Official SPC(light racing) Product update!!!

[KCcarguy]

Uniballs will need similar inspections and according to most websites that I've seen uniball are typically serviced annually. However the replacement should be done as necessary. Ive seen sets last 2-3 years and some 6 months. it all depends on the conditions they are put though. Keep in mind these are unsealed, so they have no protection from mud, salt, sand and dirt.

What sort of regular maintenance needs to be done on a uniball other than lube?
What about poly bushings on uniball UCAs?

 

[Intruder]

What sort of regular maintenance needs to be done on a uniball other than lube?
What about poly bushings on uniball UCAs?

I just get the pressure washer right on the uniball every time I wash it then wipe it down and grease it when dry. The poly bushings on my TC UCAs have grease zerks and I imagine Camburgs and Icons probably do as well. Eventually the bushings and uniballs will need to be replaced due to wear, but at least I can easily see the wear on my uniballs.

 

[HokieRunner]

2 ways to check it. Jack up each side by the lower control arm so that the suspension is "loaded". then shake the wheel from with your hands on the top and bottom. to see if there is any latteral play in the joint. Then take a pry bar or something similar and pry up and down on the UCA near the balljoint to check for play in the vertical axis. Typically the play is found via the second method. Milage for wron parts has been all over the place.

Uniballs will need similar inspections and according to most websites that I've seen uniball are typically serviced annually. However the replacement should be done as necessary. Ive seen sets last 2-3 years and some 6 months. it all depends on the conditions they are put though. Keep in mind these are unsealed, so they have no protection from mud, salt, sand and dirt.

Just curious but what sort of check interval would you recommend? When I spoke with a representative at SPC about the ball joints, he claimed they should stand up to all conditions and were designed with the boot to last as long as OEM. No mention of servicing.

I totally agree with you that anyone running the LR arms should frequently check the boots for water/dirt infiltration. Just wondering what a reasonable interval is. As you guys at High Tech properly diagnosed, my PS ball joint was very worn after only 8mos and 10k miles. I pride myself on keeping everything in the best condition and maintenance level I can, and the ball joint issue caught me completely off guard. With the uniballs i just installed, I'm happy I can see the condition and keep it clean and lubed with little effort and not have to wonder if there's something hiding under the boot.

Also - in doing my pre-purchase research, the stainless steel uniballs are much better suited for wet environments. They can definitely last several years with proper care while the chrome uni's will corrode/pit very quickly with the slightest bit of moisture.

 

[eddiebx]

I just get the pressure washer right on the ball every time I wash it then wipe it down and grease it when dry. The poly bushings on my TC UCAs have grease zerks and I imagine Camburgs and Icons probably do as well. Eventually the bushings and uniballs will need to be replaced due to wear, but at least I can easily see the wear on my balls.

Speaking of which, how do your balls look after being exposed to the elements for an entire winter? Did all that road salt affect the stainless steel at all?

 

[Intruder]

Speaking of which, how do your balls look after being exposed

Ummm, I'm not sure I want to answer that...

They still look fine. I kept them greased really well all winter with some spray-on teflon bike chain grease when I didn't have time to break out the Mobil 1.

 

[Scott@Hightech]

Speaking of which, how do your balls look after being exposed to the elements for an entire winter?

LOL,

Just curious but what sort of check interval would you recommend? When I spoke with a representative at SPC about the ball joints, he claimed they should stand up to all conditions and were designed with the boot to last as long as OEM. No mention of servicing.

I totally agree with you that anyone running the LR arms should frequently check the boots for water/dirt infiltration. Just wondering what a reasonable interval is. As you guys at High Tech properly diagnosed, my PS ball joint was very worn after only 8mos and 10k miles. I pride myself on keeping everything in the best condition and maintenance level I can, and the ball joint issue caught me completely off guard. With the uniballs i just installed, I'm happy I can see the condition and keep it clean and lubed with little effort and not have to wonder if there's something hiding under the boot.

