Question about which UCA to get for a 34" tire...

Hey Tacoma World, I've been creeping these forums for a while now and I just finally joined the Taco family with my new 2020 TRD Off-Road!

I'm going to lift it in the next few weeks with the Accutune 4A Kit here: https://accutuneoffroad.com/product/05-tacoma-mid-travel-suspension-kit-stage-4a-fox/ which comes with the Icon Delta UCA. I've chatted with Accutune a bit via email cause I'm concerned that I should maybe go with the SPC UCA for the adjustable caster. They said with a good cab mount chop that they haven't had any problems getting proper alignment and max clearance with non-adjustable UCAs in the past. Anyways I was hoping to get some input from other taco owners running 34" 285/75/17s (not 33" 285/70/17) before I pull the trigger and end up picking the wrong UCA.

 

I have spc with 285/75/17 rubbed everywhere else but the UCA. You may have to run wheel spacers if you keep oem rims. My wheels are 17x9 with 4.5 backspacing.
Plan on lots of plastic trimming, aggressive cmc, beating the pinch weld flat as well. This was my experience but a great size.

 

It’s true, UCA like SPC have built in high castor settings that can make high castor alignments easy and possible.
But it’s also true that ball joint UCA like total chaos or Icon Delta joint don’t need to have a high castor setting, that’s because you can achieve high castor alignment via the LCA cam bolts.

It is not necessary to have SPC UCA in order to have high enough castor to clear 34’s or 35’s, though it may make it easier. Attached is a photo of my alignment from an off-road shop that is competent in modified toyota alignments. My truck drives great and I have high castor and virtually no camber and no toe. I have total chaos UCA and 35’s and I only rub my aggressive CMC at full lock but it’s getting relocated soon anyway.

I PERSONALLY wouldn’t make the switch from uniball UCA to SPC UCA just for potentially 1 more degree of positive castor. It may not be any *additional* castor in some cases. Every truck is different. But it’s likely that SPC UCA may give you slightly more castor than a uniball (non adjustable upper ball joint).

does that make sense?

 

If your goal is fitting 285/75/17 tires with as minimal “frame chopping and hacking as possible” and you just want to buy the highest castor UCA you can get your hands on, I suppose SPC or a similar UCA is a great choice.

as mentioned above^ I don’t believe you can run that size on stock wheels without a spacer otherwise you’ll likely rub the UCA with the large tires.

it may likely be easier for you to fit 285/75/17 tires than any 305/70/17 or 295/70/17 because the added width of the tire is typically what causes the most rubbing headaches

 

He’s right though.



don’t expect high castor UCA to eliminate your NEED to trim, cut, rearrange, beat and clearance other areas of the wheel well.

 

My spcs are set at 0 on the lcas is where I got my castor to 3.2 each side. Sure I could go higher but I don’t have any rubbing and goes down the road straight.

 

SPC’s allow for camber adjustment at the ballpoint; something to think about.

 

Yeah SPC’s would be a good choice allowed me to fit 285/70/17 on -38’s without chopping the truck up too much.

 

Awesome thanks guys, I appreciate the quick feedback. So yeah, I’ve already got a set of 17x9 -38mm offset Ray 10s sitting in my garage patiently awaiting the lift and chop. Chopping, cutting and hammering doesn’t bother me, so maybe I will go ahead and just stick with Icon Delta that the kit comes with and just make sure I go to a experienced off road shop for the alignment.

 

You went with the most aggressive spec that SCS offers so expect to do more trimming and pushing than normal or than most guys. Even for my 16x8 -25 which are effectively the same offset as x9 -38 I had to do a TON of trimming and even bevel the bottom corner of the front fenders behind the tires. That wheel offset will give you a ton of headache even on 33’s much less 34’s. Just FYI

 

It’s all worth it IMO just saying you’ll need to do a fair amount of trimming and an aggressive CMC. stance is killer with those wheels though. Should be sick.

 

Yeah I had a feeling that was gonna be the case reading about others. Your truck looks great, I love that aggressive stance, that’s exactly what I’m going for. I’m willing to put in the effort.

 

Do you guys think that I should go straight to a cab mount relocation kit and skip the CMC all together?

https://www.runnin4tacos.com/collec...ount-relocate-kit-for-2005-2019-toyota-tacoma

 

would only do that if you got some STOUT sliders on that will block the wheel from coming in through the the fire wall in case of an accident. Do not want to lose a leg like that.

 

So I see a lot of 2nd Gen responses here. And I’ve seen this in other discussions regarding wheel size and such and frankly the trucks require different fitment specs.

OP, be very careful taking advice from the 2nd Gen trucks. As similar as they are, they have a lot of differences, just take it into consideration.

That said SPC are fine for specific adjustment and will allow you to dial in your alignment but most alignment shops have no idea how to do it. The Total Chaos, Camburg, and Icon UCA mentioned already have a huge amount of caster built in, as high as +4 so those will work but have not adjustability.

Another advantage for SPC is they are strong and cheap, and easy to service so that is something to consider.

Only if you plan on running 37” tires and rock crawl the heck out of your truck. I offroad way more than most here on more difficult trails with 35s and don’t have a need for a relocate.

This thread talks about what is needed to fit 35s.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/intro-to-fitting-35s-3-lifts.594309/

 

What uca’s are you running? Any pics of your cab mount?

thanks for the info, man.

 

NP! Check out the thread link in the post above, I have pictures of my Cab Mount and the UCA's. I also run SPC.

 

Headed over to a local shop near me that comes highly recommended on here, RPM Garage. I talked to their alignment guy and he said 8 out of 10 lifts they do go with the SPC UCA; they do them all the time. One of my main concerns with the SPC UCA was finding a shop that knew how to dial them in. Luckily these guys obviously know what they're doing. So, I ordered a pair of them last night . There's a bit of a lead time on the rest of the parts I ordered from Accutune, so it'll be a couple of weeks before I can actually do the install. I'll post an update when it all comes together.

 

Finally have an update! Here she is:



The guys over at @rpmoffroadgarage did an awesome job getting it all aligned and chopped for me so that those 34"'s fit in there. I've only had it back for a day or so but so far I've had no rub! I'll have to hit some trails soon to make sure it's all clear, I can't wait!

 

Also, shout out to @AccuTune Offroad, the suspension rides great!