Light racing: Epic failure
- Thread starter natevans65
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A.Wilson013
New member
Give a shout to whoever you bought them from. I BET they can provide a receipt for your order.
natevans65
New member
UPDATE: I found my receipt.....thank you google! I've submitted this to LR and will keep you posted on the progress!
BlackWorksInc
New member
You might not see that crack until it's too late unfortunately,
That's my thoughts on that failure as well, I saw that same failure on a member's 4Runner up close when we were off-roading. Oddly enough I believe he bought his in '12 as well. Supposedly their quality control is better in the last year or so compared to before...
Mine have held up well since I replaced them in '14 with brand new ones (my old ones from '12 had bad bushings that basically tore themselves to hell, SPC replaced them free of charge and the new Delrin bushings have held up to abuse well.)
Nyc-Runner
New member
Damn another one,, luckily you found that when you did! I've seen far to many issues with these, Between the bushing,ball joints and welds failing it's kind of ridiculous now! I wouldn't want or run a new set these even if they replace them for you! I would run a different UCA altogether if i were you..
BlackWorksInc
New member
To be fair, the quality did improve from '12 to '14 when I looked over the old ones vs. the new ones I installed. A major factor in why I chose these UCA was because they offered the most adjustability compared to most other brands for the price point and I didn't feel like dealing with the pitting/corrosion, contamination, and noise issues that go along with most uniball UCA at the time.
All that being said, I will most likely be ditching the SPC arms for a uniball set-up (either a higher end unit, or something I'll design and make later down the road.) The ability to easily and consistently set your camber and caster with such a forgiving variance is a good design feature of the arms. While I am aware of the quality issues that have been brought up about these arms in the past (and like I said, it's not the first one I have seen in person of the older units), the company has done right by me and took care of me when I did have an issue that was their fault and they corrected it in a timely and satisfactory manner. Other than the bushing issue I had with my older arms, the new ones have held up to some serious abuse on my part that hasn't resulted in any signs of failure (I do check mine regularly.)
So I can't exactly say the particular set of SPC LR UCA on my vehicle are "crap" as they have held alignment where I set it, the bushings have and are holding up, the arms have been structurally sound, and when I did have an issue the company took care of me as I expect any company to take care of their customer with good service. But there IS/WAS a large variance in their level of quality control and that is something to be concerned about and something to make potential buyers aware of, so that they are informed about the product.
Like I said in many posts every time this issue comes up, the company has earned a reputation for making a mostly uncertain product when it comes to quality/reliability. But they have and seem to be currently attempting to change/rectify that and improve their business practices/quality control. While it's easy to just sit back and lambaste them for being the worst company in the world, it's not entirely fair to discount that they have made efforts to improve their product. I'm not saying they get a free pass, just to be open minded that maybe in 2016 they release a "perfect" version of the UCA with consistent quality control, but everyone is so deadset on punishing them for their prior failings they refuse to acknowledge they have made an effort. This forum like much of the human race is quick to reinforce confirmation bias and use it as justified fact (keep in mind that there are plenty of members who have these arms and do use and abuse their rigs more than most people on this forum and they haven't had issues with the product, so that's still part of the equation.) They earned their reputation and they need to work hard to change that perception of themselves and their product, no argument there; but not even giving them the decency to prove themselves is a disservice to everyone involved.
Just to be clear, I'm not defending SPC/LR's product. But rather trying to be the Devil's Advocate here and point out that people are quick to jump on their elitist/bias train and bash others without giving themselves or the people their bashing a fair assessment. (I mean it's not like SPC/LR is Gobi here, they actually have been making an effort to improve their product and care about their customers.)
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Ralph Blake
Member
Yes poor quality would think they would want to take care of their poor workmanship.
jmoskow
Member
I just did an OME complete lift from Toytec. Now looking to change UCA's to adjust camber & caster closer to factory spec. I was planning on getting Light Racing UCA's but I would like to consider other options after reading people have had quality control issues.
What other brand UCA's are you guys running on your rigs? Open to any and all suggestions.
Are the ICON Uniball UCA's a better option?
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/ICON-Uniball-UCAs-for-03-4Runner-and-07-FJ-Cruiser_p_953.html
Thanks in advance!
What other brand UCA's are you guys running on your rigs? Open to any and all suggestions.
