SPC Ball Joint Failure

[TremorKaos]

I had the strangest, complete component failure of my SPC Ball Joint. My upper ball joint just decided to separate itself while driving yesterday late afternoon. I had just finished a 30 minute drive down the interstate heading into town, pulled into a gravel parking lot and as soon as my tires touched the gravel, all of a sudden it felt like my front brakes locked up, my ABS and Traction Control warning lights came on and I skidded to a stop. Thankfully I was barely moving, like 3 MPH if that. There was no noise, vibration or any kind of sign that anything was wrong. Truck was behaving normally all day.

This is on a 22 Tremor with a Halo Lifts kit leveled to 1.75" of lift in the front with about 26k miles on the kit. I haven't had any kind of issues with any component up to this point, it's been fantastic and has absolutely improved the truck's handling and abilities. Although I wouldn't say that I'm gentle with the truck since I do use it to wheel, camp, tow and haul, I don't beat it up and am a stickler for maintenance and have always greased the ball joint at every oil change (5k miles intervals). There was plenty of grease; it was all over the coil over, LCA and tire. There was no pieces or broken parts that I could see. It literally looks like the ball just slipped out of the socket/race. I expected these to last 50k miles or more, and obviously not separate, although I understand it's a wear component which would just depend on my use.

I did a quick Google search and found that SPC updated/revised their ball joint design, but it sounded like it was changed in 2020 or so. I bought and installed the kit in Dec 2023, so I assume I have the newer version installed. Also, looking at the "new" design, it does call out a polymer race, which doesn't inspire a whole lot of faith for a critical component to be honest.

My initial thought was to just order the replacement ball joints, but I am not sure I can trust them to not do this again? I do plan to confirm which part version I have on the truck, but haven't been able to just yet. Does anyone have any similar experiences and/or had any issues with their SPC upper ball joints?

edited for spelling/clarity

 

[Tremgineer]

Wow, this is terrible, and all of us running the same kit need to understand why this happened and how to have confidence that it wont happen again. Maybe Kevin can provide some context? @halo.f150

 

[MustardT1ger]

I just replaced my greaseable ones for the sealed version. I had some heavy play in one of them at 15k kms. Glad I swapped them now

 

[Cranbery]

My SPCs had heavy play and were squeaking with around 20k miles on them, I ended up replacing them with the icons. That's crazy that happened to you... they should give you new one for free and a reason why it happened.

 

[TremorKaos]

My SPCs had heavy play and were squeaking with around 20k miles on them, I ended up replacing them with the icons. That's crazy that happened to you... they should give you new one for free and a reason why it happened.

Which of the Icon UCA's did you end up going with? Any difference in handling compared to the SPC's?

I did check the warranty, which is a lifetime per their website, but you have to send them the part with documentation for their inspection and review to confirm it meets their warranty requirements.

 

[Cranbery]

Which of the Icon UCA's did you end up going with? Any difference in handling compared to the SPC's?

The billet ones. I changed my whole suspension so I wouldn't be able to tell you what part of the improvement is attributed to just the UCAs.

The SPCs going bad already was a driver in the whole swap though, the play was noticable.

 

[TremorKaos]

Wow, this is terrible, and all of us running the same kit need to understand why this happened and how to have confidence that it wont happen again. Maybe Kevin can provide some context? @halo.f150

Thanks. I'm glad my guardian angel held it together until I pulled into the parking lot. I'm hoping it's just a one-off fluke, but my confidence in those SPC joints has definitely taken a hit.

 

[PNWTremor]

I had the strangest, complete component failure of my SPC Ball Joint. My upper ball joint just decided to separate itself while driving yesterday late afternoon. I had just finished a 30 minute drive down the interstate heading into town, pulled into a gravel parking lot and as soon as my tires touched the gravel, all of a sudden it felt like my front brakes locked up, my ABS and Traction Control warning lights came on and I skidded to a stop. Thankfully I was barely moving, like 3 MPH if that. There was no noise, vibration or any kind of sign that anything was wrong. Truck was behaving normally all day.

