JustSomeName
New member
How easy is it to push out the metal sleeves? Do they slide right out or does it take a special tool or extra force? Would I be able to do so with the UCA still on the car?
Upper Control Arm safety concern
- Thread starter jdkilroy
- Start date
How easy is it to push out the metal sleeves? Do they slide right out or does it take a special tool or extra force? Would I be able to do so with the UCA still on the car?
zopperman
Moderator
Uh I wouldn't. It'll make your life easier just to pull it. They slide in pretty easily though, i gave it a few taps with a hammer
Bumper2Bumper Auto
New member
I can tell this is a long running thread, but since I am new here I thought I would throw in my knowledge here if anyone is interested. As mentioned, LocTite can be used on these threads. I would suggest using the blue, rather than the red, as the red is for higher tensile strength. While the teflon edged nuts SEEM like a good idea, the added teflon changes the torque characteristics of the nut, so if you were to torque the nut to say 80 Lbs-Ft, then it would NOT be properly torqued. My professional suggestion would be to use the blue LocTite. As for "drying" time, it takes very little time for the blue to secure itself. I would say that by the time you installed the nuts, put up your tools, grabbed a soda and then your keys, it would be holding at that point. As a nut tightens down the increased friction and torque help activate and speed up the drying process of LocTite.
noobshooter
Member
I cant believe I missed this thread:doh:
Just checked my UCA's and all is good!
Just checked my UCA's and all is good!
Johnny4runner
New member
Just went through this a month or so ago. I bought new LR UCAs off another forum member which had the new style bushings. Installed them with the 4 washers per side (inner and outer) and was experiencing binding at the bushings. Not to a great degree but the tolerance seemed a lot tighter than it should be.
I did not have any issue with the nut backing off but I definitely checked it each time I drove (I used a liberal amount of red loctite on the long bolt during the install as well).
After contacting SPC by email - I received a very prompt response by phone saying they had revised the washer setup and would send me new bushing sleeves and grease to re-fit the UCA. Basically, they now use a longer inner bushing sleeve to eliminate the need for the inner washers (between shock tower and UCA bushing).
I received the new parts, free of charge, the next week and can definitely notice a difference - both in noise (used to squeek) and no more binding at the bushings. So if you have the 4 washer setup w/ the newer bushings, contact SPC and they'll take care of you - it's def worth the hour or so to swap in the new parts. Throw some red loctite on the nut and torque to 85 ft/lbs.
For those visual folks like me (note that the sketch only shows the forward most side. The layout is mirrored for both sides of the shock tower):
I emailed SPC about the new sleeve design and they immediatly responded that they would send out the new sleeves.
Is the new design just to reduce noise, or does it improve safety and/or duribility? SPC didn't say much in their response.
JustSomeName
New member
safety. the nut on the bolt gets loose, loose bolt could potentially lead to the control arm falling off.
playinthewoods
New member
I'm glad I found this thread! I've been having loud clunking/popping noise at the front end for a while. It started a few months ago, but it was not so pronounced. I thought it was the tie rods and lower ball joints, which I replaced when I had to replace the CV axles a few months ago. CV's were spraying grease all over the place because of angle change from the lift I did last spring/early summer.
Recently the clunking/popping noise has gotten very pronounced. I can easily induce it when I slowly turn in or back out of drive way or parking lot and apply brakes or give gas. It honestly sounds like something is breaking with the loud pop at the front end toward the passenger side!! I took the sway bar off because I had a kind of bad end link up front. But the noise is still there. I was starting to suspect something with the lower control arms (bushings and such). I can't believe I didn't check the UCA's - it was just installed last spring, who would've known?!
Tonight I finally decided to check the UCA and saw the washer and nut were completely missing on the passenger side!! Then I got online and found this thread!! I guess I will go to a local dealer tomorrow to get the washer and nut and see whether I can find a couple of M14x1.5 lug nuts in auto stores to double it up.
