Lift/ Broken steering knuckle and Questions

Okay so there is a few things I need to get done on the Badger and need some guidance. First a lift because in currently running 285/70/17 and it has a level on it but my tires still rub body at full turn (the outside of the tire rubs the body about where your feet are inside). Side note it has stock FJ Cruiser PN#4261135410 and 3" bolt on spacers (not ideal I know but well its a budget type build).

Ideas so far are
1. Long arm it and uniball the UCM with and AAL in the rear.
2. 3-4" lift kit

I do know i need rims with a different offset to help with my problem and probably have to hack at the body to help articulation. I am obviously new to all of this been following some build here for a while and a bit overwhelmed.

(way off track but have to ask, anyone know how to get sheared bolts out of a steering knuckle where LBJ connects to Steering knuckleAll it has is the block right now These are the spacers as well. (ignore the fact that discount tire broke off to lugs on my spacer as well)

Again I am a mess and so in my truck but that is what we sign up for with making rigs from start to finish so all help is welcome and if you have a better idea please shoot. Thank you!

 

What the hell happened lmao. If I was in that position I would heat those bolts up with a torch and put a jack under it and slowly try to level it out back in place and let them bolts cool down then remove them. Hopefully they won't break so I would be very careful. And what part number are you referring to about that mentions a FJ Cruiser. The wheels??

I would definitely look into some aftermarket UCA's though because once you go over 3" of lift in the front you won't ever be able to get the tires aligned right and is gonna put extra stress on them poor lower ball joints. I know from previous experience in a 4Runner (same design).

Check out these lower ball joints I ordered from XRF chassis yesterday they were only 60$ or so a piece and come with a lifetime warranty. Seem to be high quality and definitely beats 150$ OEM ones with no warranty. That part number (

$47 k90258 front left lower suspension ball joint for toyota tacoma

k90258) is for my 99 Tacoma. Also picked up their inner and outer tie rods for only 40$ a piece, also lifetime warranty.


Sucks to hear that you rub with spacers I was planning on getting 1.5" spacers on 285/75/16 tires. Oh well hope my advice helped a lil.

 

You definitely need a new lbj, possibility spindle depending if any damage was done.


As for a lift whats your budget? There are many affordable lift options on the market ypu can chose from. What you mean by long arm it? Like long travel? If so you should read up all about thay before considering it.

As for rubbing those giant spacers might be causing issues. I dont see why you need 3” to fix stock fj rims. Maybe 1” at most.

 

So budget is really anything, I am military and work up north so i cant do anything once it gets cold and have alot to save and spend. And the lbj is fine the bolt were not, just one sheared the head and the rest is in the knuckle.

Long travel is something ive looked at but I stilm dont know what would be better. I want an all around truck like and over lander. So i can crawl, go through mud but still highway trip back home when I can.
And the spacers were needed because the rims had a positive offset and I had rubbing on the UCA without them. And Ill have to take pictures for you on where/how it rubs to give you a better idea.

 

So story of how it happened I was in the middle of driving from NM to ND for changing my duty station and somewhere in SD there are extreme pot holes and I guess when I hit one it broke. I didnt notice and kept driving on it and noticed a funny noise when turning and couldnt figure out why, but I had no service nor could I figure out the problem I was having. None the less I kept pushing and drive all the way to ND and around Minot I finally realized what broke and was very lucky that those last 2 bolts did not give way because if they did...I can only imagine what would have happened. Then after attempting to fix it I got on bolt out and the other bent bolt is stuck in the LBJ. So in total 1 bolt is broken off in the steering knuckle 1 in stuck in the LBJ one is lost somewhere in SD and I got all the was out no problem.

As far as the 285/75 it is defiantly dependent on the rim and lift to run them. The part # I put is for the stock rims I am running. They have +15mm offset and it made them run the UCA so i got the spacers but they rub where the fender bolts to the firewall on the bottom near the door (even after a couple smashes with a hammer to try and prevent it from rubbing)

 

Long travel is more of a go fast thing.

You can look into something more like a mid travel setup. Ext travel kings up front, total chaos ucas. Then some alcans or deavers in the rear with shocks relocated and kings back there. That will give you a pretty decent all around truck. Kinda expensive but not super crazy like going long travel or sas

 

can you provide some links to some of that please.

 

Goto wheelers.com or possibly give them a call. They can set you up on tge right path. And will have everything you will need

 

wheelersoffraod.com or just wheelers.com

 

Offorad

 

I suggest you downsize your tire. You are really at the limit of what you can comfortably fit without doing major modification. Adding onto that, you have that massive wheel spacer pushing your heavy tire out further from the hub and putting a lot of stress on everything. This will easily lead to premature failure of all parts attached to your front suspension. Getting another lift will not solve your problem, you are already at the maximum.

And yea, you need to fix that ball join issue ASAP. You should do both sides at the same time.

 

@Wheeler's Off-Road Inc

you might have to cut the head off the bolt, pull the LBJ off and then drill or clamp on some channel locks to back out the bent bolt.

 

It's like you looked at my build...

@Mr.MFprepared, I'm rolling on ext travel Kings, TC UCAs and a diff drop kit. I love it. I've ignored the rear so far, but next on my list is some rear leafs/shocks - likely Deaver J59's. For the front, all in I was looking at around 1700 including new ball joints, TREs and a few other odds and ends.

I'd ditch the spacer lift and the wheel spacers (are those 2" spacers?! yikes). With a 3" lift, you should be able to run those 285s, but you'll still need to do some hammering and trimming of the fender well (look up the "pinch weld mod"). If you went with a 255/85r16, the so called pizza cutter, those are better for most off road situations anyway, and because they are narrower, you don't get the rubbing issues that the fatties give you.

Long travel is a pretty big investment, both money and time wise. Unless you'll be mobbing the desert, I really don't see a point in LT.

 

Do you have a link to your build? Would love to take a peak at it.

 

I plan on downsizing but these tires are new and the goal is to go back to a 15 or 16" rim and maybe 265 or 255 but I have always been a fan of wider tires. I have been looking into new rims and tires. just tring to figure everything out before I spend money and bring myself into a problem like I am in now.

 

Lol, I don't have much of a build thread, I'm far too lazy for that. But here are some pics I've taken:


This is my son helping install the poly rack bushings. Small hands help here!

Purdy.

Welding my 4xInnovations sliders:

After I took off the lower valance, relocated the washer fluid reservoir and turn signals. Still need to build skid plates and some sort of transition from the skid to the bumper.

 

Suspension goals right there

Do you know if the SPC upper control arms will work with ex. travel coilovers?

 

Haha, yeah, you should see my rear suspension. Stock leafs with 6 year old 5100s, lol... They're next on the list...

I don't know for sure if SPCs will work, but I imagine they should.

 

For the rear you need to relocate the shock mounts and get some big ole kings

 

I've seriously considered that. Likely Kings just to match the fronts, but if I relocated anything, I'd be tempted to just hack everything off and start from scratch anyway. Probably go SAS in the front while I'm at it, lol.

My plan for now is to toss the Deavers on, keep the 5100s for now since they'll still fit. I also have extended shackles too, so I want to see how well those match up with the Deavers. Should give me 2.5" of lift, which will be able to match the fronts.

If the 5100s end up limiting the travel, I might go with a u-bolt flip and shock relocation to something like this: