Calmini UCA's?

how many times have you had to replace the front end bushings in the Calmini UCA's? Mine are begining to shift again which means they are wearing and this is will be the third set. The first set from original were the squeaky ones(Calmini sent replacements), the second set were too small to begin with and shifted from front to rear (Calmini replaced), and now i am ready to get a third set and i am getting a little annoyed, its not exactly a 5 min. job. I am not saying its hard to take them out and replace them I just dont think i should have to do it 2 times a year. And if you think its from excessive wear there is only about 12000 miles on them with the lift. Any ideas??

Did you post a video clip of them shifting about a year ago, or was it someone else ?

I'd like to figure out why this is happening, as I haven't seen it anywhere else.

I did not. I dont know if they are wearing or what but its getting annoying. It has to be a problem with the bushing because it doesnt do it when i install them in the first place and not for months after. And its not from neglect

Have you checked the torque on the spindle bolts ?

Nope, That was me Ian... I've since installed the zerks and grease them about every 4 months. No problems to this date, (knock on wood). What I've noticed is that the grease would wash away somehow causing the bushing to bind on the control arm then let loose moving about .010 causing the clunk.

That's who it was

And that's the problem I think X2K is having.

qb][/QUOTE]Nope, I've since installed the zerks and grease them about every 4 months. .[/QB][/QUOTE]

Whats this? I have never heard of it.

X2K,
It's been talked about before on here, just can't find the thread. Anyway e-mailed you some pics of what I'm talking about. Hope it helps.

Pinoy?
Do you have a pic of where you drilled to insert the grease zerks? Would sure like to do that too mine! Having to grease mine every three weeks!

your the man, thanks alot. I have a couple questions though, when you installed them did you take the control arm off? and take the bushings out? or leave it on with the bushings in there? And i assume that if i have to take it off that i might as well put in a new set of bushings as well. Do you get alot of noise out of your torsion bars as well? as far as squeaking. I grease the shit out of mine and every once in a while it sounds like a creak box.

you could always call energy suspension and have a set of custom polyurthane bushings made or maybe they already have a set of bushings that are the required size for another application that would work.

rrdstarr- sorry I don't have an online picture host so I can't post a pic, but sent you a pic through e-mail. I installed the zerk right on the weld. It should be clear once you look at the pic.

X2K- Yes you would have to remove the control arm. I just drilled and tapped through the control arm (not the bushing). In my case the noise was coming from between the control arm and the bushing not the bushing and transverse pin?(I think that is what nissan calls the bolt in the center, the one for camber/caster adjustment.)
As far as noise out of the torsion bar I have never experienced this, there is no place to grease them as far as I know (it's splined). The noise you hear might be associated with the bushings.

ag_xterra- I've e-mailed slr about poly busings since I think that is what they use, but that's as far as I got, (never heard a reply). As far as I know energy suspension doesn't carry them but I could be wrong.

Really, Calmini sucks for this whole problem! When you call them they just give you the run around and try to say it's everything else but their poor design that is the problem. Until they send me a set of replacement arms that either have sealed bushings or zerk fittings I will have to continue to bash their product to people who ask me about it. Believe me I get asked a lot since I have so many Calmini components.

I have taken the UCA's off and will now be installing my own zerk fittings. This, as you can imagine, is a major pain! I'm just glad that I have a lifetime alignment.

Pinoy, my UCA's are slightly different than yours. Your pictures show the weld in a different spot. My welds are actually almost to the far outside edges of the bushing cylinder holder thing, whatever it's called. With that being said, I still plan on installing my zerks on the cylinder portion instead of the weld because it makes me think that the inside bushings won't be getting as much grease as the outer ones. I'm going to put the zerk fitting directly over the point where the bushing meet in the middle. I think that if Calmini were to place a zerk where I plan to and maybe shorten the length of the bushings to where there is a slight gap there would be plenty of room for grease to move around and stay where it should. Sorry for the long post.

Not to hijack, but Doug, where do you have lifetime alignment at?

I'm really surprised. I'm tougher on my truck than most people. I've had my Calmini arms for 2 years and only replaced the bushings once. I haven't greased them in six months and have no squeeks or shifting.

Do the guys complaining have white or black bushings? Calmini changed the bushings sometime last year for a self lubricating material.

Polyurethane will not work in this application, the bushing is a hard industrial plastic, not something that has an give.

