paperchasin
New member
Can anyone comment on the causes of the failure? Is it safe to assume that it is related to lift height?
SPC UCA failed today
- Thread starter blayjin
- Start date
I'll verify what the Toytec coilovers are set too. I didn't consider asking when I had them installed back in 2012. I've always run 285/70r17 and currently have Nitto Terra Grapplers installed so could as well be maxed out for the tires to fit. Its currently at a Toyota dealership waiting for parts and I plan on finding out the root cause to reduce the risk of it happening again.
gone_primal
New member
I just installed a set of SPC UCAs over the weekend. I am definitely interested in following this.
All Pro Off Road
New member
Good luck to the OP. That is not something you want to happen while driving!
For those who are considering the eBay uniball arms, here is a link to good write-up: eBay Upper Control Arms Write-Up/Review
While not everything on eBay is made in China, you simply cannot source quality components for a set of arms for that price. Our arms are 100% made in the USA. SPC arms are also outsourced.
For those who are considering the eBay uniball arms, here is a link to good write-up: eBay Upper Control Arms Write-Up/Review
While not everything on eBay is made in China, you simply cannot source quality components for a set of arms for that price. Our arms are 100% made in the USA. SPC arms are also outsourced.
Brutalguyracing
New member
spc is the worst uca ever made
stop buying these pos arms to save a few $$$$
its amazing no one had died from this company's negligence
stop buying these pos arms to save a few $$$$
its amazing no one had died from this company's negligence
wnelax04sr5
New member
do you only go on forums to SPC bash. we haven't seen you in months
You make a good point here.
BlackWorksInc
New member
To be fair, I and some other members have been running SPC UCA for a while and we wheel decently enough with no significant issues (I had mine updated to the newer Delrin bushings after my first set's bushings tore up, but SPC stepped up and gave me a new set free even out of the 1yr warranty period so I can't complain really.)
Most guys who wheel with me will tell you I am not easy on my 4Runner, I do bounce her around a bit and run at obstacles; so the suspension does get worked out often enough I am surprised I haven't broken anything significant so far, even excluding the UCA.
But I have seen one or two SPC UCA broken in person and while one of them I partially contribute to operator error/vehicle load-out; it was obvious there was some quality issues in the weld that made it prone to failure.
My SPC's have held up pretty well and I slam the 4Runner around enough to put a few good dents in my new RCI 3/16" steel skids.
The first set I had the bushings went out in a little over a year or two (this was the set I bought about 3 years ago) and SPC sent me an entire new set of UCAs, the current ones have held up fine and I haven't had any issues, they even have longer upper ball joint boots (the old ones did not and it concerned me in dusty/dirty environments.) That being said I have seen one set actually crack at the welds and just make a mess (part of it was the driving style/improper approach/over burdened suspension set-up on that vehicle/driver, the other part was a very probable welding defect when I looked at it.) Though I have seen a few more cases of failures from mild to severe off-roading, which in my opinion is a bit on the high side for a product intended for off-road use; but conversely SPC has been very good with their customer support and they seem to actively be fixing their product for what its worth.
One of my personal favorite things about the SPCs is how well they adjust in terms of correcting alignments, their upper balljoint set-up so far is a much better solution than most of the tubular designs.
All that being said, if you have an extra hundred or two and you really intend on slamming your 4Runner around; I'd go with some nice tubular set-ups. If you're mainly just looking to correct alignment after a lift and mainly do on-road driving I don't think the SPCs will hurt and they do a good job there. I personally will be going to a beefier UCA later down the road, but so far I haven't had an issue with my set and my typical off-roading mentality is: "the mountain will either stop me or crumble under my 4Runner, one way or another I'm going THERE!"
Post Note-
The SPCs have garnered a bad reputation (not undeservedly so) and it takes a while for companies to recover from bad reputations, even if their product is 100% flawless NOW (not saying that they are, just saying that even if they were the best on the market NOW, people would still be wary/uneasy); its a natural reaction from people. Its not bad or good that people still bash on them, even though it seems their quality has gotten better, its just one of those things that takes time to sort out and many people would rather err on the side of caution and history and I genuinely can't blame them for that. All I can do is play devil's advocate and say, "well my new SPCs haven't exploded and killed me yet and they do well with how abusive I am off-road so maybe they're getting their shit sorted out?"
The above quote is a post I made regarding the typical knee-jerk response to bashing SPC products in general that I made for this thread:
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/183284-spc-light-racing-uca.html
Now I'm not siding with SPC or touting them as the best thing since sliced bread, I am merely providing a counter point to the typical knee-jerk response that is thrown around on the forums and parroted by many people who have not or do not want to bother with doing their own research to develop their opinion. I'd be curious to see data spread of how many of these "older" designs are failing vs. the newer designs and how many are sold, ect. Granted that's all information we'll probably never see, but it seems like a lot of them tend to be the older designs; though some of the newer ones have popped up as well.
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The customer rep at SPC forwarded my photos to their quality department to review. He seemed surprised never having seen a ball separating from the joint as mine did. I offered to bring my truck up to Longmont to inspect the suspension configuration and failed ball and joint. I should hear back from them soon.
