Icon UCA Noise (Now UCA Bushing Troubleshooting)

[JimJr15]

I'm about 2000 miles into my Icon/Metal Tech Stage 6 kit.

At first, the steering was tight, didn't want to come completely to center. I have about 3* caster. But that's loosened up now and it centers fine.

My question is, I'm hearing a creaking sound from the front end on low speed, short suspension travel. Most notably in a bumpy parking lot. At higher speeds I hear nothing.

It's a mid to low frequency creaking sound. Definitely not high pitched or what I'd consider squeaky. Louder or easier to hear with the windows up than down.

Is this the noise that people describe when they say that Uniball UCAs are noisy??

EDIT: Problem appears to be improperly installed/greased UCA Pivot Bushings. See Pictures on Page 2.

 

[honda250xtitan]

new uniballs should make zero noise. they make noise when they are worn, dirty, or a combination.

running a uniball in NewHampshire is a risky move. you may want to switch to ball joints or those overpriced Icon Delta joints. Uniballs do poorly in the snow, the salt they use on the roads, and constant moisture. mine would last one winter when i had my titan with uniball uppers in Chicago. every year i was swapping them out.

 

[apollo]

this is exactly the noise mine made just 2 weeks after install...low speed, creaking sound...what made it better was greasing the uniballs, which icon eventually suggested even though they initially discouraged it...

this helped for a few months, and then it returned...i finally bought the delta joints a couple of weeks ago and will install those soon, which will hopefully be a better solution

I'm about 2000 miles into my Icon/Metal Tech Stage 6 kit.

At first, the steering was tight, didn't want to come completely to center. I have about 3* caster. But that's loosened up now and it centers fine.

My question is, I'm hearing a creaking sound from the front end on low speed, short suspension travel. Most notably in a bumpy parking lot. At higher speeds I hear nothing.

It's a mid to low frequency creaking sound. Definitely not high pitched or what I'd consider squeaky. Louder or easier to hear with the windows up than down.

Is this the noise that people describe when they say that Uniball UCAs are noisy??

 

[sandcrawler]

I'm about 2000 miles into my Icon/Metal Tech Stage 6 kit.

At first, the steering was tight, didn't want to come completely to center. I have about 3* caster. But that's loosened up now and it centers fine.

My question is, I'm hearing a creaking sound from the front end on low speed, short suspension travel. Most notably in a bumpy parking lot. At higher speeds I hear nothing.

It's a mid to low frequency creaking sound. Definitely not high pitched or what I'd consider squeaky. Louder or easier to hear with the windows up than down.

Is this the noise that people describe when they say that Uniball UCAs are noisy??

did you grease the UCA bushings really well when you installed them? it may not be the uniball at all. does the noise specifically sync up with suspension travel? is the pace of the noise fast or slow?

 

[Xtremluck]

I had the same issue with my Icon UCAs and it was really prevalent on the driver side. They eventually warrantied my driver side UCA and its been pretty quiet since. Although they still make some noise.

I'll probably end up switching to their Delta Joint once these wear out.

 

[JimJr15]

did you grease the UCA bushings really well when you installed them? it may not be the uniball at all. does the noise specifically sync up with suspension travel? is the pace of the noise fast or slow?

I'm wondering this as well. I didn't install them, but rather had a shop who does lifts do the install. I know they contacted Icon a few times with questions and getting input from Icon during the install, but I don't know specifically about the greasing of the UCAs.

I think when I get home tomorrow, I'll throw her up on the lift and check/grease the bushings.

One thing I do believe is that I'm hearing it more on the passenger side than the driver side.

 

[JimJr15]

It's a creaking noise, most prevalent during low speed, short suspension travel movement.

Appears to be synced up with suspension movement. Pace of the noise is slow.

Does not occur at speeds above 10 mph or on longer suspension travel movements

 

[63brew]

are you guys running the dust caps? just curious. I only have about 500 miles on my setup with these tubular uniballs. the steering just loosened up for me within the last 100 miles. i haven't noticed noises yet. i do have the dust caps on, but we'll see.

 

[JSparky]

I'm about 2000 miles into my Icon/Metal Tech Stage 6 kit.

At first, the steering was tight, didn't want to come completely to center. I have about 3* caster. But that's loosened up now and it centers fine.

My question is, I'm hearing a creaking sound from the front end on low speed, short suspension travel. Most notably in a bumpy parking lot. At higher speeds I hear nothing.

It's a mid to low frequency creaking sound. Definitely not high pitched or what I'd consider squeaky. Louder or easier to hear with the windows up than down.

Is this the noise that people describe when they say that Uniball UCAs are noisy??

As some others have stated, loosen you're UCA through-bolt and grease your bushings. It's the easiest and cheapest step. If it doesn't solve the problem then move on to you're shock bushings or uniballs, but on a new setup my money is on UCA bushings.

 

[JimJr15]

are you guys running the dust caps? just curious. I only have about 500 miles on my setup with these tubular uniballs. the steering just loosened up for me within the last 100 miles. i haven't noticed noises yet. i do have the dust caps on, but we'll see.

I have dust caps

 

[sandcrawler]

i really suspect that the problem is that your bushings weren't greased when installed.

also, don't be lulled into a false sense of security with those dust caps. they might help, but remember that the bottoms are still completely exposed and your wheels will be throwing lots of winter-salty-slushy fun into them.

get a spray bottle of Tri-Flow; use it liberally and often.

