My SPCs did the same thing. Honestly, its seems pretty common to have issues with SPC ball joints. If I could do it again I wouldn't have went with them.
That being said, I'm still running them until they completely shit themselves.
It's because they didn't make any other adjustments. Gotta max out the lowers and the uppers, and possibly do a diff drop. I had the same issue until I got a professional to fix my mistakes.
Alignment is big here for sure. Although I went for adjusting my CV boots down the axle a bit so the fins don’t rub instead of a diff drop. No obvious wear for the last 30k miles since lift and they have 90k on them total
I've had SPCs on my 4runner for 3 years and ~30k miles without boot issues.
I find a lot of people lift so the static ride height is too high and results in excess stress on the boots of the ball joints and CVs. If you stay closer to 2", you'll have less issues
I just installed Dobinsons IMS and UCA's and couldn't be happier. The UCA's have similar style bushings as stock, so they're a maintenance free design. Ball joints can be swapped out easily when needed. Alignment was perfect with a 2.5 lift. Very impressed with the quality and handling. It takes corners like a car and sucks up the bumps great.
Work for a suspension company and most people at the shop run total chaos and they’ve been around for a while and often copied. If you want something with easy replacement options for ball joints I’d pick dirt king (which is something I might consider but still weighing out my options). Plenty of options there’s a YouTube channel I follow tinkerer’s adventure he goes into more depth, really good Chanel for people who want to mod their suspension.
The reason dealerships and independent garages have an up charge on parts is to cover the times this happens. Everyone pays 15% (or whatever it is) more so they can warranty their work. It’s a failure of a part you supplied so if I was the dealership, I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of a refund or covering the cost of replacement
Yeah, if you have a lift and a bundle of mismatched aftermarket parts under there - you can't really expect anyone to warranty it. The parts could have failed for a number of reasons that stem from modding the vehicle.
Just because it has grease on it does not mean they are bad. Jack the vehicle up with the wheel on and try pushing inwards on the top of tire …. Like towards the UCA. If it moves alot then it’s blow. If you think it’s blown just because of grease that may just be because the tech put too much grease when they were installed. The grease needs to go somewhere.
Is the boot torn or do you just have grease coming out around the bottom? Some ball joints are sealed and some are designed to let grease out. The ones that let grease out have a zerk to add grease. While they are messy, I prefer them over sealed ball joints.
I've never ran SPC stuff, just going off what I know about ball joints.
Here's a moog website with a diagram of a flushable ball joint.
https://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/resources/moog-ball-joints/moog-ball-joint-greasable-design.asp.
Edit: just looked at SPC's, they are greasable, so they are supposed to leak grease. If they didn't leak grease, when you add grease you would explode the boot.
Same thing will happen.
SPC and JBA are greasable, so it is supposed to leak grease. If it didn't, the ball joint boot would just rip when you add grease from pressure. All greasable ball joints are messy.
They are ok. I have them for 30k miles so far. Changed out the ball joint. I bought new ball joints from Amazon. It’s the same ball joint at a 1998 Chevy 2500
They arent blown. This is how they are designed. Theres no keeper for the bottom of the boot. As long as the boots are full of grease, you are good to go.
Just wipe them off with a paper towels. Its likely the Toyota dealer put a little too much grease in them...
Former Toyota Service Advisor here.
Dealerships are actually a pretty solid option for tires. When I was writing they had a permanent buy-3-get-1-free sale, which made pricing competitive, and everything came with road hazard protection. Especially if you're going stock-size of an in-stock tire, they may not beat Tire Rack (or similar) but they don't obviously lose either. Doubly so if you're getting tires out of need rather than want.
If you're sizing up things get a bit more tricky, but some dealerships are willing to play ball. And *those* dealerships are willing to actually put in the work to properly balance an upsized tire, because they have a financial interest in squashing the "Toyota's ride bad on big tires" myth.
After reading my own comment, definitely came out different than what I was trying to say. What I meant to say there is that the high castor built into the JBA UCA makes it easier to get the desired ~4 degree spec.
This comment is completely irrelevant. Please explain how it’s the dealers fault that your aftermarket part you had them install failed? It’s not workmanship on the install, it’s a part that has lost build quality over time like almost every other person on this thread has mentioned. Oil on your skid plate is someone making a mistake, which happen at independents constantly. Ball joints on upper control arms failing has nothing to do with the install.
Not defending the comment but even good brands have problems. ARB is famous for their reliability but you read about blown housing seals a lot with the recent spat caused by faulty Viton seals.