My questions are:
1. In the picture of the bolt with missing washer and nut, you can see that the bushing is pushed all the way against the shock tower. Isn't there a metal tube about 0.5-1 inch between the bushing and the tower? I wonder whether it's all stuffed inside the bushing now and has destroyed the bushing?
2. As you can see in the other picture, the other bushing is an inch away from the shock tower. It seems it needs to be tapped back in so the tail end of the bolt sticks out more from the other bushing? If so, how easy is it to tap the bolt back in? Should I put it on jack stand, take the wheel off and jack up the knuckle assembly so it doesn't droop in order to tap the bolt back in toward the rear??
3. Could the lateral movement of the UCA due to the missing washer and bolt (apparently it's been like this for a while) have caused other parts to fail, such as the upper ball joint?
I'm not sure how long the washer and nut have been missing. If the clunking/popping noise is caused by the lateral movement of the UCA, then it's been at least running loose like this for a long time! Tips are appreciated, guys!
<a href="http://imgur.com/lIe18OL"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/lIe18OL.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com" /></a>
<a href="http://imgur.com/KhsRU6l"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/KhsRU6l.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
Recently the clunking/popping noise has gotten very pronounced. I can easily induce it when I slowly turn in or back out of drive way or parking lot and apply brakes or give gas. It honestly sounds like something is breaking with the loud pop at the front end toward the passenger side!! I took the sway bar off because I had a kind of bad end link up front. But the noise is still there. I was starting to suspect something with the lower control arms (bushings and such). I can't believe I didn't check the UCA's - it was just installed last spring, who would've known?!
Tonight I finally decided to check the UCA and saw the washer and nut were completely missing on the passenger side!! Then I got online and found this thread!! I guess I will go to a local dealer tomorrow to get the washer and nut and see whether I can find a couple of M14x1.5 lug nuts in auto stores to double it up.
My questions are:
1. In the picture of the bolt with missing washer and nut, you can see that the bushing is pushed all the way against the shock tower. Isn't there a metal tube about 0.5-1 inch between the bushing and the tower? I wonder whether it's all stuffed inside the bushing now and has destroyed the bushing?
2. As you can see in the other picture, the other bushing is an inch away from the shock tower. It seems it needs to be tapped back in so the tail end of the bolt sticks out more from the other bushing? If so, how easy is it to tap the bolt back in? Should I put it on jack stand, take the wheel off and jack up the knuckle assembly so it doesn't droop in order to tap the bolt back in toward the rear??
3. Could the lateral movement of the UCA due to the missing washer and bolt (apparently it's been like this for a while) have caused other parts to fail, such as the upper ball joint?
I'm not sure how long the washer and nut have been missing. If the clunking/popping noise is caused by the lateral movement of the UCA, then it's been at least running loose like this for a long time! Tips are appreciated, guys!
<a href="http://imgur.com/lIe18OL"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/lIe18OL.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com" /></a>
<a href="http://imgur.com/KhsRU6l"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/KhsRU6l.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
superman3043
Senior Member
Man, sure glad you tracked it down.
1. So from the looks of it, you have the latest design with only the two outer washers. If that's the case, the pivot sleeve is only slightly longer than the width of the bushings, to keep the bushing off of the shock tower sleeve. Yours is definitely hosed, but by the looks of the picture, your pivot sleeve should be sticking out of opposite side, so you may want to check that.
2. You should be able to tap that bolt in with the truck under it's own weight. I've also done it with the truck jacked up (suspension unloaded). But really, once you get the nut on and tighten it down, the bolt should draw down.
3. You can check the UBJ, but I really don't think the little extra angle on your spindle would have stressed it enough to be an issue.
Hope that helps. Good luck man.
playinthewoods
New member
Hi Superman, thanks for the tips and observations!
I went and got the washer and nut from a local dealer yesterday. When i got there, the long bolt almost backed all the way out from one side and was barely holding one of the bushings! Had to borrow a wrench and use my breaker bar to knock it back through and temporarily put the washer and nut on the other side.