Are the ICON Uniball UCA's a better option?
http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/ICON-Uniball-UCAs-for-03-4Runner-and-07-FJ-Cruiser_p_953.html
Thanks in advance!
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4Rager
New member
Bummer, how many miles? I bought mine from Metaltech for 30% off in 2/2015, so they were half the price of comparable UCA's. From what I've heard they've been good about warrantying the broken pair, so if that lasts me 50-60K, that's plenty of time to save up for something more robust. It's also not humid here (25-30% avg) and doesn't rain very often, so rust is less of an issue.
4Rager
New member
The most reputable brands off the top of my head are Camburg, Total Chaos & Icon. They're significantly more expensive than LR, but I've never heard of them failing.
BlackWorksInc
New member
Something to keep in mind is that all three of these brands use the same design for their Uniball UCA (with the exception of ICON which actually has two flavors of UCA, the standard DOM Steel Tube Uniball like the other two and the "bling bling Billet [Insert Angel Chorus here] UCAs that do seem to have some camber/caster adjustment) that has a fixed camber/caster setting (I believe that all the above tubular designs have about 4° of caster vs. the factory set-up.) So when you are shopping/looking at the specifications for those UCA you want to make note of the fixed measurement over stock (if there is one) so you can factor that into your lift kit. Depending on how the camber/caster is set on those UCA you may have difficulty getting the factory LCA adjustments to fit the "ideal" camber/caster settings many of us use with a 3" suspension lift (it's not rocket science or super expensive to fix, you just get a different set of LCA cambolts and be fine; the point is to be aware of the possibility and factor that into your pricing/build.)
But basically if you're shopping for a Uniball, those 3 are the "big dogs" for our vehicles and they have very good build quality (can't speak to customer service as I haven't dealt with any of them personally, but I do hear they are good there for the most part), but it does come at a higher premium.
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Nyc-Runner
New member
I'm running Camburgs with the ball joints as well as a few there people i know they've been great! Seeing that your in the exact same areas that i'm in i don't know if you would want to run something with a uni ball in it with the winters we have and all the salt etc That's why i opted for the Camburgs with the BJ
gm350reratliff
New member
That's hardly an "epic" failure.
I also purchased my SPC UCA's in the last quarter of 2012 but so far they have been great. I do check them periodically just in case though.
I went with Camburg BJ UCA's on my 5th gen. They have been great as well but there is no adjustability with them or additional caster built in.
I think if I have problems with either set, I'd replace them with TC UCA's unless I won the lotto. Then I'd go with billet Icons.
I also purchased my SPC UCA's in the last quarter of 2012 but so far they have been great. I do check them periodically just in case though.
I went with Camburg BJ UCA's on my 5th gen. They have been great as well but there is no adjustability with them or additional caster built in.
I think if I have problems with either set, I'd replace them with TC UCA's unless I won the lotto. Then I'd go with billet Icons.
BlackWorksInc
New member
I'd actually call that a catastrophic failure, while in this particular case it only split open a couple millimeters apart before the owner noticed. I've seen that same head affected zone failure while off-roading; the result was that the bushing loop opened up enough to fall off the strut tower and almost bend the crap out of the other loop (surprised it didn't break off to be honest.) Needless to say that 4Runner was going home on a flatbed... after some creative use of ratcheting straps to get the spindle straight enough to roll it on the flatbed in the first place.
All in all the owner was lucky that all they had was a broken ABS wire and UCA; the UCA had almost completely broken off allowing the spindle to move quite a bit and could have torn the boot, brake line, bent the tie-rod, ect. It's just a simple crack, but it can compound pretty fast given the right circumstances or a good pothole.
weeeee
New member
Yeah, I don't know why he's downplaying such a major flaw in a suspension component. Imagine if this had not been caught in time and the owner hit a pothole on the freeway.
Drunner97
New member
I'm also running Camburg Balljoint but I'm pretty sure they're the same arm whether you're running balljoint or uniball. They are beefy. I went with ball joint so I could run the caps to keep the dirt/water out as well as easy maintenance since they come with zerks to grease them.
No adjustments, but there is additional castor is built into them according to Camburg.
"These arms also correct the suspension geometry by increasing much needed caster which improves handling and allows for a wider range of alignment adjustment"
Camburg Toyota 4-Runner 2wd/4wd 03-15 Performance Balljoint Upper Arm Kit