Also - in doing my pre-purchase research, the stainless steel uniballs are much better suited for wet environments. They can definitely last several years with proper care while the chrome uni's will corrode/pit very quickly with the slightest bit of moisture.

Stainless should be better depending on the quality of the stainless. cheap stainless will be equivalent to the chrome. By regular inspections, I mean every time the vehicle gets serviced. We found your issues because we fully inspect all vehicles that come into the shop. We believe that this is as important to the vehicle as changing the oil and keeping it clean. The only way you can ever prevent a issue(if possible) is to know the current condition.

What sort of regular maintenance needs to be done on a uniball other than lube?
What about poly bushings on uniball UCAs?

Check with the manufacture before lubing any component, I know poly bushings like certain types of lubes, others cause squeaks, no lube causes failure. As far as the uniballs go, i have seen notes on more than one install NOT to lube or grease the uniball as it has a teflon bushing that is self lubricating. Adding grease only allows the dirt to be trapped and degrade the quality much faster. Not all uniball arms are built the same which is why you need to ask the people that built them for the best advice.

 

[HokieRunner]

Stainless should be better depending on the quality of the stainless. cheap stainless will be equivalent to the chrome. By regular inspections, I mean every time the vehicle gets serviced. We found your issues because we fully inspect all vehicles that come into the shop. We believe that this is as important to the vehicle as changing the oil and keeping it clean. The only way you can ever prevent a issue(if possible) is to know the current condition.

Thanks Scott. I definitely agree. Guess I'll be doing more thorough inspections when I change the oil now but 10k miles for booted balljoints...yikes. That's just crap.

 

[eddiebx]

Ummm, I'm not sure I want to answer that...

They still look fine. I kept them greased really well all winter with some spray-on teflon bike chain grease when I didn't have time to break out the Mobil 1.

Awesome, if it can handle a canadian winter then I think it can handle my joke of a winter compared to yours. I guess once I have some time, I will install the following unofficial SPC product update:



Anyone want to buy some lightly used LR UCAs? Might have some available once I remove them, LOL!

 

[Intruder]

Awesome, if it can handle a canadian winter then I think it can handle my joke of a winter compared to yours. I guess once I have some time, I will install the following unofficial SPC product update:

Yup, for me taking the LR UCAs out was the best product update. I'm sure they're fine for a lot of people but when you have two failures (ball joints and bushings) so close together in one product you kind of lose all faith in it.

Anyone want to buy some lightly used LR UCAs? Might have some available once I remove them, LOL!

Mine went in the garbage. Could not sell them to someone in good conscience.

 

[sroodtuo]

Awesome, if it can handle a canadian winter then I think it can handle my joke of a winter compared to yours. I guess once I have some time, I will install the following unofficial SPC product update:

View attachment 115826

Anyone want to buy some lightly used LR UCAs? Might have some available once I remove them, LOL!

I've run TC UCAs on two different rigs and can't stand the squeaking. I love them for dry climates but in the wet weather of the PNW, the squeaking drive me nuts. And if I recall, TC recommends not lubing the balls.

 

[thebwlife]

What worries me most is the BJ failures I've read about with "no warning". My boots look OK, but how do I know when they need to be replaced? Do I just put it on jack stands and wobble it to check for play, or what? Or, do you just routinely replace BJs every so many miles?

What kind of upkeep and durability could I expect on a uniball setup a in comparison? I don't have a problem with inspecting things periodically, I just don't want a surprise.

I'm going to do the camburgs BJ this summer.

 

[deekoi]

Sorry for the lack of info but jbstrd said it best.

For mine, the washers rubbed up caused the friction and slowly loosened the bolt, my mistake for not checkin on it. Eventually it fell off and luckily I was only driving a few miles per hour and in the parking garage at work.

So, the above failure may or may not have been caused by the wrong bushing/washer combo. It was a result of the nut backing off of the sheer bolt, therefore causing the bolt to back out. When this happened, the arm fell down causing the hub/spindle to shift.

