Spoon bars clunking

[Gary's Hemi]

The benefit is worth the work.

How much do you drive a day if you dont mind me asking? If they loosen up & clunk as often as some have said I would be taking them off & retightening them every 2 weeks.

 

[R/T_Fire]

I put on 50-100 miles a day.

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[razor1]

they say they do fully break in and adjustment cycles go down to every 5000 to 10000 miles

 

[Dubstep Shep]

I just adjusted mine for the second time last night. Took a couple hours to do all four. One was a little loose, but not bad at all.

They had been clunking for a little bit, but after I greased them that went away. The only reason I did adjust them was just to double check everything.

I think the biggest issue is not keeping them greased. I'm going to be grabbing by grease gun every 5,000 or so miles from now on. I also put some zerk fittings in my sway bar bushings to solve that squeaking and it worked like a charm.

 

[Paluby]

Lube is a wonderful thing.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

Lube is a wonderful thing.

 

[SKWURLZ]

Don't forget that once the bushing settles you have to grease it. If you don't then it will start clunking again. I'd suggest greasing them every 5,000 miles or so.

After a day at the drag strip I had same clunking Issue. Got home, and the retaining clip had popped off the joint. Pulled them apart to fix the problem, re-adjust and clean out old grease, found I also had 2 cracked bushing cups. Put everything back together, torqued the crap out of them, and re-installed. Clucnking was gone, trans shifting clunk was gone, the truck felt awesome. I also Called Spohn, was told over tightening will cause them to crack which is BS, I installed them as they came from Spohn initially, and they cracked due to wheel hop.

Last weekend went on a 1500mile drive up and down PCH, and the noise & trans clunk has come back.

Went ahead and ordered 16 new bushing cups, and will be doing a complete R&R soon. I'll be leaving them pretty snug, and lining the inside of the frame and axle mounts with rubber liner to reduce the noise.

I wouldn't buy the Spohn arms knowing what I had to learn the hard way.

I'm making over 500RWHP, and launch it pretty hard. These units will be for sale soon, as I am building custom tubular units using FK Heim / Spherical ends. If it makes noise then, oh well, at least I know they will be solid.

 

[R/T_Fire]

I think the biggest issue is not keeping them greased. I'm going to be grabbing by grease gun every 5,000 or so miles from now on. I also put some zerk fittings in my sway bar bushings to solve that squeaking and it worked like a charm.

It's just good practice to lube the chassi every oil change.

 

[Dubstep Shep]

After a day at the drag strip I had same clunking Issue. Got home, and the retaining clip had popped off the joint. Pulled them apart to fix the problem, re-adjust and clean out old grease, found I also had 2 cracked bushing cups. Put everything back together, torqued the crap out of them, and re-installed. Clucnking was gone, trans shifting clunk was gone, the truck felt awesome. I also Called Spohn, was told over tightening will cause them to crack which is BS, I installed them as they came from Spohn initially, and they cracked due to wheel hop.

Last weekend went on a 1500mile drive up and down PCH, and the noise & trans clunk has come back.

Went ahead and ordered 16 new bushing cups, and will be doing a complete R&R soon. I'll be leaving them pretty snug, and lining the inside of the frame and axle mounts with rubber liner to reduce the noise.

I wouldn't buy the Spohn arms knowing what I had to learn the hard way.

I'm making over 500RWHP, and launch it pretty hard. These units will be for sale soon, as I am building custom tubular units using FK Heim / Spherical ends. If it makes noise then, oh well, at least I know they will be solid.

Over tightening can crack them, as can not having them tight enough because they'll impact.

Even solid joints will wear out, especially driving around on the street.

Honestly the stock rubber bushings are about the most maintenance free bushing you can possibly get in a car. Generally the more "racecar" you go, the more maintenance there is to it.

It's just good practice to lube the chassi every oil change.

I do, but oil changes for me are every 10,000 miles and I'm probably going to have to lube these more often than that.

 

[SKWURLZ]

After a day at the drag strip I had same clunking Issue. Got home, and the retaining clip had popped off the joint. Pulled them apart to fix the problem, re-adjust and clean out old grease, found I also had 2 cracked bushing cups. Put everything back together, torqued the crap out of them, and re-installed. Clucnking was gone, trans shifting clunk was gone, the truck felt awesome. I also Called Spohn, was told over tightening will cause them to crack which is BS, I installed them as they came from Spohn initially, and they cracked due to wheel hop.

Last weekend went on a 1500mile drive up and down PCH, and the noise & trans clunk has come back.

Went ahead and ordered 16 new bushing cups, and will be doing a complete R&R soon. I'll be leaving them pretty snug, and lining the inside of the frame and axle mounts with rubber liner to reduce the noise.

I wouldn't buy the Spohn arms knowing what I had to learn the hard way.

I'm making over 500RWHP, and launch it pretty hard. These units will be for sale soon, as I am building custom tubular units using FK Heim / Spherical ends. If it makes noise then, oh well, at least I know they will be solid.

So after I did the R&R, went back to the drag strip for Red List Truck Wars, and on pass 16, this happened again:




So I built my own:



Install is this weekend. I will make a thread about these after some rigorous testing proves they work.

