hearing. Was at 4-Wheel parts last week and I was talking to them about tires and doing my alignment after the lift. He mentioned that he thought I might need UCAs and I said something about the SPC and he joking said oh that's the ones that are like a jigsaw puzzle to assemble. He said a lot of the Toyota guys were bringing them in to install. Even though they didn't sell them he said they were very happy with them and they looked to be good quality.

I would definitely get UCA's. Hopefully they know how to install them properly at your local 4 Wheel Parts. And make sure they are the new ones, not the old ones. I read that the old ones were the problem.

 

[Bayou_Pro]

I would definitely get UCA's. Hopefully they know how to install them properly at your local 4 Wheel Parts. And make sure they are the new ones, not the old ones. I read that the old ones were the problem.

Oh yeah I'm getting UCAs no doubt. I'm going with the Fox 2.5" COs so it'll be necessary. I'll be installing them myself so I know it'll be right. They are only going to do my Tire's and Alignment. Thanks for the help.

 

[joshoowa]

I've had mine maybe 6months now no complaints, they did squeak at first but I just didnt pump enough grease into the ball joint during initial install. They've been silent since even through this winter.

In terms of build/quality, I've only seen chaos uniball UCAs in person to compare and without scientific testing they both look solid as hell. The SPCs look and feel like cast iron they are heavy duty. My only real concern is with the balljoint groove pathway design. The ball joint is held onto the control arm by 1 huge nut that allows the BJ to slides within a designated groove, its to correct camber for the most part and give more adjustments. Its torqued down to like at 150lb/ft (basically tighten the sh!t out of it). I've hit some huge rocks and curbs nothing has knocked it out of alignment but I could see how it could throw your alignment out given the right circumstances. Then again you should get your alignment checked after each wheeling outing.

 

[thevanillagorilla]

I had SPCs on my 2013 Tacoma before I moved over to my 4Runner. This was back in 2013 so they perhaps they've been redesigned since then, but I had problems with them continually losing their alignment settings as a result of the ball joints coming loose. That being said, I was not wheeling through rocks, just blasting unmaintained fire roads/forest access roads at high speed and they'd lose alignment every time I did that. So maybe it was the way I was using them, maybe it was because they were an older generation, maybe it was both, but it was that experience that prompted me to not even consider them when I did my build on my 4R and instead go with different UCAs. Down side, it was more expensive and I had no choice but to do the BMC.

 

[4runnin4mylife]

I had SPCs on my 2013 Tacoma before I moved over to my 4Runner. This was back in 2013 so they perhaps they've been redesigned since then, but I had problems with them continually losing their alignment settings as a result of the ball joints coming loose. That being said, I was not wheeling through rocks, just blasting unmaintained fire roads/forest access roads at high speed and they'd lose alignment every time I did that. So maybe it was the way I was using them, maybe it was because they were an older generation, maybe it was both, but it was that experience that prompted me to not even consider them when I did my build on my 4R and instead go with different UCAs. Down side, it was more expensive and I had no choice but to do the BMC.

I've always wondered how well the SPCs kept alignment. With all the adjustments on there it seems that can be both good and bad when it comes to keeping settings where they need to be. I haven't personally ever seen any SPCs so i am not sure what keeps everything in place and on the settings you choose, but i have always been weary for whatever reason. I know plenty of people run them without any problem, I've just always leaned toward a more "single piece", caster built in UCA. I know that's not what everyone needs, and they seem to work for tons of people though.

 

[Bayou_Pro]

I've always wondered how well the SPCs kept alignment. With all the adjustments on there it seems that can be both good and bad when it comes to keeping settings where they need to be. I haven't personally ever seen any SPCs so i am not sure what keeps everything in place and on the settings you choose, but i have always been weary for whatever reason. I know plenty of people run them without any problem, I've just always leaned toward a more "single piece", caster built in UCA. I know that's not what everyone needs, and they seem to work for tons of people though.

The Caster is pretty much locked in since you have to pull it loose to move a position. The camber on the other hand just slides and then you torque the bolt down. Looking at their website they have revised the torque setting to 150ftlbs and said you can go as high as 175ftlbs. They also said that powder coating or painting the arms can cause them to loosen up and slide. My guess is that some shops aren't taking the time to properly torque them correctly.

 

[TrkyMfns]

My first set was defective and clunked due to play. The SPC warranty department was great and once replaced, I have not had any issues with them. Mine have kept alignment.

Depending upon what alignment numbers you need, I had a shop make sure that the upper ball joints were moved all the way towards the outside edge before alignment utilizing the lower control arms, so that an instance of needing to replace a ball joint won't affect the alignment. Of course this would only work if your vehicles' camber can be aligned to where it needs to be with just the lower control arms.

 

[srsrogerissrs]

I"ve been running SPCs for about 30k miles now. I've only had one issue with a balljoint that went bad. Somehow the balljoint boot came loose and got all gunked up. These were the old balljoint iteration and when I ordered replacements ($70 for two). I got the latest iteration that have been flawless since. I love the fact that I can service them myself and swapping out the balljoints only take 30 minutes at max.

 

[Louisiana Overland]

45000 miles and no issues.