UCA Bushings

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SteelStacks

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I was inspecting my Icon UCA's because I keep hearing a clunking noise coming from the front every time I put it in reverse. I noticed that my UCA bushings look mangled on both the driver and passenger side.

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This doesn't look normal and I've only had the lift on for about 4 months and 7000 kilometers. What could have happened? Bad Install job maybe?


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Looks like when it was installed somebody torqued the UCA bolt while it was lifted off the ground. No way will the those poly bushings look like that in 4 months. The UCA bolt needs to torqued to spec while the tires are on the ground or else the bushings may bind and deform.
 
I'll agree with [MENTION=117117]Seattle206[/MENTION] they look torn from torquing before the wheels were down

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So I guess I have to get new bushings and have them installed then? How soon should I get this done and is it really bad to drive with it like this? Also, what brand bushings should I order or does it have to be icon? God I wish there was a reputable shop I could go to in Toronto. Thanks guys.


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take them apart and see if they're beyond use. have ICON send you a bushing kit.

it's a pretty straightforward repair, you can handle it :)
 
Did you by chance put too much grease in the zerk fittings, which can make the bushings bulge out like that? This can definitely happen if you fail to loosen the main long bolt...
 
cmilviper said:
Did you by chance put too much grease in the zerk fittings, which can make the bushings bulge out like that? This can definitely happen if you fail to loosen the main long bolt...
Click to expand...


I don't think there is a grease fitting on any UCA bushings.. zerk fittings are typically on some/most aftermarket UCA's at the ball joint.
 
alphabeast said:
I don't think there is a grease fitting on any UCA bushings.. zerk fittings are typically on some/most aftermarket UCA's at the ball joint.
Click to expand...

Aren't those grease zerks sticking down under the bushings in the first pic? You can see them.
 
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alphabeast said:
I don't think there is a grease fitting on any UCA bushings.. zerk fittings are typically on some/most aftermarket UCA's at the ball joint.
Click to expand...



You have zero idea what you are talking about. The zerk for the bushing is CLEARLY visible in the very first picture of this thread.

Any good quality UCA will have them: Icon, Camburg, Total Chaos ...

The only one I could find without them in 60 seconds of searching are the SPC which are junk IMHO (no offense to those running them, just one opinion).

EDIT: +1 for torqued with the wheel off the ground. Swapping bushings is very straight forward.


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Thanks Slowgoat, I think that is what happened here...I think you can even see grease coming out at the left edge.

He probably had some squeaking, took it somewhere once or multiple times, and the zerks were improperly greased.
 
Thanks everyone for the quick responses and thanks for posting the link [MENTION=104572]Slowgoat[/MENTION]. That is why I love this forum! One more question. Do I have to jack the truck up before I loosen the bolt to get the excess grease out or can I do it with the wheels on the ground? Hopefully I don't need o replace the bushings but I fear I may have to.


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SteelStacks said:
Thanks everyone for the quick responses and thanks for posting the link [MENTION=104572]Slowgoat[/MENTION]. That is why I love this forum! One more question. Do I have to jack the truck up before I loosen the bolt to get the excess grease out or can I do it with the wheels on the ground? Hopefully I don't need o replace the bushings but I fear I may have to.


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Click to expand...

Just push in the ball on the zerk fitting and the excess grease should come out
 
Just found this last month. https://youtu.be/xvMdAX2uybs
Might be a possible cause.....not loosening the thru bolt first before greasing. They also might have tightened first then greased on the initial install.
TC also has instructional vids. Not ICON but same procedure.
 
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fattire said:
You have zero idea what you are talking about. The zerk for the bushing is CLEARLY visible in the very first picture of this thread.

Any good quality UCA will have them: Icon, Camburg, Total Chaos ...

The only one I could find without them in 60 seconds of searching are the SPC which are junk IMHO (no offense to those running them, just one opinion).

EDIT: +1 for torqued with the wheel off the ground. Swapping bushings is very straight forward.


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Click to expand...


I missed the photo showing the zerk... my bad.. so I will re-phrase my statement .. SOME aftermaket UCA's do not have a zerk located at the bushing... such as SPC (which apparently you dont like) and JBA (which happens to be the UCA's I have and up to this point I have not heard any bad reports on them)
 
JSparky said:
Can you explain further? This statement confounds me.
Click to expand...

So your surprised and confused by my statement. Let me see if I can help you with your confounded state..... The only two aftermarket UCA's that I have researched are SPC and JBA because of their high caster abilities.... I missed the photo that showed the zerk on the OP's bushing (clearly my fault I was multitasking).... my scope of research was limited.. both SPC and JBA do not have a zerk on the bushings ... thus my thoughts and statements...

Still confounded?
 
alphabeast said:
I missed the photo showing the zerk... my bad.. so I will re-phrase my statement .. SOME aftermaket UCA's do not have a zerk located at the bushing... such as SPC (which apparently you dont like) and JBA (which happens to be the UCA's I have and up to this point I have not heard any bad reports on them)
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the JBAs at all. When I got my first set of UCAs a few years ago, selection was pretty limited. JBAs weren't around so I'm not familiar with them. On my second set, I never looked at anything with a bushing; heim joints only.

I'd personally be a bit leery of any UCA with a bushing that doesn't have a zerk so it can be greased at least occasionally.

That being said, I know there are a lot of different busing materials these days and I'm not very familiar with them at all. Some materials may not need as much grease or regular maintenance as compared to others.

If it doesn't totally derail the thread, I'd love to learn a little more from some of the more knowledgable folks here on the topic.
 
fattire said:
I'm not familiar with the JBAs at all. When I got my first set of UCAs a few years ago, selection was pretty limited. JBAs weren't around so I'm not familiar with them. On my second set, I never looked at anything with a bushing; heim joints only.

I'd personally be a bit leery of any UCA with a bushing that doesn't have a zerk so it can be greased at least occasionally.

That being said, I know there are a lot of different busing materials these days and I'm not very familiar with them at all. Some materials may not need as much grease or regular maintenance as compared to others.

If it doesn't totally derail the thread, I'd love to learn a little more from some of the more knowledgable folks here on the topic.
Click to expand...

The lack of a "serviceable" grease zerk on the bushing did seem like a big question mark at first on the JBA's, but at the same time, the stock UCA bushings do not have a zerk either.... so hard for me to be leery of a UCA with no bushing zerks when my truck arrived at the dealership with two installed...
 
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