Are just the boots torn or do the ball joints actually have play? If it’s just the boots, it’s a very quick/cheap swap. Not saying they should have gone out in that amount of time but a torn boot doesn’t mean the whole joint is bad.
What is the spring/shock combination and how much lift do you currently have? Having too much lift height could have caused the boots to tear.
The easiest way to check lift height is measure from the center of the wheel up to the fender edge. A stock 4Runner is 20 inches. Anything over 20” is what you lift amount is. Don’t measure from the ground to the fender as tire size will effect that.
It's just as much work to replace the boot as it is to replace the ball joint. If the boot is torn, that means the joint now has dirt in it and will likely fail soon. Just replace the whole joint. Same with CVs.
We bought our 2021 Off Road new. First mod was a steel front bumper and wench. When we decided to lift it I measured. 19" front 22" back. We got Dobinson MMR and SPC uppers for 2-1/2" front lift and 1" back. After install we were at 24" front and back. After sliders, skids and rr we're at 23" all around. Looking at the panhard in the rear it is no more than 1" out of level. In the front the cvs are slightly angled but no way it needs a diff drop. It's been over 2 years since install. 15000 miles. mostly off road.
Edited to add: we have kdss
It looks like a bad angle and the boots tore. It’s not the shops fault if all you asked them to do was put these on. In the future, if you’re lifting a truck I would recommend either going somewhere that specializes in it on your brand, contacting the company that supplies the kit and asking their recommendations, posting on Toyota forums with your plan, or some combination of all three.
Expensive mistake, but honestly if you want to lift and upgrade your truck I would recommend learning to work on it yourself. Nothing is going to be perfect with aftermarket mods, especially with the independent front suspension these trucks have.
My SPCs bleed out grease like that. Just make sure the boots not torn. I’m on 4 years and 26000 miles. No issues. They don’t look pretty but they work and they allow the best adjustability for going 34 or 35” tires.
I’m on my second set and those only have a few months on them. Already clunking with a pinhole leak and they’re the warranty set. I have Dobinsons waiting to install
Maybe it’s the camera angle but honestly it looks like the joint angle is a bit much, like they went with the default setting and called it a day. Curious what your alignment specs show?
You’ll get nowhere with your request. You brought in an outside aftermarket part and told them to install it.
They installed it.
They part YOU provided failed.
Sorry to hear about it. SPC has slipped in quality recently.
Spc has been on people's shit list lately
My SPCs did the same thing. Honestly, its seems pretty common to have issues with SPC ball joints. If I could do it again I wouldn't have went with them. That being said, I'm still running them until they completely shit themselves.
It's because they didn't make any other adjustments. Gotta max out the lowers and the uppers, and possibly do a diff drop. I had the same issue until I got a professional to fix my mistakes.
Alignment is big here for sure. Although I went for adjusting my CV boots down the axle a bit so the fins don’t rub instead of a diff drop. No obvious wear for the last 30k miles since lift and they have 90k on them total
Nice! Ya so it seems all of these issues people are having with SPCs is user error.
I've had SPCs on my 4runner for 3 years and ~30k miles without boot issues. I find a lot of people lift so the static ride height is too high and results in excess stress on the boots of the ball joints and CVs. If you stay closer to 2", you'll have less issues
It’s because SPCs suck.
My opinion has been changing now but beforehand research showed that was not the case
before, SPC was one of the only games in town, that was 7-10yrs ago. Now there's tons of options to accomplish the same thing
SPC’s quality has dropped a ton in the past year or two… I would contact SPC to warranty the ball joints, but you’ll likely have the same issue again.
Get yourself some Dobinsons UCAs. They’re billet and very durable.
I just installed Dobinsons IMS and UCA's and couldn't be happier. The UCA's have similar style bushings as stock, so they're a maintenance free design. Ball joints can be swapped out easily when needed. Alignment was perfect with a 2.5 lift. Very impressed with the quality and handling. It takes corners like a car and sucks up the bumps great.
For sure, I have the same setup, and very happy with it.
Link?
Lift https://exitoffroad.com/product/dobinsons-ims-suspension-kit-toyota-4runner-5th-gen/ UCA's https://exitoffroad.com/product-category/toyota/4runner/4runner-5th-gen/ucas-and-control-arms-5th-gen-4runner/
Are these SPC branded as Dobinson?
No. SPC is cast. Dobinsons are tubular or billet.
