Slee SPC uppers suck a big one

[Get outside]

Slee Offroad

Thanks, see there we go! I'm about to drop $1000 on a fridge and was debating where to get it from! Wanted to support them but am going to buy it from Amazon now and have it at my door in 2 days for 50 bucks more!
It's easy to just sell something off the shelf and ship it away! If what you sell has problems you "the retailer HAS to deal with it". I'm not saying they have to eat the loss all the time but to tell customers they have to chase down the manufactury and deal with the problem on your own is total CRAP!

 

[dubitup]

@Get outside Slee is a very stand up shop and there are far more positive reviews of them than this post. It is not uncommon for a business to have any warranty issues be dealt with directly by the manufacture...its pretty much modus operandi. I've had and hundreds of people, on mud have had fantastic experiences with Slee. @sleeoffroad
They also are big supporters of many of the wheeling trips we love to attend.

 

[erfworm]

@Get outside Slee is a very stand up shop and there are far more positive reviews of them than this post. It is not uncommon for a business to have any warranty issues be dealt with directly by the manufacture...its pretty much modus operandi. I've had and hundreds of people, on mud have had fantastic experiences with Slee. @sleeoffroad
They also are big supporters of many of the wheeling trips we love to attend.

This seems to be the consensus and that is why I chose to spend money there. Unfortunately my experience was different. Which is a big deal to me.

 

[DirtDawg]

Hopefully Christo (@sleeoffroad) will chime in and sort all of this out. Maybe after seeing all this uproar he will choose different UCAs to stock. But I don't think we should defame his great company over some other companies parts issue.

 

[Get outside]

I've met Christo, been to the shop, bought gear, parts and had them do work on my 100!
On my side, I'm not bashing him or the company, I do have respect for them and was treated very well by Ben wile in there! Thing is I've heard this same issue from more than a few people lately! Hope these are isolated situations but for now I'm just voting with my dollars.

 

[abuck99]

The upgraded UCA's have been out for several months- so if a retailer is still shipping the old ones, I think they should let the buyer know.

If you are on the fence, make sure you know your getting the upgraded UCA's before you place your order.

Here is a picture of the new ball joint I pulled from amazon- offered there by SPC.

 

[Kofoed]

Off to check my non-zerk SPC's tonite......

 

[Slickspawn]

@sleeoffroad doesn't even have a 100 series in their fleet anymore so they are just selling whatever parts are available currently as a reseller, not a test and sell what we run like when they had their 100 series.

 

[Nottajeep]

I have one of the first sets of SPC UCAs. Thought those were going bad and sqeaking. Turns out I had a lot of other bad front end parts needing replaced lately. Wheel bearings, inner tie rods, and lower control arm ball joints etc... Not saying your UCA are not bad but these other items should be checked out first and foremost. These trucks are aging now and it seems the whole front end needs replacing around 200k.

My truck drives great now with the original SPCs.

 

[paflytyer]

@sleeoffroad does not make SPC arms. SPC is a stand alone company that has been around for years. This thread title is misleading to folks who may not know that.

My 100 was at Slee last week and there isn't another shop that I'd trust more with my vehicle.

 

[spressomon]

FWIW for the 3rd set of front UCAs we decided, since there wasn't a dependable choice for same on the market, to build our own. A friend of mine had SPC UCAs on his 4R and they were terrible; would not hold the ball joint position for anything more than street use. Light Racing has made some improvements since then but...

We designed and built my one-off custom front UCAs first and foremost for performance and durability with cost being the third/last priority. I'm all for saving a buck but to be fair the first set of aftermarket front UCA arms resulted in big maintenance costs for non-durable parts and realignment costs each time the parts were renewed; if I would have built the custom UCAs from the beginning I would have save serious coin. But no regrets with my custom built arms either.

For the cost of the current crop of front UCAs I can tell you they have put the selling price as their #1 design goal; just the nature of the beast when you're trying to make a profit. IMO no one is offering a "best" solution right now. But to be fair I doubt if folks would pay the additional for durable UCAs...the cost for just my ball joints (H1 racing) was $900. But then again after years of beating on my rig they're still in the game.

Don't expect too much.

 

[chuckscap]

I had the SPC UCAs installed by Slee with my OME 1.5" lift and diff drop a year ago. No issues as of yet, I will have them checked when I bring my truck into Slee this summer for a checkup. Slee has been outstanding with me, if there's an issue I'm sure they will be honest and fair. I'm hoping no issues with mine

 

[lrowe_csp]

Slee has done great work for me, but I went with the total chaos before he started stocking SPC and I haven't had any problems or squeaks in 3 years.

 

[TheForger]

Reviving this thread because I want to know if anyone has any positive or negative experience with these in the last year? I just purchased a set and kind of wish I would have stumbled upon this thread earlier. All of these posts have been from over a year ago so I am curious if SPC has gotten around to fixing a lot of these issues. My biggest concerns are:

1) Do they squeak? the new version balljoint that i have is greaseable, so I assume as long as they're properly serviced this should not happen. But you know how those things go...
2) How good is the ball joint at maintaining it's position in the UCA? The hole it mounts to is slotted to allow for camber adjustment (it slides inward & outward relative to the wheel well), and it seems like the slightest bump could move it in one direction or the other over time.
3) Any issues with the offset balljoint causing issues with clearance for tires or aftermarket shocks?

 

[abuck99]

Mine have been on for almost 1 year. Moderate use off-road several times but mostly street use. No squeaks(proper initial greasing of the bushing) , no clearance issues, no ball joint issues.

Knock wood, I have not experienced any of the problems early adopters had. I do have the newer generation ball joint.

 

[Slickspawn]

Mine are on 2+ years now and no squeaking. Plenty of offroad trips in the meantime too...I 'overused' the grease just in case.

And I do not have the fancy new zerk fitted ball joints...just the original ones.

 

[Kofoed]

I had the old style which failed in less than 10k miles. I run 295's and it is a weekend desert ride that sees lots of washboard.

I contacted SPC whom replaced the ball joints for free. I had to do the removal and replacement. I don't work particularly fast (I call it methodical) and it is a bit of a logistical problem getting back to the alignment shop during work hours. SO, it is very disappointing I bought some possibly old stock that cost me time and additional hassle and the cost of an alignment.

 

[jLB]

We've had them installed about 2.5 years and have run them about ~20,000 miles on my son's LC. It is a daily driver with fairly regular trips offroad, but hasn't really been used as a "rock crawler".

Haven't had any squeaking.
Haven't noticed any unexpected camber changes.
Haven't had any clearance issues.​

 

[chuckscap]

Mine have been on for 2 plus years, no issues, fingers crossed!

 

[bluesquirrel]

Are your Nitro inner mounting bushings distorted to reach caster spec or are they "straight up" like stock oem?

I'd like to know as well. I'm going to be in the market soon for new UCA, and I'm wondering if I should just pay a fabricator for a set of one off customs