This is on a 22 Tremor with a Halo Lifts kit leveled to 1.75" of lift in the front with about 26k miles on the kit. I haven't had any kind of issues with any component up to this point, it's been fantastic and has absolutely improved the truck's handling and abilities. Although I wouldn't say that I'm gentle with the truck since I do use it to wheel, camp, tow and haul, I don't beat it up and am a stickler for maintenance and have always greased the ball joint at every oil change (5k miles intervals). There was plenty of grease; it was all over the coil over, LCA and tire. There was no pieces or broken parts that I could see. It literally looks like the ball just slipped out of the socket/race. I expected these to last 50k miles or more, and obviously not separate, although I understand it's a wear component which would just depend on my use.

I did a quick Google search and found that SPC updated/revised their ball joint design, but it sounded like it was changed in 2020 or so. I bought and installed the kit in Dec 2023, so I assume I have the newer version installed. Also, looking at the "new" design, it does call out a polymer race, which doesn't inspire a whole lot of faith for a critical component to be honest.

My initial thought was to just order the replacement ball joints, but I am not sure I can trust them to not do this again? I do plan to confirm which part version I have on the truck, but haven't been able to just yet. Does anyone have any similar experiences and/or had any issues with their SPC upper ball joints?

View attachment 40202
View attachment 40203

edited for spelling/clarity

Sh*t man sorry this happened to you, glad the truck is safe though, can’t imagine this happening offroad in the sticks.

I was hesitant to get the SPC UCAs before but glad I stuck with the stock ones. Will look for other offerings in the future. Hopefully you get compensated in some meaningful way for this, either a full replacement including labor to fix.

 

[TremorKaos]

Sh*t man sorry this happened to you, glad the truck is safe though, can’t imagine this happening offroad in the sticks.

I was hesitant to get the SPC UCAs before but glad I stuck with the stock ones. Will look for other offerings in the future. Hopefully you get compensated in some meaningful way for this, either a full replacement including labor to fix.

Thanks bro, yeah it would have sucked if it was out in the desert by myself.

With a buddies help I was able to jack the truck up to re-align and insert the ball back into the socket/race. We then used a couple of ratchet straps to squeeze the A arms together enough to hold it in place. I was worried about the CV shaft, but there didn't appear to be any binding or issues once we put it back together. It did tear the stabilizer bar link apart, stretched the brake hose substantially but didn't tear it and I'm thinking it broke the ABS wheel speed sensor; probably why the ABS and traction control warning lights are on.

I was able to drive it across the lot and onto a trailer to haul it home. It went into 4x4 fine and I'm hoping the CV is still good. I think I'm going to replace the lower ball joint as a precaution, so might as well do both sides. For the upper, I'm either putting the stock UCA's back on (only had 17k miles on them when I switched) or likely go with another UCA system. Kinda depends on what the total cost is going to be.

 

[Tremgineer]

@Cranbery when you had heavy play, was that the greased or sealed joint? I wonder if the sealed joint is capable of longer life.

 

[Sparkle_Tooth]

I just installed at set of SPCs and a Halo lift on my 25' Tremor. Haven't had any issues yet but still fairly new. I ran SPCs on my 4Runner a few years back and had no issues with them. Might be a fluke, but worth investigating. SPCs weren't my first choice but I went with them since they pair them with the Halo lift since that is what has tested to work with that particular lift/level kit.
I Had a stage 9 Icon lift on my Tacoma and that system was amazing, unfortunately it is difficult to find proper systems out there that work with the Tremor without mixing and matching stuff for trial and error.

Check in with Halo and I am sure they will make it right for you.

 

[MCO]

SPC has not got a great reputation on other platforms for longevity. The balljoints are proprietary and thus hard to source when needed quickly. We have had customers stranded over long weekends asking if we have them and we don’t stock them. The only benefit of the arms is their adjustability. But with the qc issues I don’t recommend them. Most people honestly will buy them because of cost. Why buy an icon arm for this amount when this one that is adjustable is only x amount. “That’s how they get ya”.

