SPC UCA Groan/Creaking

Man, I haven't posted on this forum in a long, long time. But, I still have my tundra and its been my most reliable, fun vehicle I have ever had.

Anyways, I installed SPC UCAs about 30,000 miles ago with my Toytec lift. Loved them up until they got insanely loud about 5,000 miles ago. Whenver I go over speed bumps or large dips in the road, I would hear a LOUD, creaking/crunching/groaning noise. It was insanely loud. Couldn't figure out the cause for awhile until I realized it was the UCA bushings. Not the ball joint, but the bushings that ride on the long through bolt. Found on many forums that this is a typical issue with SPC poly bushings. Never heard about this before researching.

So, I had to remove the UCAs, grease the metal sleeve and entire bushings. Noise is gone now. I greased everything when I first installed but I guess they require maintenance. Anybody else had this issue?

 

I had that issue about a year ago, BUT mine had other issues as well that caused me to have to replace them. That is how I fixed the problem. not a cheap fix when you are broke lol

 

They are poly bushings, yes? Did they not come with zerks to grease the bushings? My TC uppers require maintenance due to the exact conditions you describe.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...-gen-tundra-today.2558/page-2012#post-3600935

 

SPC arms do not.

 

That’s the stupidest part of their design. No zerks for the bushings. Have to fully disassemble!

 

Interesting. What modern bushings are you referencing? Press the old ones out and use some of the new ones?

 

I wonder what they changed from years ago. Mine are 5 years old and no noise or issues at all. I do need to contact them and ask why they say to torque the ball joints to 45 ft lbs when Toyota spec is 81 ft lbs.

 

It’s a bit of a pain but I do the Total Chaos greasing every oil change and hit with dry spray more often than that, they are pretty quiet so far (3 years). That’s wild SPCs have no zerks.

Leaf springs get noisy too if offroading as I think sand gets in between the leafs, I just hit those with wd40 and seems to go away.

 

When I replaced them I torqued them at 45 ft lbs per SPC and had vibrations ever since. @Yota303 pointed out that OEM spec is 81 ft lbs. When I pulled the Toytecs out to install the 8112's I torqued them to 81. After the new ball joints, retorque, and installing the Bilsteins, the only vibration that I have is from tire wear on the passenger side where the alignment was off, but Ridge Grapplers aren't going to be totally smooth anyway.

 

The SPC uppers ball joints?
It's 45 ft lbs while adjusting and 150 ft lbs when done.

 

Re-read #12 and #16

That explains the alignment issues and vibes.

 

#12 is the nut on the ball joint stud where the cotter pin is. SPC states 45 ft lbs and that's it. Toyota spec is 81. #16 is the top nut that holds the ball joint to the control arm.

 

Yeah I thought you were talking about the top nut

 

You could drill a hole, thread it, and insert your own zerks...easiest, cheapest and potentially, the best solution. They also offer new bushings for the UCAs that I had to recently redo on my 4runner...they are better and definitely do not make noise...they're also not Poly but more of a hard rubber...maybe the same thing but they aren't your typical poly bushing...I like them and haven't had any issues for about 3 months of driving...it was the last thing I wanted to do and if I have to do this again, SPC is done on my vehicles...though, I'm hopeful the updated bushings are the fix I was hoping for...perhaps a different use-case than what you're experiencing...