What's going on with my SPC UCA Bushings? (1 Viewer)

[OregonLC]

Been noticing that she hasn't been tracking straight. Images are PS, but DS is similar. Looks as if I've lost the entire front shoulder of the busing and the UCA has slid forward. The top pic is the forward PS bushing. You can see the arm is up against the washer and the tapered end has slid back. The second pic is the rear bushing, showing the gap.

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[Cruisin911]

Thats interesting. Has that forward washer started deflecting? Wonder how much stress is on it. Have you hit any big bumps or something that would cause that much forward pressure on that arm?

 

[OregonLC]

Washer looks fine. Shouldn’t be any different load on it now. It’s just that the arm is touching it rather than the shoulder of the bushing. Any bumps? Heck this is an 8,000 lbs truck that see tons of trail miles! Lots and lots of hard use. Exactly what those arms are for, right?

I’m just wondering if I’m the unique case here or if this has happened to other SPC users too? Or if there was something with my install that could have caused it? These things are pretty simple to install. Are the bushings even serviceable in the field with both ends flanged?

 

[Cruisin911]

Washer looks fine. Shouldn’t be any different load on it now. It’s just that the arm is touching it rather than the shoulder of the bushing. Any bumps? Heck this is an 8,000 lbs truck that see tons of trail miles! Lots and lots of hard use. Exactly what those arms are for, right?

Exactly. Used as intended. While I did consider the SPC arms, I ended up running the Camburg UCAs. They use a poly bushing with a large shoulder and grease zerks. I have never heard or seen what you are experiencing before. Wonder if you can pull them off and press that bushing back into place. Probably easy with a vise.

 

[OregonLC]

I had TC UCAs on my 100. Those had poly bushings and those bushings did need replacement even though they were greased. Overall I prefer the OEM style rubber as they absorb more NVH than the poly.

 

[blatant]

That is a weird pic... interesting same on both sides?

My spc's, despite being installed correctly and properly lubed, squeaked horribly. Ended up getting replacement bushings from spc and then tapped and zerked the 4 spots.

 

[Mogwai]

Is the through bolt torqued correctly? Almost looks loose but I'm sure you'd be having other issues if that was the case.

 

[OregonLC]

That is a weird pic... interesting same on both sides?

My spc's, despite being installed correctly and properly lubed, squeaked horribly. Ended up getting replacement bushings from spc and then tapped and zerked the 4 spots.

Yep, same on both sides. The square shoulder of the bushing is gone allowing the UCA to slide forward against the washer.

Is the through bolt torqued correctly? Almost looks loose but I'm sure you'd be having other issues if that was the case.

Yep, it was torqued to the 136 lb-ft specified in the FSM. My first thought too was that the long UCA bolt had come loose, but that's not the case. The bolt torques up against the inserted sleeves and is still tight against those. The bushings act to center and pivot the UCA but don't take any of the bolt torque.

I contacted SPC this morning and they were Johnny-on-the-spot about replying and trouble-shooting. We're going to measure the inner spread to make sure that UCA didn't get bent then get some new bushings in there.

 

[bloc]

Overall I prefer the OEM style rubber as they absorb more NVH than the poly.

Also it’s basically impossible for this to happen as the entire bushing would have to tear, due to the outer sleeve being pressed in and the inner parts being molded to that.

 

[Markuson]

Ima go inspect my SPCs.

And ya... the **squeaks** come and go...and drive me nutty...

 

[blatant]

Ima go inspect my SPCs.

And ya... the **squeaks** come and go...and drive me nutty...

adding zerks to the housing seemed somewhat common sense, and at least allows mitigation of the creak, not sure why they didn't come with them from SPC / light racing. I found the customer service at SPC lack luster and they didn't want to deal with me remotely, only the installing dealer/ order placer [ dealer ate the cost of the bushings AND the cost of disassembly/drilling/zerking and reassembly ] Honestly, if I had to do over, I'd go differently.

Dealer [ or should I say service director, who I'm sure made this happen, gratis, big LC guy, on this board, but actions still have costs ] was cool, but it was still a hassel. Time is worth quite a bit.

Then there's the thread on here about one of them cracking at the weld/scary stuff. I'm just kinda meh. I'll just monitor but when/if, i'll change to a better platform. Unfortunate b/c not the route I was expecting to have to travel.

 

[Mogwai]

I'm surprised to hear about "creaks" - it's funny how things trickle out but if they're not a major issue you may never hear about them. I only bring this up because I thought most people go with the SPCs because they are more like stock and should creak less (and yes should hide vibrations better too). I have had the TCs on for 30k miles and have greased them twice since install (prob not as often as I should) and never had any creaks. Ya'll just reminded me they're due for a lube.

 

[OregonLC]

Yeah, I had noisy TCs on my 100. SPCs have been great... until this.

 

[AZCRSR]

adding zerks to the housing seemed somewhat common sense, and at least allows mitigation of the creak, not sure why they didn't come with them from SPC / light racing. I found the customer service at SPC lack luster and they didn't want to deal with me remotely, only the installing dealer/ order placer [ dealer ate the cost of the bushings AND the cost of disassembly/drilling/zerking and reassembly ] Honestly, if I had to do over, I'd go differently.

Dealer [ or should I say service director, who I'm sure made this happen, gratis, big LC guy, on this board, but actions still have costs ] was cool, but it was still a hassel. Time is worth quite a bit.

Then there's the thread on here about one of them cracking at the weld/scary stuff. I'm just kinda meh. I'll just monitor but when/if, i'll change to a better platform. Unfortunate b/c not the route I was expecting to have to travel.

I'm having my new SPC's installed with the same said service director in the next couple of weeks. Is there anything I should ask him to do at install to avoid those same issues?

 

[blatant]

His install was spot on, to the letter, proper grease included etc and they were not new at installing those arms...hell they stock spc's. Some have squeaking, some don't, Couple threads on it and several threads on options.

 

[ElJayBird]

Are OEM bushing a direct replacement? I’m getting ready to install my SPC’s sometime in the next couple of weeks or so. I’d prefer to do it only once.

 

[ckkone]

I've had SPCs on my last two builds, never again they are junk.

 

[OregonLC]

New bushings are on the way. This is actually timely because I'm planning to proactively do the starter. And 'while I'm in there' I'm going to replace the exhaust gaskets too (have a slight tick). So having the UCA's out will give me that much more space to work.

I'll reply back with pics of the replacement bushings when they get here.

I have to say that contrary to the posts above, SPC has been excellent to work with. Very thorough and prompt. The failure is likely a combination of lack of maintenance and overzealous pressure washing of the inside of the wheel wells (which I do after every trip). The latter accelerated the erosion of the grease layer between the washer and the bushing. And without there being a zerk, the need for a PM wasn't on my radar (not that that is an excuse). Their recommendation is to loosen the UCA bolt once every six months or so and re-apply grease between the bushings and the washers.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Friends dont let friends run poly

 

[bloc]

Get a head start on your down pipe bolts/nuts with PB blaster or similar. I’d then put anti-seize on the studs before trying to remove those nuts. Two of mine seized halfway down the stud and my truck is totally rust free. Then the machine shop cracked the manifold trying to extract the broken studs. It was an expensive and time consuming starter solenoid PM for me.