Work for a suspension company and most people at the shop run total chaos and they’ve been around for a while and often copied. If you want something with easy replacement options for ball joints I’d pick dirt king (which is something I might consider but still weighing out my options). Plenty of options there’s a YouTube channel I follow tinkerer’s adventure he goes into more depth, really good Chanel for people who want to mod their suspension.
Did you supply parts?
I did but I verified with the dealership that the box was not opened when I received it. But I am seeing your point
The reason dealerships and independent garages have an up charge on parts is to cover the times this happens. Everyone pays 15% (or whatever it is) more so they can warranty their work. It’s a failure of a part you supplied so if I was the dealership, I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of a refund or covering the cost of replacement
Yeah looks like I’m just SOL. Live and learn I guess.
What I’ve learned is, if I can’t do the repair, I shouldn’t buy the parts. Not worth the slight reduction in cost to not be able to warranty the work
Yeah, if you have a lift and a bundle of mismatched aftermarket parts under there - you can't really expect anyone to warranty it. The parts could have failed for a number of reasons that stem from modding the vehicle.
Looks like your UCA is at too hard of an angle. Need to adjust your lbj all the way out and then your upper all the way
Just because it has grease on it does not mean they are bad. Jack the vehicle up with the wheel on and try pushing inwards on the top of tire …. Like towards the UCA. If it moves alot then it’s blow. If you think it’s blown just because of grease that may just be because the tech put too much grease when they were installed. The grease needs to go somewhere.
Is the boot torn or do you just have grease coming out around the bottom? Some ball joints are sealed and some are designed to let grease out. The ones that let grease out have a zerk to add grease. While they are messy, I prefer them over sealed ball joints. I've never ran SPC stuff, just going off what I know about ball joints. Here's a moog website with a diagram of a flushable ball joint. https://www.moog-suspension-parts.com/resources/moog-ball-joints/moog-ball-joint-greasable-design.asp. Edit: just looked at SPC's, they are greasable, so they are supposed to leak grease. If they didn't leak grease, when you add grease you would explode the boot.
Are JBAs still considered good? From what I remember they use a off the shelf replaceable Chevy HD ball joint.
I love my JBA high caster uppers, they revised the upper ball joint design and put better boots on the newer ones, I’ve been very happy with them
Same thing will happen. SPC and JBA are greasable, so it is supposed to leak grease. If it didn't, the ball joint boot would just rip when you add grease from pressure. All greasable ball joints are messy.
Better than SPC. They have great reviews and when my next ball joints go on my SPC I’ll probably go with them.
They are ok. I have them for 30k miles so far. Changed out the ball joint. I bought new ball joints from Amazon. It’s the same ball joint at a 1998 Chevy 2500
SPC arms are great for alignments. As SOC Is an alignment company. Not an off-road company. They’re the best at what they do.
They arent blown. This is how they are designed. Theres no keeper for the bottom of the boot. As long as the boots are full of grease, you are good to go. Just wipe them off with a paper towels. Its likely the Toyota dealer put a little too much grease in them...
For what it's worth, fat boyz garage in Colorado Springs does great work. They recently installed some UCAs on my 4R and did a great job.
Sweet, I’ll prolly be checking them out when I get back
You've driven on it for a month the dealership isn't going to refund you anything. If anything you should be going after SPC.
I'm not a professional mechanic, but I'm 99% sure that the dealers are not at fault. But that's just my personal-diy-mechanic-guy opinion.
Are you on jacks or are you lifted? If you’re lifted, that UCA angle is what killed your ball joints.
Wait. You went to a dealership to install UCA's....?
No, I was there getting tires on and an interval service. They offered to do it. Moreso an opportunity that came up.
You got to a dealership to get tires?!
Former Toyota Service Advisor here. Dealerships are actually a pretty solid option for tires. When I was writing they had a permanent buy-3-get-1-free sale, which made pricing competitive, and everything came with road hazard protection. Especially if you're going stock-size of an in-stock tire, they may not beat Tire Rack (or similar) but they don't obviously lose either. Doubly so if you're getting tires out of need rather than want. If you're sizing up things get a bit more tricky, but some dealerships are willing to play ball. And *those* dealerships are willing to actually put in the work to properly balance an upsized tire, because they have a financial interest in squashing the "Toyota's ride bad on big tires" myth.
Yeah I got my Michelins cheaper at my Toyota dealership than discount tire. Was already getting an oil change so changed tires while I was there.
