ICON UCA worn delta joint; why so soon?

[ahtoxa11]

Edit with video of the problem.

Delta joint play. Passenger side. - YouTube

Hey guys, I learned today that what I thought may be a worn tierod is actually a worn and loose delta joint.

Is it normal for it to wear at 10k miles? I greased them twice in this time - about every 5k miles.

Going to call Icon today and see what they say, though I wanted to check if anyone had the same experience here, too. Just seems early for the delta join to need replaced.

 

[ahtoxa11]

Bump with video of the issue in the first post. interested to hear if that's normal or not.

 

[mrblah]

race car parts = race car maintenance = race car money

Uniballs man..... thats why i find the delta joint gimmicky... You still have a uniball under there, that requires constant maintenance. You might wanna grease every 3k miles in the future. The more you drive in a short amount of time (i.e. your daily commuter), the more you have to maintain it.


Anyways, i rather deal with uniballs than ball joints... When a uniball fails, you get an annoying clunk. When a ball joint fails....you need a tow truck.

 

[ahtoxa11]

race car parts = race car maintenance = race car money

Uniballs man..... thats why i find the delta joint gimmicky... You still have a uniball under there, that requires constant maintenance. You might wanna grease every 3k miles in the future.


Anyways, i rather deal with uniballs than ball joints... When a uniball fails, you get an annoying clunk. When a ball joint fails....you need a tow truck.

I don't really mind the maintenance and all...if I know that it will be needed every X number of miles. I was in the shop replacing the spherical bearings when the tech found this. I thought that the delta joint was supposed to last more than that; even read as much based on other people's feedback.

It's the same on both sides, apparently.

I sent the vids (driver and passenger) to Icon; will see what they say.

 

[mrblah]

I don't really mind the maintenance and all...if I know that it will be needed every X number of miles. I was in the shop replacing the spherical bearings when the tech found this. I thought that the delta joint was supposed to last more than that; even read as much based on other people's feedback.

It's the same on both sides, apparently.

I sent the vids (driver and passenger) to Icon; will see what they say.

good luck mang.... hope Icon takes care of you.

Yeah, every time I get my vehicle suspension inspected, my wallet gets lighter.

 

[ahtoxa11]

Yeah, every time I get my vehicle suspension inspected, my wallet gets lighter.

Yeah, you aren't kidding...doing front and rear sphericals was NOT cheap. I'm thinking of investing in a press so I can do that myself next year. The rear ones barely lasted 10k miles, BUT I wheeled a lot of miles in very dusty conditions (Colorado), so that's expected. I work from home so I don't commute but still put a lot of road miles just getting to cool places all over the state.

 

[Jeremy556]

Yeah, you aren't kidding...doing front and rear sphericals was NOT cheap. I'm thinking of investing in a press so I can do that myself next year. The rear ones barely lasted 10k miles, BUT I wheeled a lot of miles in very dusty conditions (Colorado), so that's expected. I work from home so I don't commute but still put a lot of road miles just getting to cool places all over the state.

No need for a press. Sockets and a hammer are faster and easier. You can get the COM10T shock bearings from summit for cheap ($15 each on my last order).

Make sure you have some kind of lower shock bolt protector that gives some coverage to the front of the lower shock mount and use rubber shock boots to protect the shock shaft.

 

[Xtremluck]

No need for a press. Sockets and a hammer are faster and easier. You can get the COM10T shock bearings from summit for cheap ($15 each on my last order).

Make sure you have some kind of lower shock bolt protector that gives some coverage to the front of the lower shock mount and use rubber shock boots to protect the shock shaft.

This. My $10 “rubber shaft guards” saved me two weekend ago when I misjudged rock placement. Definitely a must have for anyone running technical trails.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ahtoxa11]

No need for a press. Sockets and a hammer are faster and easier. You can get the COM10T shock bearings from summit for cheap ($15 each on my last order).

Make sure you have some kind of lower shock bolt protector that gives some coverage to the front of the lower shock mount and use rubber shock boots to protect the shock shaft.

Yeah I’ve been running rubber boots over the shafts since the install. Recently added shock mount skids — had a few rocks hit the mounts before.

 

[Xtremluck]

Ill have to check my Delta Joints out as well. I've been experiencing a light knock over harsh and square bumps from the front end and also noises while turning. Similar tell tale signs that a uniball is worn out. I have just about 18,000 miles on mine

 

[jrandom]

Spherical bearings, I guess people don’t like exposed grease, which is kind of understandable. I pack the exposed cavity of my lower CO mount that houses the front spherical bearings with super tacky marine grade grease. It literally creates a moisture/dirt barrier and lasts forever (unless you blast it directly with a pressure washer, not real easy to do BTW) I pulled my front CO’s six months ago to rebuild and cleaned off the top layer of muck and still fresh grease way before the bearing. I am still on my first set 40k later.

