SPC Performance Upper Control Arm Failure on my 100 Series LandCruiser

July 2019 I went up to Silverton, CO for Hundreds in the Hills 9. Trail selection had been done months earlier, and whilst some of the best driving was still closed due to the snow (most notably Black Bear Pass), there was still some great trails to run.

Day two saw me heading up Imogene Pass. Along the way I kept hearing a clicking noise, but after stopping a couple times to check found nothing and continued to the top. After a quick lunch I was still unhappy not having located the source of the noise and did another check. Pretty quickly I found the problem -

After attempting to support the arm with some straps and a very slow drive back down the mountain, assisted by some wonderful Cruiser heads, I made it back to Silverton. Incredibly, another IH8Mud member had a spare pair of upper control arms and after a “name your price” purchase I replaced the failed unit.

Comments from others more educated in fatigue analysis seem to indicate a manufacturing defect.

Had this gone unnoticed and failed completely (i.e. the other end of the arm) at highway speeds it could have been much worse.

Unfortunately, SPC did not stand behind their product, nor display any desire to understand the cause of the failure. Make of that what you will, but I won’t be purchasing from SPC Performance again.