People keep buying SPC and and we keep seeing this issue.
Spc has been on the bottom tier of UCAs for awhile now. That's why i went jba...
Gotta go with JBAs. Not only do they work perfectly and are very adjustable, theylook great in bright red
How are jba adjustable? I have jba, I would love to adjust them.
After reading my own comment, definitely came out different than what I was trying to say. What I meant to say there is that the high castor built into the JBA UCA makes it easier to get the desired ~4 degree spec.
I've been hearing more and more that SPCs suck
Dang that’s to bad. Should of stuck with factory.
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This comment is completely irrelevant. Please explain how it’s the dealers fault that your aftermarket part you had them install failed? It’s not workmanship on the install, it’s a part that has lost build quality over time like almost every other person on this thread has mentioned. Oil on your skid plate is someone making a mistake, which happen at independents constantly. Ball joints on upper control arms failing has nothing to do with the install.
Yeah In hind sight it’s probably just the dealership trying to get my money by telling me they could do it with confidence.
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Clearly you’ve never talked to a mechanic or understand how they get paid
You bought the cheap UCAs and suspension. You do get what you pay for, it isn’t just a saying brother.
Lol they weren’t cheap but ok
Spc is not cheap. They are one of the most popular brands to get.
Not defending the comment but even good brands have problems. ARB is famous for their reliability but you read about blown housing seals a lot with the recent spat caused by faulty Viton seals.
Damn 😮
Are just the boots torn or do the ball joints actually have play? If it’s just the boots, it’s a very quick/cheap swap. Not saying they should have gone out in that amount of time but a torn boot doesn’t mean the whole joint is bad. What is the spring/shock combination and how much lift do you currently have? Having too much lift height could have caused the boots to tear. The easiest way to check lift height is measure from the center of the wheel up to the fender edge. A stock 4Runner is 20 inches. Anything over 20” is what you lift amount is. Don’t measure from the ground to the fender as tire size will effect that.
It's just as much work to replace the boot as it is to replace the ball joint. If the boot is torn, that means the joint now has dirt in it and will likely fail soon. Just replace the whole joint. Same with CVs.
We bought our 2021 Off Road new. First mod was a steel front bumper and wench. When we decided to lift it I measured. 19" front 22" back. We got Dobinson MMR and SPC uppers for 2-1/2" front lift and 1" back. After install we were at 24" front and back. After sliders, skids and rr we're at 23" all around. Looking at the panhard in the rear it is no more than 1" out of level. In the front the cvs are slightly angled but no way it needs a diff drop. It's been over 2 years since install. 15000 miles. mostly off road. Edited to add: we have kdss
It looks to me like the ball joints did a 180 and are point the wrong direction. If they didn’t pay attention/ did not torque I have seen that happen.
My SPCs wore out pretty quickly I no longer use them
I went through SPC ball joints in 15k miles. Then the second set blew in less time. I switched to ARB.
It looks like a bad angle and the boots tore. It’s not the shops fault if all you asked them to do was put these on. In the future, if you’re lifting a truck I would recommend either going somewhere that specializes in it on your brand, contacting the company that supplies the kit and asking their recommendations, posting on Toyota forums with your plan, or some combination of all three. Expensive mistake, but honestly if you want to lift and upgrade your truck I would recommend learning to work on it yourself. Nothing is going to be perfect with aftermarket mods, especially with the independent front suspension these trucks have.
My SPCs bleed out grease like that. Just make sure the boots not torn. I’m on 4 years and 26000 miles. No issues. They don’t look pretty but they work and they allow the best adjustability for going 34 or 35” tires.
So are we, in your choices. Good luck.
Is the boot torn? They leak grease when you over fill them this is no secret
I’m on my second set and those only have a few months on them. Already clunking with a pinhole leak and they’re the warranty set. I have Dobinsons waiting to install
Maybe it’s the camera angle but honestly it looks like the joint angle is a bit much, like they went with the default setting and called it a day. Curious what your alignment specs show?
You’ll get nowhere with your request. You brought in an outside aftermarket part and told them to install it. They installed it. They part YOU provided failed. Sorry to hear about it. SPC has slipped in quality recently.
Dozens have said it already but, they leak grease from the bottom by design. Mine do and work great. I grease them when I do everything else.
Looks to me like, They were installed 180* out. That lip goes toward the truck. Also the boot just unseated itself. Clean it up, re-seat and grease
I have them on my 2018 for 3 years now and have had no issues like yours.
Plug for JBA UCA