 

[ahtoxa11]

Spherical bearings, I guess people don’t like exposed grease, which is kind of understandable. I pack the exposed cavity of my lower CO mount that houses the front spherical bearings with super tacky marine grade grease. It literally creates a moisture/dirt barrier and lasts forever (unless you blast it directly with a pressure washer, not real easy to do BTW) I pulled my front CO’s six months ago to rebuild and cleaned off the top layer of muck and still fresh grease way before the bearing. I am still on my first set 40k later.

It seems to me that grease would attract dirt and then make the case worse? My fronts were OK, but the rears were gone. Sounded like I had parts falling off when hitting bad pavement.

 

[jrandom]

It does, on the outside. Once a layer of dust/grime builds up it won't collect any more. Regardless, even if said dust were to make it to the "sealed" bearing it won't penetrate, grease is too thick. I am not talking a thin layer of grease. More like 3/8"+ of an inch thick, gimme a few I'll post a pic. There is a cavity the fronts sit in (at least with my CO's), I packed it flush with the machined face.

I am surprised (but happy) you haven't had issues with the fronts, dust, grime and road salt/mag beat the shit out of my front suspension. :shrug:

Thankfully, no issues with my rears.

 

[honda250xtitan]

It does, on the outside. Once a layer of dust/grime builds up it won't collect any more. Regardless, even if said dust were to make it to the "sealed" bearing it won't penetrate, grease is too thick. I am not talking a thin layer of grease. More like 3/8"+ of an inch thick, gimme a few I'll post a pic. There is a cavity the fronts sit in (at least with my CO's), I packed it flush with the machined face.

I am surprised (but happy) you haven't had issues with the fronts, dust, grime and road salt/mag beat the shit out of my front suspension. :shrug:

Thankfully, no issues with my rears.

some greases breakdown teflon that is found on the spherical bearings FYI.

 

[Hans Moleman]

I have a set of Icon delta joint UCA ready to install on my T4R so this news is concerning.

However I have Total Chaos uniball UCA in my Tacoma for the past 70k miles. The uniball is still original and has no play.

 

[jrandom]

some greases breakdown teflon that is found on the spherical bearings FYI.

Good to know. Still though, should I care having had the same ones for six+ years and driven hundreds of miles on corrugated dusty ass roads from from hell and slimy salt saturated utah winters? Meanwhile a large subset seems to be changing them out when they rotate their tires

This is what I use, and the sales pitch is what sold me on it.
Synthetic Water Resistant Grease

But like in another thread I use amsoil grease (not the grease I linked to above in my poly bushings, zero issues, but another guy with the same setup has been trying everything on the planet and says his LCA's won't stop squeaking. YMMV :shrug: Just sharing what's worked for me, you can do or do not.

For the half a doge coin its worth, I have worked on and operated a lot of heavy equipment, from ski lifts, to snowcats, to excavators and if you learn anything almost always is too much grease better than not enough.

 

[EddieV4runnin]

Definitely not normal, I’ve had my delta joints on for 60k and they are still nice and quiet. I’ve greased them every 10k and will definitely buy another set when these need to be replaced.

 

[EddieV4runnin]

race car parts = race car maintenance = race car money

Uniballs man..... thats why i find the delta joint gimmicky... You still have a uniball under there, that requires constant maintenance. You might wanna grease every 3k miles in the future. The more you drive in a short amount of time (i.e. your daily commuter), the more you have to maintain it.


Anyways, i rather deal with uniballs than ball joints... When a uniball fails, you get an annoying clunk. When a ball joint fails....you need a tow truck.

I grease mine every 10k and haven’t had any issues, I feel bad for those driving around on uniballs their Tacoma/4Runner sound just a stagecoach.

 

[ahtoxa11]

ICON is sending me both replacements, though they did say that this is a one-time replacement as I'm not running their coilovers.

Is there anything inherent to coilover design that could be the issue? The only thing I can think of is longer travel possibly, that's maxing out the delta joint? Running Kings, by the way.

Just spitballing here...

 

[mrblah]

ICON is sending me both replacements, though they did say that this is a one-time replacement as I'm not running their coilovers.

Is there anything inherent to coilover design that could be the issue? The only thing I can think of is longer travel possibly, that's maxing out the delta joint? Running Kings, by the way.

Just spitballing here...

lol, they giving you shit for not running their coilovers..i guess they want to have the last say in the matter.

Theoretically, if you have a ton of droop, but i doubt thats the case if you running OEM or extended travel shocks.