Swapping to SPC “Lifetime” Upper Ball Joints

TL;DR - I replaced my greaseable SPC upper ball joints with the "lifetime" variant that SPC now offers. I'm not sure I believe that it's a lifetime part, but time will tell.

How can a ball joint never go bad?

Running around in Capitol Reef National Park, what turned out to be a loose alignment cam got us all poking around my front suspension in order sleuth out the issue. In the process, we discovered that my SPC upper ball joints (UBJs) were getting a little "clunky," and definitely in need of replacement.

This is not the sound you want to hear from your UBJs.

With another trip only a week away, I wasted no time upon returning home and ordered up a new set of SPC UBJs (part number 35109). As is often the case, SPC has been working on improving their components, and so while the UBJs I've had installed since 2019 - when I first installed SPC upper control arms - were greaseable, the new version no longer sports a zerk fitting and are sold as a "lifetime" part.

While I'm sure that tighter tolerances and lubricant improvements can make an UBJ last longer, I'm under no illusions that they will ever be lifetime parts, especially given the way I use the Tacoma. So, I'll be monitoring these closely once I've got them on the truck - especially as I get close to SPC's 3-year, 30K-mile definition of "lifetime" - and swap them out for warranty replacements if they are showing signs of wear.

For now, though, it was time to get the obviously worn UBJs out, and the new ones in. It's an easy process:

Note the location - as accurately as possible - of
1. The upper nut in the upper control arm, so the new UBJ can be installed in the same location.
2. The position of the star plate that orients the UBJ in the control arm, so the new star plate can be installed in the same position.
Taking careful note of these will ensure that the alignment isn't too bad until the truck can be aligned at a shop.
Remove the top nut from the UBJ.
Support the spindle - I like securing it to the coil spring - and lift the UCA off of the UBJ.
Remove cotter pin and castle nut that secure the UBJ to the spindle.
Use a hammer to tap the UBJ out of the spindle.
Remove the old retaining ring and spindle insert of the old spindle insert is gray (and not black). While they may seem the same, the black inserts are made of a slightly different material and have slightly different inner diameters.

Out with the old retaining ring and insert. These Lock Ring Pliers are invaluable for this job.

Old vs. New upper ball joints.
Clean, then apply a bit of grease to inner race of the spindle and the outer surface of the (new) black insert.
Press - careful tapping with a hammer can work - the new insert into spindle and install the retaining ring.
Install the new UBJ into the UCA, ensuring that the star plate and top nut are in the same location as the parts that were removed. Torque to 200 ft-lbs.
Insert the post of the UBJ into the spindle insert and torque the castle nut to 45 ft-lbs, plus any additional until the cotter pin can be installed.

This seemed like an "almost didn't fit" situation to me!