Alignment, Caster, Clearance, and Driving Report with Light Racing UCAs

Ya I just want them close where It doesnt wander and tires wear even.

 

Are you guys finding that the shops know how to adjust the UCAs? or do you need to bring it to them with the arms set already?

 

Most of the techs I've dealt with can't seem to wrap their heads around the purpose of the adjustable ball joint, even with the sheets. I had to bring the truck in twice, but that was partially because the service manager was unable to properly brief the tech. The second time I went out with the tech and spelled it all out for him with another set of spec sheets. They did dial in my numbers.

 

Good luck Adam, I went to a few shops by my house in salt lake and nobody would touch them (LR UCA). So I ended up doing a garage alignment using this thread, then had a shop that your buddy Kurt recommended off 90th and 7th fine tune the lower stock adjustments with the lasers. My "at home" alignment was pretty close to what I wanted.

 

I am thinking about taking the arms over to the shop before I install them so the tech can take a look and figure out how they're supposed to work. Maybe if I can get him comfortable with them ahead of time I can avoid some issues.

 

Good luck. I'm no rocket scientist and the concept seemed clear, even "cheating" the BJ forward to gain more clearance off the back side of the wheel well.

 

I had my alignment with my LR UCA's done by Les Schwab in Salt Lake, off of 2100 S. and Redwood. I brought in the instruction sheet and explained to the tech how the system worked and he got it right in about an hour. I havent had to have them adjusted in over a year.

 

^^^this

 

I bring the spec/information sheet with me to the shop and give an overview of my trucks' setup.

The first place I went to, they adjusted the UCA to remove 1 degree of caster (was set at the "0" setting, which is in fact +2 from stock IIRC).

I just had my alignment re-checked at a different shop and they got it back within spec without needing to touch the UCA ball joint adjustment.

 

Subd

 

me 2

 

What position do you place ball joint bolt for camber adjustment within the upper control arm? Meaning should the nut be pushed back all the way, positioned in the middle or all the way forward? Not sure if that was clear...

 

I have mine in E position pulled almost all the way out. It's about 1/16"-1/8" from the end. But every truck will probably be a little different though.

 

What do you mean pulled almost all the way out? Towards the tire?

 

Yes, towards the tire. You can pretty much eyeball what looks to be about right (at least good enough until you get it aligned) Just look at the tire from the front and set it to where it looks straight up. BUT try jacking the truck up so it's at full droop and make sure the tire doesn't rub on spring. I did that and had to adjust a little just so it doesn't rub. Not that I plan on being in full droop much, but just in case

Edit: pretty much same thing Doording said ^^^

 

I too started and remain on the E position (+1 caster) with 33" tires and a top plate spacer. They dialed right in and rubbed minimally in the front, full lock reversing

 

Hi All:

I am installing these upper control arms this weekend.
From the first post.

1. First, Maximize caster using the eccentrics on the lower control arm. Do not worry about camber at this time.
2. Reset the caster cams on the UCAs to the minimum value to bring Caster to an acceptable value. I decided to trade off a little less caster for a little more clearance here, and moved the UCA cams to the "+1" position (One degree LESS than neutral, and two degrees less than I started)
3. Set the camber using the UCA camber adjustment slide.
4. Finish off toe normally.

From my understanding of this. If I set the upper control arms to the E position. (+1)
Put everything back together and take it to the alignment shop, the end results should be good? Meaning, the tire should be optimally centred in the wheel well for best clearance on both sides.
Just want to be sure before I take it in. Do I need to tell the tech anything specific?

 

In that case - the best thing to tell the tech is to follow those steps that you quoted skipping step 2.

Some alignment techs persist in thinking that one of the alignment cams is the "caster" cam and the other is the "camber" cam - but in reality they work together.

You may have to physically show the tech where to adjust the camber using the slide on the UCA, as that's not part of the "alignment book" they look at for each individual car, since it's an aftermarket adjustment.

When you drop it off - make sure the most experienced alignment tech in the shop gets assigned the job.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the info.

 

If he's using the "E" position, he won't get 3 degrees of caster. But that's OK.