 

[SKWURLZ]

Over tightening can crack them, as can not having them tight enough because they'll impact.
Even solid joints will wear out, especially driving around on the street.
Honestly the stock rubber bushings are about the most maintenance free bushing you can possibly get in a car. Generally the more "racecar" you go, the more maintenance there is to it.
I do, but oil changes for me are every 10,000 miles and I'm probably going to have to lube these more often than that.

They were tightened to snug, not over torqued, and lubed every oil change.
This is the 2nd time the lock ring has failed, on 2 different arms. The upper front drivers side first, then the lower rear passenger side this last drag event.
I replaced all the delrin cups between failures. The failed joint cracked a cup again. The truck had 2 weeks of driving on new cups before the race.

Maybe due to the truck making the 511 RWHP is the issue, not sure. But they shouldn't pop out and fail at the top end of the 1320....

 

[razor1]

So after I did the R&R, went back to the drag strip for Red List Truck Wars, and on pass 16, this happened again:




So I built my own:



Install is this weekend. I will make a thread about these after some rigorous testing proves they work.

please share as much on the parts you bought and where. My Spohn arms are coming off soon also. Part numbers would also be great.

 

[Ak47bravo]

So is the general consensus now that the spohn arms are no good?

I am about to install my BT 2/4 and spohn arms this weekend.... not looking forward to having issues with those joints.

I wish these trucks were leaf spring....

 

[razor1]

good , but do take alot to get them broken in I guess. On my forth round of adjustments today.

 

[Ak47bravo]

good , but do take alot to get them broken in I guess. On my forth round of adjustments today.

How involved is adjusting? Do you have to just remove the side with the del-sphere joint and tighten it?

How long would you say it takes to do all of your adjustments?

I have not installed my suspension components yet so I don't really have an understanding of how long this stuff takes.

 

[SKWURLZ]

How involved is adjusting? Do you have to just remove the side with the del-sphere joint and tighten it?

How long would you say it takes to do all of your adjustments?

I have not installed my suspension components yet so I don't really have an understanding of how long this stuff takes.

The arms should be removed from the truck to adjust. You can do it one end at a time by removing one bolt, and dropping them while leaving them on, but its a PITA to hold them while you tighten them up.

Good luck. Many people don't have any problems. But adjusting all the time, and the 2nd failure made me find an alternative.

 

[Ak47bravo]

The arms should be removed from the truck to adjust. You can do it one end at a time by removing one bolt, and dropping them while leaving them on, but its a PITA to hold them while you tighten them up.

Good luck. Many people don't have any problems. But adjusting all the time, and the 2nd failure made me find an alternative.

I'm assuming those orange controls arms are your alternative? What brand are those? Custom?

They look very solid!

Edit*** Just saw higher up that you made your own. Do you have any specs on them? If they perform well I am sure other people would love to make some too.

How has you experience been thus far?

 

[SKWURLZ]

Being installed tonight. They are full 4130 Chromoly, and heavy as hell. However, I drag race my truck frequently, and need something heavy duty.
I have the specs, and if these work, intend on making them available. They aren't cheap, as each joint is approx $60. The threaded weld in bungs are another $35 each.
The chromoly was $15 per foot.

My thought was to offer the welded up tubes, and end users can source thier own ends. I went with Currie Johnny Joints, but you could also use FK Rod Ends if someone was so inclined.

Next project is upper front control Arms with Uniballs for us lowered trucks.

 

[R/T_Fire]

SKWURLZ, those look great!
I like my spohns but the adjustment and clunking is annoying, im thinking it may be other susp geometry related which may explain why some have issues and others dont. When i stretched mine to oush the axle back is when alot of the clunk began. But thats a whole other discussion.

For those wondering where to source parts from to make your own look into ballisticfabrication.com
Here is their bad ass joint.... http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/30-Forged-Ultra-Duty-Ballistic-Joint_p_1626.html

You could also use this one at the frame to help witg vibration but still get the benefit of the adjustable rod end or heim style joint at the other.
http://www.ballisticfabrication.com/Ballistic-Forged-Poly-Bushing-263_p_1646.html

There are many 4x4 crawler websites that will send you the parts you need to make your own HD arms.


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[SKWURLZ]

SKWURLZ, those look great!
I like my spohns but the adjustment and clunking is annoying, im thinking it may be other susp geometry related which may explain why some have issues and others dont. When i stretched mine to oush the axle back is when alot of the clunk began. But thats a whole other discussion.

For those wondering where to source parts from to make your own look into ballisticfabrication.com
Here is their bad ass joint.... 3.0" Forged Ultra Duty Ballistic Joint

You could also use this one at the frame to help witg vibration but still get the benefit of the adjustable rod end or heim style joint at the other.
Ballistic Forged Poly Bushing 2.63"

There are many 4x4 crawler websites that will send you the parts you need to make your own HD arms.


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I'll stay away from the Ballistic FAB Joints. They use the same type/design of locking mechanism on the uniball as the Spohn units. Threads = bad. If I'm blowing them to bits on the dragstrip, I would hate to see how quick they fail off road.

Maybe the Ballistic joints work great for Off Road, but that's not what I use my truck for. The Poly units will last about 6 months on a daily driver as well.

The Currie Johnny Joints are designed for Rear ends, and used in a lot of high HP drag race and autocross cars. They have to be pressed together, and use an industry standard snap ring.