Talk me into(or out of) SPC UCAs.

Hi everyone,

I recently got notification that the Dobinsons UCAs I have on order may not be available until the end of May(if even then), but, they have the SPC adjustable UCAs in stock and could substitute those for me if I'd like.

Now, I've heard mixed things regarding the SPC Upper Control arms, but, I've also heard that some of the issues had been fixed with the newer models. Can anyone here running the SPCs let me know how well you like them, and if I should go ahead and swap? Or would it be best to just sit tight and wait for the Dobinsons to arrive? Thanks in advance!

 

My opinion: For daily driving use, or light/slow offroad, I think they're a good choice; and the extra adjustability is a bonus. However, if you like going "not slow" offroad, or do any crawling/rough/rutted out terrain, I would consider another option. Just because I've seen enough stories of the adjustable ball joint shifting on people under those kinds of conditions.

I think all the other issues from the past, such as premature failing bushings, and failed welds, are all things of the past. I haven't seen any stories of any of that happening in years.

If it was between only those two choices, me personally, I'd wait for the Dobs; but if you're open to other suggestions, there's JBA, OME, and also Camburg and DK that offer ball joint UCA options too (and I'm sure a few others I'm forgetting to mention here)

 

I've got SPC UCAs that I put on last summer with my Dobinsons lift. I do quite a bit of challenging off-roading (crawling, rocks, etc.), and I've had no issues.

 

I considered them, but quickly decided the adjustable ball joint looked like a solution in search of a problem. If the nut comes loose for any reason, that's a trip back to the alignment shop.

There are plenty of quality UCAs on the market with non-adjustable ball joints that can get your alignment dialed-in just as well as SPC. One less variable made sense to me since it's not needed.

 

Thanks for the insights everyone, greatly appreciated. I'm kind of leaning away from the SPCs a bit, and doing more research on some other brands. I may inquire about the Dirt Kings if they have those in stock as I've been hearing a lot of good things regarding those. Freedom Offroad looks pretty good for the price, but, I'm not sure if those may be a case of "You get what you pay for".

 

I second this

JBA's accomplish the same thing for a good bit cheaper than most other UCA's

 

Ran SPCs for over 4 years with heavy off roading. Never a problem and remained ghost quiet throughout.
The adjustability is great. Just be certain you find an alignment tech that has experience with them.
I had Icon tubular prior and they were a nightmare. Very noisy and steering wheel very sluggish returning to center.

 

Ah...I somehow missed the fact that Dirt Kings are uniball. That crosses those off my list. I'd prefer to stay away from that style. Thanks for that heads up!

 

Dirt King and Camburg offer a ball joint UCA in addition to their other uniball and higher end offerings. Total Chaos doesn't do ball joints at all last time I checked.

 

I'd like to know more about the Freedom Off-road option. I think I've read a good review.. supposedly just DK knock-offs?

 

Yeah, I've heard people call them both Camburg and DK knock-offs. I'm honestly becoming a bit more interested in them as a possible option now after reading through the thread over at Tacomaworld. They seem to be decently liked on Tacomas at least.

 

I have SPC UCAs. Installed last summer. No problems so far. I got a lot of caster and it tracks straight. No complaints. The YouTube "Filthy Motorsports" video on UCAs goes into a lot of detail. I'm sure Dobinson or OME makes good stuff also. I've heard that some alignment shops may have difficulty adjusting SPCs but the shop that did my installation does alignment in house.

 

We went with the JBA's, at a recent 'checkup' , I asked the dealership to check alignment, the tech that checked the alignment thought the JBA's were great, he said alignment was good and also told us caster/camber adjustment of these control arms had room to further adjust, so very good adjustability. Can't really speak about the others much, just what I've heard here, but in a climate where winter salt and such is present, you'll want to stay away from uniballs... unless you like to change them.

 

I’ve had some form of SPC UCA on my truck for over eight years.

Neither the first generation nor the current generation has failed under some seriously challenging driving.

 

Had them on my Tacoma and beat them pretty hard zero issues. Have them on my new 4runner and have zero issues. If you look and browse hard and long enough on the internet you’ll find a problem and bad reviews on anything.

 

I ran SPC on my FJC and switched to high caster JBAs. I will be putting JBAs on this build as soon as the suspension arrives. SPC is a fine product but IMHO JBA is simply the best and fixes any and all alignment issues (caster), are bomb proof, backed by top level customer service and can be rebuilt with parts from any local auto store with no need for disassembly from the truck (but you will unlikely be rebuilding these things...tough.)

 

I came so close to pulling the trigger on the JBAs after hearing so many good things about them, but, in the end I was able to get the Dobinsons swapped out for a set of Dirt Kings (The ones with regular Ball Joints, and not the Uniball, thankfully.)

Down the road though? If anything ever happens to these DKs,(or, if for some reason I just don't like them) I will probably spring for a set of the JBAs.

 

Big fan of JBA's.. Running them on the Tundy and alignment has been dead on...No issues.

 

For anyone who went with the newest SPC arms, are they still holding up well? I had a set on a 2016 Tacoma and did have a ball joint go bad but other that that they were fine for the 20-30,000 miles I used them. Currently looking at UCA’s and trying to decide which ones to go with. If I had a higher lift I’d probably buy the Dobinson arms but I don’t want to get too much caster with my 1.5ish lift.

 

I’ve had them for 60k miles. A bushing went bad and was squeaking in the first 30k miles but it was from a bad batch. Called SPC, they replaced it under warranty and no issues since then.

 

Icon tubular with Delta Joint. Sort of a cross between ball joint and uniball, but it is sealed which is nice. Not the same reputation as Icon's leaky suspensions, these are good.

 

I've had SPC UCA for about 40k and never had any issues. I do grease the ball joints every 5k but I'll be refreshing them will new ones at the end of the month as part of my preventative maintenance.

 

Thanks for the information. I assume you both have the newest x-axis bushings?

 

yup!

 

They seem like a solid option. I looked at them and the JCA's, but ultimately went with the Ironman Pro-forge UCA's since they used a stock Toyota ball joint that requires zero maintenance. I still got over 4 degrees of positive caster from them and I don't have to re-grease them every 3-5k. Off road and on road, no issues whatsoever. Worth a look.