When I got home, I was able to look at it more carefully. The bolt had already traveled during the short drive. It pulled toward the front. And as you said, the bushing had been destroyed. I'm not sure where the inner sleeve even was - might have fallen out already, or at least deformed and buried inside the bushing, due to the toward pressure the bushing on the bolt guide channel that runs through the shock tower.
The front side - the bolt was moved forward under normal driving and braking
<a href="http://imgur.com/JsqQcG6"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/JsqQcG6.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
The rear side - because the bushing and the sleeve on the other side are destroyed and just ride OVER the bolt guide channel straight against the tower instead of the inner sleeve being stopped by the bolt guide channel when pressure is applied from driving and braking:
<a href="http://imgur.com/KbOEblE"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/KbOEblE.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
I tapped the front side of the bolt back in toward the rear. See how the bolt guide channel is able to stop the bushing from traveling further back because of the inner sleeve that has not been destroyed?
<a href="http://imgur.com/z4JCEoB"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/z4JCEoB.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
And here's what the rear looks like. If you look closely, you can see the bushing had been completely eaten up by the bolt guide channel from the shock tower
<a href="http://imgur.com/yuzINbb"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/yuzINbb.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
I put the washer and nut back on. But as you can see, the washer can't even line up correctly with the bushing because the inner of the bushing is completely gone and it's not sitting on the bolt straight now
<a href="http://imgur.com/1X9G0NQ"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/1X9G0NQ.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
I used blue loctite and the bolt threads and found a spare nut to double it up behind the factory nut for now, just so the nut at least won't come loose and back out for now, which would cause the UCA to fall off! Look how much thread is still showing after 2 nuts! Als soon as I drive and brake slightly, I know the whole thing will travel even more forward back to what it looked like before, because the bushing will just ride over the bolt guide channel instead of being stopped by it.
<a href="http://imgur.com/JaoEeLZ"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/JaoEeLZ.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
The driver side had come a bit loose also, although not as bad obviously. I added another nut with loctite to make sure the factory nut does not back off. Look there's no thread on the bolt that's visible on this side.
<a href="http://imgur.com/WoHDGeS"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/WoHDGeS.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
So basically I still have a failed UCA on the passenger side and it still clunks now. I purchased these from Toytec last year late spring/early summer and installed the lift. We torqued everything to specs. It's disheartening to see that this has happened to quite a number of people and the newly designed bushing sleeves don't seem to make much of a difference? I will call SPC next week and see whether they can do something about this.
I went and got the washer and nut from a local dealer yesterday. When i got there, the long bolt almost backed all the way out from one side and was barely holding one of the bushings! Had to borrow a wrench and use my breaker bar to knock it back through and temporarily put the washer and nut on the other side.
When I got home, I was able to look at it more carefully. The bolt had already traveled during the short drive. It pulled toward the front. And as you said, the bushing had been destroyed. I'm not sure where the inner sleeve even was - might have fallen out already, or at least deformed and buried inside the bushing, due to the toward pressure the bushing on the bolt guide channel that runs through the shock tower.
The front side - the bolt was moved forward under normal driving and braking
<a href="http://imgur.com/JsqQcG6"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/JsqQcG6.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
The rear side - because the bushing and the sleeve on the other side are destroyed and just ride OVER the bolt guide channel straight against the tower instead of the inner sleeve being stopped by the bolt guide channel when pressure is applied from driving and braking:
<a href="http://imgur.com/KbOEblE"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/KbOEblE.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
I tapped the front side of the bolt back in toward the rear. See how the bolt guide channel is able to stop the bushing from traveling further back because of the inner sleeve that has not been destroyed?
