Was the alignment shop too lazy or do I need UCA’s?

2017 Tacoma Sport DCSB. I installed a full OME lift kit this weekend with 887, and Dakar leafs. I’m on 265 70 17 duratracs. I drove it a day or two to Let it settle some. I took it to the alignment shop today and these are the numbers he is giving me. He said that’s the best he could do unless I get new UCAs. From talking to Marie and headstrong and reading other post. With this lift UCAs weren’t needed. What do y’all think. Is the alignment guy just lazy on a Monday or do you think I need UCAs. Oh and by the way, after the alignment it seemed to drive good. I couldn’t tell any issue.

And I’m in Chattanooga TN if anyone knows a good alignment guy.

 

Get some JBA's brother I have 887's on mine and at about 3.7 caster.

http://jbaoffroad.com/toyota/jba-std-high-caster-upper-a-arms-for-2005-14-toyota-tacoma.html

 

>2" lift=uca's, so how much was your lift?

 

if it drives good and you don't see any issue then what's the problem?

without uca's you're stuck with very low caster. that may not be a problem for you since you don't report issues. some need that to clear but not you, right?

also, some of us want the caster for driving, like me. that's why i have uca's, so i can run up the caster while zeroing the camber and keeping it all in normal range. it's for driveability. i run 4.7deg driver/5.2deg passenger caster and it's awesome, but that's for my drive style. I'm not even lifted.

 

2.5”

 

get uca's, shoot for 4* caster

 

I thought UCAs were only needed for 3"+?

 

For "in specks" you need UCAs.

 

define "need". he's not rubbing or so he sees so far. UCA's are for adjustability. i needed them for that and I'm not lifted. stock arms cannot adjust much at all and gets worse as you go higher.

for me, for driveability, i consider it a need. but that's for the OP to decide here. of course if he gets a better alignment he may prefer the UCA setup. or maybe not but running low caster like that makes it handle like crap above 40, but that's just my angle.

 

You don't "need" caster. You only need it to clear the rear well if you're rubbing. Getting UCAs will let you run extended travel shocks and depending on the brand, fine tune your camber.

I have SPC UCAs and you can manually adjust the camber through them. Before I always had negative camber that came with the lift, but now I am back to -.02 and -.03 with 3 & 4 degrees of camber.

 

I’m going to have them re do it. If that doesn’t work I’ll go from there. But it actually rides pretty good. Thanks for the input guys.

 

mostly agree but you said you only "need" caster to clear. there's more to caster than simply correcting clearance issues. caster is usually mostly for clearance on trucks. but some of us drive in a way that requires higher caster settings or danger ensues. higher speeds and front end modulation, for example.

 

Post pics of lower control arm cams.

 

I’ll take some tomorrow. It’s dark and I’ll have to remove the skid to get to the front ones.

 

By needing more caster, i meant more than what's in spec from an alignment shop. Probably for like 95% of people with a stock truck, caster won't be needed other than to clear the tires. I assume you're talking about some high speed whoops and other desert run stuff?

 

Agree, I was going to tell you to do this. Post pics of the cams. If he has them maxxed out, that is the best he can do.

As an aside, I think while UCAs might be expensive, they are worth it on alignment and drivability alone. They are also a lot more rugged than the factory pieces.

I chose LR UCA and it cost me ~$400 if I remember right. Put them in and aligned myself though.