I don't understand the big deal. Every three or four months I squirt some Tri-Flow into mine and that keeps them quiet for another three or four months. Put zerks in and you still have to grease once in awhile. It's just part of regular maintenence. I've had my UCA's for almost two years and the bushings are still in good shape. And if it's really THAT big of a deal then have Calmini send you some of the new bushings! Why bash Calmini over soemthing so stupid and easiy to remedy yourself?

I must say that is the first negative comment made in referance to Calmini' products compared to another after market manufacture that will remain nameless.

As ChuckH mentioned, routine maintenence. Hell after every camp trip, road trip, and 4x4 adventure I crawl up under my rig and check it out. Lubercate any areas that look dry, simple real simple.

I guess you forgot all the complaints of squeeking last year.

Ohhh Yea, I geuss I did forget. But I still contend that I have heard few negative comments vs, I'll just say it, SLR.

Yeah, I figured after last year everyone had figured out that you have to pay to play. Anytime you modify a vehicle you are playing with fire and adding maintenence issues. The steering system needs to be lubed too and that's just something I do everytime I change my oil. Those who just want to drive and go to Jiffy Screwed for oil changes every 3000 miles just shouldn't do mods I guess.

Could be worse, I could have the famous improper camber UCA's. Hey, and if Calmini's UCA's are so horrible, why did SLR buy a set and copy them? "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" they say!

I switched to Calmini from the famous improper camber UCA's

I got the lifetime alignment at Firestone. It is a pain to get them to do it right though. It's amazing how many alignment guys can't do alignments. Out of 6 Firestone's, only one has the a guy, who happens to be the trainer, that can do an alignment properly.

Anyway, last time I checked it wasn't just as easy as changing my oil to switch out the bushings. I was able to get the zerks on and it definitely solved the problem. At least now I can lube them properly. I do have the black bushings too. I tried the Tri Flo but it didn't do any good. I wonder if the alignment guy over tightened the adjustment bolts and that is what caused the lube to get squeezed out. The squeaking did start right after the last alignment....makes sense but either way Calmini should just install zerks from the beginning period!

By the way, I'm just as hard on my truck as anyone else. We won't all have the exact same problems. Each truck is different. I think i'm going to remove the bushings and re-grease on the shackles tomorrow. I've been in such an industious mode lately.

So, X2K... What's happening now with your situation? You installed zerks, and no more squeaking? :rolleyes:

I think with or without the "squeak-free" bushings, they will still squeak after a while. For example, I have the "squeak-frees" but they squeak once in a while. Quite bad actually if I don't grease them.

I used lithium grease, and I have no problems. I typically have to re-apply after wheeling because I tread through lots of water, but other than that it's an easy fix.

I've used a spray on Moly Grease from Moly slip. I have no sqeaking whatsoever from the UCA arms. I had received the AArms with the new sqeak free bushings. It's been six months and so far, no problems.

Did anyone receive a clear explanation of difference between white and black bushings from Calmini? I know it's been said to be "squeak free," but what makes black ones to be so?

When I got my new arms, I received the new bushings. I talked to Steve Kramer at Calmini regarding the "squeak free" bushimgs. Apparently they are using a new type of compound for them asd opposed to straight Poly Urethane(Which has a reputation of being squeaky when dirt/sand/rocks get indide the bushings). So far so good.

I got the "Squeek Free" Bushings but they're squeeking so much they're driving me nuts, Tri-Flow only stopped the problem for about an hour.

I haven't called Steve about replacement bushings yet, hopefully they'll solve the problem.

as of right now i greased the hell out of the bushings. They still squeak on occasion and still shift forward and backward. I am trying to come up with a way to solve this problem. I will keep you posted when i do.

I have a box in the garage with calmini UCA's in it...I'd like to do any zerking around with them before the install instead of after, if I can.

Anyone with the skinny on this-

E-me/post the pics and or other guidance if you can.

An once of prevention is worth a pounding with a BFH.

Well I'm back from the military overseas. The last thing I posted was about this same exact problem. If anyone remembers, I called Calmini and asked what they thought about inserting zirks. It was the last thing I did before my vehicle went into storage. 2 weeks ago I bent a tie-rod and wanted to just install the Steering kit to "beef it up." I should have known better to count on Calmini's service. coming on 3 weeks later they still can't get the product produced. I was told I would have it a week ago. Anyway, after having the lift exposed to the elements for 6 months before washing and storing, the SO-CALLED Powder Coating that Calmini knows nothing about was blowing away in the wind. They offered to repaint it if I shipped it back and sacrificed no vehicle for a month. Yea Right. They still couldn't own up to a shit job . Anyway, in the long run, last night I inserted 4 more zirks, a total of 8 to make sure the problem was resolved. I will post a pic.