<a href="http://imgur.com/z4JCEoB"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/z4JCEoB.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
And here's what the rear looks like. If you look closely, you can see the bushing had been completely eaten up by the bolt guide channel from the shock tower
<a href="http://imgur.com/yuzINbb"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/yuzINbb.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
I put the washer and nut back on. But as you can see, the washer can't even line up correctly with the bushing because the inner of the bushing is completely gone and it's not sitting on the bolt straight now
<a href="http://imgur.com/1X9G0NQ"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/1X9G0NQ.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
I used blue loctite and the bolt threads and found a spare nut to double it up behind the factory nut for now, just so the nut at least won't come loose and back out for now, which would cause the UCA to fall off! Look how much thread is still showing after 2 nuts! Als soon as I drive and brake slightly, I know the whole thing will travel even more forward back to what it looked like before, because the bushing will just ride over the bolt guide channel instead of being stopped by it.
<a href="http://imgur.com/JaoEeLZ"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/JaoEeLZ.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
The driver side had come a bit loose also, although not as bad obviously. I added another nut with loctite to make sure the factory nut does not back off. Look there's no thread on the bolt that's visible on this side.
<a href="http://imgur.com/WoHDGeS"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/WoHDGeS.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com"/></a>
So basically I still have a failed UCA on the passenger side and it still clunks now. I purchased these from Toytec last year late spring/early summer and installed the lift. We torqued everything to specs. It's disheartening to see that this has happened to quite a number of people and the newly designed bushing sleeves don't seem to make much of a difference? I will call SPC next week and see whether they can do something about this.
Darklight
New member
I would contact Light Racing SPC asap. The sleeve is supposed to be slightly longer then the bushings as mentioned. Did you damage the bushing during install or maybe you have the older version and did not install the inner washers? Not sure but you deff need to replace the entire bushing. SPC should take care of you quickly. Just call them. 1-800-525-6505
playinthewoods
New member
I bought and installed them late spring / early summer last year. So they are of the latest design and did not come with inside washers. Everything was installed correctly. Sleeves were inside the bushings. Grease was applied. Nuts were torqued to spec.
Yes, the bushing is a goner. It's all chewed up. Has anyone done the replacement for bushings ONLY?? I could see what a pain that will be!
I sent SPC an email last Sunday and they haven't called me back. I will give them a call.
Yes, the bushing is a goner. It's all chewed up. Has anyone done the replacement for bushings ONLY?? I could see what a pain that will be!
I sent SPC an email last Sunday and they haven't called me back. I will give them a call.
HokieRunner
New member
Sorry to hear these issues. I'm not aware of too many folks who have had to replace the bushings but here's a .pdf link for the replacement. I'd only look at steps 6-10.
Bushing replacement instructions
My guess is you'd cut the old one out carefully, then press in the new bushings with a healthy dose of grease. You can make a press like they have in the install pics pretty easily (I made one for pressing new races/bearings into my mountain bike and it worked like a charm).
Let us know how it goes. I'm really close to selling my SPC UCAs. I installed mine about 10k miles ago and I just got in new balljoints because in 10k miles mine are shot. Really disappointed but I guess that's what I get for going with the cheapest UCA option.
Darklight
New member
Don't email them, call them. I am pretty sure everyone on this thread has replaceed the bushings with the updated version. It is not to bad to press out the old and press in the new. You can use a hammer and a correctly sized deep socket to press out the old bushings. The new ones should go right in by hand and maybe a couple taps with a rubber mallet. Not sure why this happened to you since everything sounds like it was installed properly and the kit was an updated version. Aside from bushing failure.
Let us know what they say.
Bobby
Let us know what they say.
Bobby
HokieRunner
New member
Good call on the welds.
Not trying to take this off topic so I'll make it brief - how are you liking the DSM Desert Uni UCAs? I'm really close to sucking it up and swapping to them.
eddiebx
New member
I would probably back the nuts off a bit because the way you have it now you're probably bending the UCA together too tightly (since the sleeve is not there to stop it from compressing inwards). I think if you make it match the driver side width, it would be much safer in the meantime while you're waiting for the replacement sleeve.
Also just to be safe, double check around the arm for any stress fractures from over bending it that way.
