so i bought spc upper control arms at the end of january this year and was had them paired to tanabe df's up until the end of may when i purchased bc racing coils. we'll in less than 6 months, the ball joints are shot! not only are they shot but i had the same experience that a fellow member had on here with a change in ride height being 1" higher after installing them along with his bc racing coils.



now from the pic, you can tell im not even running all that "slammed" so for them to go in a short 6 months, i am extremely disappointed. i had to spend extra for front rca's just to make up the 1" ride height increase from these arms. w/o out the rca's i can't even get the top of the tire flush to the fender even adjusted all the way down. so if you're interested in buying spc uca's, i'd think twice before purchasing a set.

 

how much are these compared to oem?

 

they are around $400 a set depending on who you buy them from..... havent heard bad things about them until now....... i guess ill wait until maybe a few more people chime in as i have been really contemplating getting them to get this front camber under control!

 

don't get me wrong, the adjustability is great but during my alignment today i noticed that the ball joints can't handle the angle it takes to ride at the height i'm riding at. the ball joint is actually running out of room to flex as the suspension takes its stroke over bumps. which as you can imagine is quite dangerous if it were to give out.

 

Travis from SPC here, not sure if the OP is the person I just talked to on the phone, however here is our input.

As has been discussed previously the only difference between our ball joint and OEM is the actual ball joint height. To get the adjustability, the assembly must have a place to go, therefore the ball joint assembly is about 1/2 in taller than stock. ( note: the assembly itself is higher this setup WILL NOT affect ride height, if it has/does either the arms were installed wrong or there is another factor with other parts)

From your post, there is almost nothing left from the OEM setup. I have a call into BC Racing, but my guess is the problem is bump stop. The OEM bump stop is on the strut, when the coilovers go in my guess there is little or no bump stop. I took a look at the RCA's and it seems that they space the lower ball joint and the LCA correct? To me that will actually push the upper even farther up.

Combine no bump stop, with a raised up and 1/2 higher top plate and I'm not surprised there is clearance issues. Something ( preferably a new bump stop measured for your application and modifications) will stop up travel. Since there is no/ too little bump stop, its going to be the upper fender that takes that role.

The arms themselves have been a great product, what has to be taken into consideration is everyone individual setup. We test in as many real world conditions as possible, however with the range of products that "interact" with ours there is no way to say that they all will work. In your case there are three different factors coming into play here, any one of them could be at fault for the issues you are experiencing

If this is who I spoke with, The Ball joints will go out today and I will email you an RGA so we can inspect them and see whats going on.

Ill let you know what BC says, but my guess is that with this and all the other clearance issues, proper suspension limiting would solve the problem.


Travis
Specialty Products / SPC Performance

tcozzie (at) SpecProd.com

 

Sorry to hear about the SPC's.. seems like a good product from what i've read

 

Glad to see SPC is trying to resolve this problem.

to the OP can you post pictures of your car again? also your suspension and what not to get a better understanding of what is going on with your car. It would help all of us if we can get nice quality pics

thanks!

 

im liking where this thread is going so far.... props to SPC for coming in here! im looking forward to see where this ends up

 

SPC, what is the maximum angle that the balljoint can take before it breaks?

 

If angle is an issue and most the application is for lowered cars, then it makes sense to adjust the angle of the joints. I doubt anyone would buy this for a regular, no lowered cars.

Please post pic.

 

so dam rca and spc wont interact.. so no more shock travel......=(

 

I'm not quite sure what you mean by angle in this case. Our ball joints meet or exceed the operating angles of the OEM joint. These angles cant really be measured in a way while its on the car or without special tools.

I know where your coming from but im not sure I can provide a numeric answer in this case. If you are worried, post or PM me a picture and I can take a look at your specific case.

~Travis

 

Sam,

I understand your point, however we cannot test every combination of every setup and every height. Its also tough to put numbers ( Not for use past 3 in or something) due to the other parts that could possibly be involved. I know these arms look simple, but as in all suspension parts they are highly engineered. We do take into consideration the use ( though many arms have been sold to correct stock issues) we know they will be used on modified cars. Suspension is tricky when you combine a bunch of aftermarket parts that were never designed to work together. Again as you and others stated a picture speaks a thousand words in this case.


~Travis

 

Basically, I am on air suspension and I know when aired out, it is putting many pieces towards their limits.

 

Understood, In that case I would go with the OEM rule of thumb:

If its at the limits of OEM, its at the limits of ours.

We do build in a little more, but I would stick with that rule.