ls430w140

FIGS, May I ask a direct question if you don’t mind? What is a particular reason that makes your UCA a better quality product than OEM UCA?

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

That is a tough question, but here is my perspective.
The bushings we use are lifetime polyurethane and the arms are adjustable to correct camber. The arms are fabricated to suit a specific purpose that the OE arms are not, which is that they are adjustable. The OE arms are designed for mass production out of a forged aluminum blank that has a not serviceable ball joint we offer a modular replacement. In most ways, the factory is more streamlined for manufacturing process and volume. Ours is made to correct for a new geometry and we build them to that purpose. They are totally different realms when it comes to the nodes that they are designed for so it's a difficult question to answer in that regard. We machine custom parts to make them fit in the OE location and precision weld them so that they are direct replacement. Each one is hand inspected and taken care of throughout the entire process. That is what we do.
Thanks for the question, did I present an adequate answer?
Mike

ls430w140

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

They contacted me on the 6th asking me if I would pay the difference for there upgraded balljoints and have not gotten back to me yet. Its the 18th today. I contacted them back same day.

I initially said yes I will pay this difference now I am not I am not paying a dime I want my parts to function like they were supposed to when I first got them. The other ball joint is making thunking sounds as well now.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

I am also not the only person who has had issue with the really loud ball joints. I have been talking to a fellow CL member and friend of mine and he told me that the balljoints on his figs control arms did the exact same thing.

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

James, I am sorry I did not get back to you. As the owner I am spread across many tasks and keeping tight responses on the forum is something that can slip through the cracks easily. Email is always best since my other guys can address the issue.
I ask that you return the arms for a full refund and we can inspect them here to figure out what happened. This is the best that we can do at this time.
Mike

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

I left emails and a phone call before that is why this thread got created.

I am not returning them if you will not stand by your product then thats fine. I will purchase my own heim rods to replace the defective balljoints you supplied me, great doing business with you.

FIGS

iTrader: (11)

I am sorry you are interpreting this as not standing by our product. The swap out of just the heim joint is not a straightforward task and requires a specialized vise with hardened jaws, specific heat to release the retaining compound and a care to make sure things are not damaged. Plus it does not help to understand the problem and apply corrections if we do not get the part back. We have a policy to not simply send replacement parts if we do not understand what is a problem. You stated that there is no play in the joint, just noise. If there is no play, then the rod end is not defective as we measure it. If you just want the rod end and tackle the stud and spacer swap yourself, we can do that as well since FK can drop ship replacements and they are close to you, but it will require more effort on your part once you receive them.

With regard to contacting us, I am looking at a better system to field emails and responses to make sure that they are not missed, but this is still the best probability of a reply since we all see it vs just me.

I am here to help and by no means trying to pass this off as a light issue. But I need a little help to make it work. Thank you, Mike

ls430w140

ptat

I'm closely following this thread. I recently installed FIGS front UCA for my LS430. They were purchased from another person but was told it's brand new never installed. When the packaging came in, it did look that way (brand new / never installed). I've driven about 200 miles on these. So far everything has been good, no noise at all. I'm currently at -5.5 camber at driving height; it might be more when I'm aired out.

I'm very interested in where this'll be going since I know almost everyone out there with LS430 on air suspension has FIGS FUCA because it allows for clearance for air bellows in the front. T-Demand are too short and does not allow enough clearance to mount the air struts (traditional double bellows design) to the lower control arms. I've personally confirmed this since I had both FIGS and T-Demand FUCA. So we don't really have any other options, stateside at least. It would be massively disappointing if this is a design flaw with the product.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

Here is a video of the balljoints clunking to show I am not making this up.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BhbRYEE_qsQ

Johnhav430

It does appear to me that FIGS is offering goodwill other than just a refund, so why not forget emotions, and try to reach a good outcome with respect to the car.....we all know how frustrating it is when things aren't "perfect"....but this happens in the real world and the outcome is what's important...my .02.

ptat

You already mentioned that you've checked everything and made sure they're torqued to specs and rechecked them again after driving it and everything were still good. I would try this next: remove the wheel and unbolt the knuckle to the ball joint and try rotating just the ball joint itself to see if there's still a noise.

Also, another question: did you have to cut into the body so the arms will have space to move up and down? FIGS FUCA has this design flaw in the early production model I think. I have a friend that has this very similar noise when he installed the FIGS FUCA. It turns out that the arms were hitting the body during suspension travel. I had this exact same issue during my install too. It drove us nuts to try and find the issue. After we cut it, the issue was completely gone.

ls430w140

rkw77080

I agree... Even a well worn ball-joint does not have enough play to generate that much noise. In addition to checking for clearance to make sure the UCA is not hitting any nearby parts, as ls430w140 suggested, I would also suggest to detach the ball-joint from the turn knuckle and inspect for play on the other two mounting points (see sketch below). The noise sounds like maybe one of these bolts was missing or something. I don't think your car is safe to drive.