 

[Soneill]

I'm wondering this as well. I didn't install them, but rather had a shop who does lifts do the install. I know they contacted Icon a few times with questions and getting input from Icon during the install, but I don't know specifically about the greasing of the UCAs.

I think when I get home tomorrow, I'll throw her up on the lift and check/grease the bushings.

One thing I do believe is that I'm hearing it more on the passenger side than the driver side.

Im not sure if your bushing are poly or rubber but i helped another member here [MENTION=144882]eelliiss[/MENTION] install his lift. He used JBA UCA's. They use stock rubber bushings. The instructions dont tell you but apparently you NEED to tourqe down the UCA bolt after the truck has been put down on the ground. He had one of the bushing tear and is making the same type of noise you described. Just a thought.

 

[eelliiss]

Would be very interested in what this ends up being. There is a slight tear in my rubber bushing that I can see, but I'm not sure if it is superficial until I actually take things apart in order to further inspect the integrity. I've also gone through and torqued everything to spec. Might be something you want to try, as well. It's recommended practice to after x amount of miles. Although my creaking sound has gone down a bit after doing so, I still am getting noise at parking lot speeds.

 

[sandcrawler]

Im not sure if your bushing are poly or rubber but i helped another member here [MENTION=144882]eelliiss[/MENTION] install his lift. He used JBA UCA's. They use stock rubber bushings. The instructions dont tell you but apparently you NEED to tourqe down the UCA bolt after the truck has been put down on the ground. He had one of the bushing tear and is making the same type of noise you described. Just a thought.

that's an excellent point too. either lack of grease, or torqueing the long bolt with the wheels off the ground — or both.

 

[JimJr15]

Would be very interested in what this ends up being. There is a slight tear in my rubber bushing that I can see, but I'm not sure if it is superficial until I actually take things apart in order to further inspect the integrity. I've torqued everything to spec. Might be something you want to try, as well. It's recommended practice to after x amount of miles. Although my creaking sound has gone down a bit after doing so, I still am getting noise at parking lot speeds.

I'm about a 2.5 hr ride away from home, on vacation with my family. Heading home tomorrow morning. When I get home I'm going to throw it up on my lift and take a look.

Is there a special grease I need to use on these bushings? I think they're polyeurathane.

 

[eelliiss]

I'm about a 2.5 hr ride away from home, on vacation with my family. Heading home tomorrow morning. When I get home I'm going to throw it up on my lift and take a look.

Is there a special grease I need to use on these bushings? I think they're polyeurathane.

As stated in this thread by another member with a similar problem: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/250725-uca-bushing-question.html

Update:
As of today I have a quiet truck finally! While prepping to install my Pelfrybilt sliders, I washed the truck, buffed out some pinstriping, and waxed it. I also figured I'd put some fresh grease in the UCA bushings, as I go out to the desert almost every week and a bunch of grease has probably been pushed out since the last time I did it. I used a different grease this time, Lucas Oil Red n Tacky lithium grease, as I've had a hard time finding the SuperLube recommended by Total Chaos, and I had bought a 3 pack and it had this in there.
Drove it around right after, not a single noise. I was so excited, I went in and out of a couple driveways and dips at speed and got nothing.
I previously tightened up the LCA bolts and noticed no change, this new grease seemed to do the trick. I had previously used the green Lucas Oil X-Tra heavy duty poly grease I got in the pack and it said it was recommended for off road use and sounded more durable. Maybe it was too thick to properly move around.
Just wanted to share my experience in case it helps anyone. I'm going to be a bit more picky about the type of grease I use in the future. I also learned a ton about my truck in the process though, which is probably way more valuable than a less-squeaky ride.

 

[Soneill]

I'm about a 2.5 hr ride away from home, on vacation with my family. Heading home tomorrow morning. When I get home I'm going to throw it up on my lift and take a look.

Is there a special grease I need to use on these bushings? I think they're polyeurathane.

You need to use grease specifically for polyurethane. Most part stores have something that would work. But if you can wait, i really like the grease from Energy Suspension.

 

[Vulgarian]

My Icon's started making noise from the front right too. It was making me freak'n crazy. After a few weeks of this it went away - then it came back!! Just by chance I grabbed the reservoir on the passenger front and IT made the noise. It turns out it was rubbing on the wheel well ever so slightly. Bent it out and my system has been quiet since. Good luck, finding the source of your noise. I know how aggravating that can be.

 

[JimJr15]

I'm a little confused.

I watched the Icon UCA maintenance you tube video, which recommends loosening the pivot bolt, pump grease, then lower truck and torque bolt with wheels on the ground.

Out of curiosity, I looked at Icon's UCA instructions. Their instructions specifically state to grease the bushings, install the UCA and torque to spec all before the spindle is attached to the Uniball. I couldn't find in their installation manual direction to torque with wheel on ground. It just says to align.

 

[eelliiss]

I'm a little confused.

I watched the Icon UCA maintenance you tube video, which recommends loosening the pivot bolt, pump grease, then lower truck and torque bolt with wheels on the ground.

Out of curiosity, I looked at Icon's UCA instructions. Their instructions specifically state to grease the bushings, install the UCA and torque to spec all before the spindle is attached to the Uniball. I rubbldn't find in their installation manual direction to torque with wheel on ground. It just says to align.

I don't believe it matters with poly bushings whether you torque while in the air or not. Rubber bushings, on the other hand, are designed to twist only so much. When the through bolt is torqued at full droop, the rubber bushing can bind and then tear when the vehicle is lowered back the ground. Google it. It is a common rookie mistake, but it probably doesn't apply to you because your bushings are poly.