There are a lot of shops that sell them because they meet a price point too. Let’s sell you x suspension and cheap out on the arms so we can make the sale at a certain price point. It’s not a great situation. I’d much rather sell a product that will last a long time and uses bushings and serviceable balljoints than use these arms.

The other mistake I see is people/ shops recommending race parts that rely on heim or uniballs for street driven trucks for their shiny factor. The joints wear and get loose causing knocking noises and are a pain to rebuild when corroded. In a dry environment with little risk of corrosion and very frequent servicing they will work well. But in most conditions where we encounter rain/ road salt/ mud etc, they’re not ideal.

Regarding billet adjustable arms, the same issues apply. The adjustments are usually difficult to make without disassembling the suspension to make adjustments. You then have to reassemble and remeasure suspension. This makes alignments a longer and more expensive process than necessary for most truck lifted in the usual 2-3 inch range. It’s overkill for most trucks. They usually use helms at the suspension pickup points that will wear over time as well.

The inclination is to buy the best available for the truck, but often there are tradeoffs that may not be suitable for most use cases. They do look shiny though!

Again, my recommendation is a tubular control arm that is non adjustable using bushings at the mounting points to isolate nvh. These will be easily serviceable when the time comes. Also, a serviceable balljoint that is sealed or a hybrid design like the icon delta joint is much preferred to a uniball.

This should net you the caster correction needed for the lift heights most of us run and provide a longer lifespan with less headaches.

 

[Escape Hatch]

SPC has not got a great reputation on other platforms for longevity. The balljoints are proprietary and thus hard to source when needed quickly. We have had customers stranded over long weekends asking if we have them and we don’t stock them. The only benefit of the arms is their adjustability. But with the qc issues I don’t recommend them. Most people honestly will buy them because of cost. Why buy an icon arm for this amount when this one that is adjustable is only x amount. “That’s how they get ya”.

There are a lot of shops that sell them because they meet a price point too. Let’s sell you x suspension and cheap out on the arms so we can make the sale at a certain price point. It’s not a great situation. I’d much rather sell a product that will last a long time and uses bushings and serviceable balljoints than use these arms.

The other mistake I see is people/ shops recommending race parts that rely on heim or uniballs for street driven trucks for their shiny factor. The joints wear and get loose causing knocking noises and are a pain to rebuild when corroded. In a dry environment with little risk of corrosion and very frequent servicing they will work well. But in most conditions where we encounter rain/ road salt/ mud etc, they’re not ideal.

Regarding billet adjustable arms, the same issues apply. The adjustments are usually difficult to make without disassembling the suspension to make adjustments. You then have to reassemble and remeasure suspension. This makes alignments a longer and more expensive process than necessary for most truck lifted in the usual 2-3 inch range. It’s overkill for most trucks. They usually use helms at the suspension pickup points that will wear over time as well.

The inclination is to buy the best available for the truck, but often there are tradeoffs that may not be suitable for most use cases. They do look shiny though!

Again, my recommendation is a tubular control arm that is non adjustable using bushings at the mounting points to isolate nvh. These will be easily serviceable when the time comes. Also, a serviceable balljoint that is sealed or a hybrid design like the icon delta joint is much preferred to a uniball.

This should net you the caster correction needed for the lift heights most of us run and provide a longer lifespan with less headaches.

Very informative and makes me feel a bit better buying the Icon billet arms. Thank you for the knowledge dump.

 

[rguest3]

A few years back I was on the fence with SPC or Icon Upper Control Arms on my 4runner. I remember that SPC was having issues back then as well and not lasting. I went with the icon instead.

Since then, I have had the Icon Stage-8 on 2 Broncos, Icon Springs and shocks on a F350 Tremor and a Stage-5 complete Icon System on my 24 F150 Tremor. I have had zero issues with the Icon suspension on any of the vehicles.