This thread was started a while back when SPC released a new bushing sleeve design. The initial Spec Ride bushing kits (like mine was) contained the bushings, sleeves, and 4 large washers (2 per side). The next Spec Ride bushing kit went to two large bushings (for the outside of each bushing) and two small washers (for the inside of each bushing). This newest design consists of two large washers (still for the outside of each bushing) and new, longer sleeves. With the longer sleeves, you do not need to run inner washers.

The purpose of getting away from the large inner washers was to allow the arm to move more freely when the bushings heat up. When they were not allowed to move freely when heat was introduced, the stress was transferred to the welds. In turn, the welds had the potential to fail.

To answer your question [MENTION=66624]KCcarguy[/MENTION] , if you look at your arms and have large washers on the inside of each bushing, you need to contact SPC to get the newest bushing sleeve update. They will mail them ASAP free of charge and it only takes 1-2 hours to change depending on your skill level.

Hope this helps.

 

[cbielat]

[MENTION=99235]Scott@Hightech[/MENTION] and others. Please excuse the rust. They need some cleaning. So It appears I have version #2. I had replaced the rubber bushings last year with the Poly's. Seeing this doesn't make me feel good. If it's such a safety hazard, SPC should supply us with the new kit at no cost. Similar to recalls. It would be nice. Take a look and see if mine is the version 2 set up, in which case I'll need the new kit. This will be the second time around having to "rebuild" these UCA's. I think I need to go in a new direction.

 

[Scott@Hightech]

[MENTION=99235]Scott@Hightech[/MENTION] and others. Please excuse the rust. They need some cleaning. So It appears I have version #2. I had replaced the rubber bushings last year with the Poly's. Seeing this doesn't make me feel good. If it's such a safety hazard, SPC should supply us with the new kit at no cost. Similar to recalls. It would be nice. Take a look and see if mine is the version 2 set up, in which case I'll need the new kit. This will be the second time around having to "rebuild" these UCA's. I think I need to go in a new direction.

Yes, you need the update kit. It is free, and they did send out notices, however they sent the notices out to their vendors, which may or may not have records of what each customer purchased

 

[cbielat]

Yes, you need the update kit. It is free, and they did send out notices, however they sent the notices out to their vendors, which may or may not have records of what each customer purchased

Oh great! So I can just call them up and they'll ship it? Good customer service. Actually they replaced my bushings free of charge as well.

 

[cbielat]

Big Ups to SPC!

So I just called SPC and spoke with Tom about the rebuild kit including new washers and sleeves regarding my old #2 set up. At first it was going to cost $25 and I had mentioned that I thought it was free. I also expressed my safety concerns relating it to recalls in the automotive industry. Tom had to check and within a half hour he had called me back. He had explained that the new sleeves and washers will be free and then mentioned the poly spec ride bushings and thought that now would be a good time to maybe change those out as well. I told him I didn't have time to take it apart and look due to traveling and work. I informed him that last year I did get the new spec ride bushings(free of charge as well at the time). I said "I hope they are still ok". Then Tom said that he'll just throw those in as well just in case my spec ride bushings are ruined. I feel that this is some quality customer service. And they're shipping out today. Thanks Tom! And thanks to Scott [MENTION=99235]Scott@Hightech[/MENTION] for the info!

 

[KCcarguy]

That's cool that they're providing parts for free, but what about the $580 the dealer just quoted me to do the work. :frusty:

 

[Scott@Hightech]

That's cool that they're providing parts for free, but what about the $580 the dealer just quoted me to do the work. :frusty:

It would be cheaper for you to drive to me and have me do it. And im only halfway across the county....

 

[cbielat]

That's cool that they're providing parts for free, but what about the $580 the dealer just quoted me to do the work. :frusty:

I go elsewhere for that work. Nowhere even close to that cost quote.

 

[Daily-runner]

Is this just a 4runner recall or it applies to Tundra too? I have these on my Tundra for a year now.