SPC Upper Control Arms: Safe or Not Safe?

Sup41

Sup41

New member
Hey folks! Finally pulling the trigger on a lift and I'm in the business for some upper control arms. The SPC's are obviously attractive considering the price. That said, I have read some horror stories on this site. Here's what I've gathered so far...

First "generation" had instances in which the arms broke. Terrifying prospect...
Then the next set apparently had some bushings that failed. Also scary. I haven't read of any problems since, though. One one hand, seems like too important of a part to get wrong. On the other hand, seems like they're pretty functional now?

Anyone know this history and have thoughts on the latest product? Thanks!!
 
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I think the recent variations have been solid, and the range of adjustments with them is a big plus as well. I personally run JBAs because it uses a serviceable standard GM ball joint, grease fittings and 3 degrees of built in castor. They are built really well, in the USA and ride excellent on/off road.
 
YellowSnow said:
I think the recent variations have been solid, and the range of adjustments with them is a big plus as well. I personally run JBAs because it uses a serviceable standard GM ball joint, grease fittings and 3 degrees of built in castor. They are built really well, in the USA and ride excellent on/off road.
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Nice. Thank you for info. Does JBA sell them for 5th gen? Can't seem to find it on their site...
 
I have spc UCA- driver side ball joint went bad after 1.5 years. 2 buddies have them and have had no problems and have 2-3 years on theirs. The shop I used to do the initial install reports they haven't had any issues with the SPC, owner has a built 4Runner and he uses SPC.

I wasn't pumped when I discovered this- but figured I'd replace it and see how it goes. I also had to do bushings but I suspect those went bad after the BJ ate it self and introduced some play and put extra stress on the bushings.

The whole reason I went with Ball joints and not uniballs is I didn't want to deal with parts that are gonna wear out quick, make noise, throw the alignment off and eat my tires.

My understanding is that JBA has advantages like those listed above -Chevy 1/2" that can be found all over. Where as the SPC BJ is proprietary. However I was told the castor on the JBA maxes out at about a 285 size tire. Anything larger needs an UCA with more castor.

Regardless if I have further issues I'll be looking at replacing them with JBA.
 
Teamoatmealpie said:
However I was told the castor on the JBA maxes out at about a 285 size tire. Anything larger needs an UCA with more castor.
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What is that supposed to even mean? Caster is a suspension angle, 285 is a tire width. The width of a tire (or anything about a tire beyond matching the tire size and pressure left to right) has no effect suspension angle.
 
I'm on my second set of SPC arms as of last week. My first set was of the initall variety that had bad ball joints. One failed and both were replaced on SPC's dime at about 6,000 miles. I then ran them for 65,000 miles with no issues. I had a new set installed with my new suspension last week. I asked about rebuilding them or replacing the ball joint but was told that the new version aren't compatible with my old ones. SPC discounted them to incentivize me to get a new set (15%). We'll see I guess. I hope there' no issue. All this was done through my local shop Hi Country 4x4 here in Denver who buys lots of arms from them so maybe that's why the customer service was better?

I have also heard that the SPC arms have more caster adjustment than most others but have no factual evidence of that. FWIW I get over 4 degrees of caster on my setup which is listed in my signature. I'm also not sure what the heck caster has to do with tire size but I can always learn something new if that's the case
 
comtn4x4 said:
I'm on my second set of SPC arms as of last week. My first set was of the initall variety that had bad ball joints. One failed and both were replaced on SPC's dime at about 6,000 miles. I then ran them for 65,000 miles with no issues. I had a new set installed with my new suspension last week. I asked about rebuilding them or replacing the ball joint but was told that the new version aren't compatible with my old ones. SPC discounted them to incentivize me to get a new set (15%). We'll see I guess. I hope there' no issue. All this was done through my local shop Hi Country 4x4 here in Denver who buys lots of arms from them so maybe that's why the customer service was better?

I have also heard that the SPC arms have more caster adjustment than most others but have no factual evidence of that. FWIW I get over 4 degrees of caster on my setup which is listed in my signature. I'm also not sure what the heck caster has to do with tire size but I can always learn something new if that's the case
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Congratulations on having a full on novel as your signature line...it yook me five minutes to read your modifications :doh:
 
With all the failures reported, terrible customer service, you couldn't pay me to run SPC arms. These failures are not isolated to our trucks either, they are across the board. SPC makes products for everything, cars, trucks, there are a lot of issues with their poor quality products. Google it, that's all I did and came up with quite a bit.
 
Why consider a brand that has issues when there are 6? other brands out there with more products out in the wild being run? IE Icon, Total Chaos, Camburg, Dirt King, LSK, JBA. etc.

IIRC all of them have additional castor built into them except the Camburgs, but i could be wrong. Dirt King Tubular with ball joint and bushings were less then 500$ over black friday. Seems like a obvious choice....lol
comtn4x4 said:
I wanted to hit like but I guess that's no more :(
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wtf....some sensitive liberal probably got mad they didn't get a like. Other forum used to have like and dislike buttons. that was fun lmao.
 
honda250xtitan said:
Why consider a brand that has issues when there are 6? other brands out there with more products out in the wild being run? IE Icon, Total Chaos, Camburg, Dirt King, LSK, JBA. etc.

IIRC all of them have additional castor built into them except the Camburgs, but i could be wrong. Dirt King Tubular with ball joint and bushings were less then 500$ over black friday. Seems like a obvious choice....lol


wtf....some sensitive liberal probably got mad they didn't get a like. Other forum used to have like and dislike buttons. that was fun lmao.
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Well considering I've run the heck out of them for 65,000 miles without issue other than the initial bearing problem that they stood behind that's a big reason. And they are lower maintenance than the others with the exception of the JBA which to me is still somewhat unproven and there seems to be uncertainty as to what size tires can be run.
 
Look UCAss are one of the most costly part that will give you the caster we are all trying to achieve, don't cheap yourself and the suspension out of that, don't go cheap. Look across the board of all the other Toyota lines,Tacoma, FJ s, LC you know what brands are proven.
It seems there has been an influx of new Ucas designs as of late but I NEVER understood why you would want a nut locking ball joint design that has the possibility to shift. :sorry:
Ok so it might give you more adjustments here and there, but that redesign does not suit well with me.
 
Akkording said:
Look UCAss are one of the most costly part that will give you the caster we are all trying to achieve, don't cheap yourself and the suspension out of that, don't go cheap. Look across the board of all the other Toyota lines,Tacoma, FJ s, LC you know what brands are proven.
It seems there has been an influx of new Ucas designs as of late but I NEVER understood why you would want a nut locking ball joint design that has the possibility to shift. :sorry:
Ok so it might give you more adjustments here and there, but that redesign does not suit well with me.
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Are you referring to the SPC?
 
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