 

[SpaceWhiteF150]

As others have mentioned, SPC UCAs have had issues from the start. The ball joint has been the issue in pretty much every case we have seen. The best uppers on the market by far are the icon delta joints. We have had almost zero issues running them on tremors and raptors. If yall need a set we carry them, and I always throw in a forum discount! Just shot me a pm if you need anything.

 

[TremorKaos]

As others have mentioned, SPC UCAs have had issues from the start. The ball joint has been the issue in pretty much every case we have seen. The best uppers on the market by far are the icon delta joints. We have had almost zero issues running them on tremors and raptors. If yall need a set we carry them, and I always throw in a forum discount! Just shot me a pm if you need anything.

Do the Icon tubular UCA fit with stock wheels and tires? I keep seeing that it wont on fitment notes but am reading differing accounts online as I've been searching these last couple days.

 

[PNWTremor]

Thanks bro, yeah it would have sucked if it was out in the desert by myself.

With a buddies help I was able to jack the truck up to re-align and insert the ball back into the socket/race. We then used a couple of ratchet straps to squeeze the A arms together enough to hold it in place. I was worried about the CV shaft, but there didn't appear to be any binding or issues once we put it back together. It did tear the stabilizer bar link apart, stretched the brake hose substantially but didn't tear it and I'm thinking it broke the ABS wheel speed sensor; probably why the ABS and traction control warning lights are on.

I was able to drive it across the lot and onto a trailer to haul it home. It went into 4x4 fine and I'm hoping the CV is still good. I think I'm going to replace the lower ball joint as a precaution, so might as well do both sides. For the upper, I'm either putting the stock UCA's back on (only had 17k miles on them when I switched) or likely go with another UCA system. Kinda depends on what the total cost is going to be.

View attachment 40226

That's crazy. Glad it worked out. Believe it or not I am actually using the factory UCA and it's been awesome for a 2" level, under heavy abuse. The high articulating ball joint is great for what it needs to be.

The boots on your CVs are thriving brother

 

[SpaceWhiteF150]

Do the Icon tubular UCA fit with stock wheels and tires? I keep seeing that it wont on fitment notes but am reading differing accounts online as I've been searching these last couple days.

With the wider radius of the arm I would say no. The most positive offset we have run them on is +12 offset wheels and oversized tires.

I can get back to you Monday after I talk with our ICON rep.

 

[Sparkle_Tooth]

With the wider radius of the arm I would say no. The most positive offset we have run them on is +12 offset wheels and oversized tires.

I can get back to you Monday after I talk with our ICON rep.

So now this has piqued my interest. I would have gone with a different UPC but I too have heard that there are fitment issues with Icon and certain setups.

So since you recommend them and I have used the in the past with success. I would be interested in potentially swapping out my SPCs for Icons. My current setup is the Halo Stage 1 kit which is the 2.0 Coilovers. I run Falken Wilpeak RTs 295/70/18 on the stock wheels.
Which Icon UPC would work with that setup to avoid any rubbing. Thanks

 

[SpaceWhiteF150]

So now this has piqued my interest. I would have gone with a different UPC but I too have heard that there are fitment issues with Icon and certain setups.

So since you recommend them and I have used the in the past with success. I would be interested in potentially swapping out my SPCs for Icons. My current setup is the Halo Stage 1 kit which is the 2.0 Coilovers. I run Falken Wilpeak RTs 295/70/18 on the stock wheels.
Which Icon UPC would work with that setup to avoid any rubbing. Thanks

The billet arms are slightly wider than the tubular arms but they have essentially the same ball joint location. The main difference is the adjustability at the coil bucket for alignment. We have run both with success. I personally have the tubular arms on mine, they have been great.

I know @Cblaxx19 has the billet arms on raptor wheels and 35/11.5s. I don’t remember if he has spacers or not.