Intro to fitting 35s (< 3" Lifts for those that wheel and love alignments)

How important do you think the aftermarket upper control arms are for fitting the 35" tires? I was not considering getting aftermarket upper control arms (the full OME kit doesn't come with them and reviews say it aligns just fine), but if it makes fitting the tires easier I might consider them. If I do get aftermarket UCAs, then I might as well get extended travel coilovers is my thinking, which moves me away from OME and to something else (e.g. Fox, Icon, etc.), because AFAIK they are not extended travel. I wish it was easier to find authoritative specifications for the parts. I've read all sorts of different numbers for the compress/extended lengths of the various coilovers available.

 

Absolutely necessary. You won't fit 35's on stock UCA's.

 

OME is not extended travel, there's your authoritative specifications. Even the big boys and their extended travel really aren't a whole lot more than the std ones. Yes get UCAs point blank especially if you are going over 2-2.5" of lift. Plus most UCAs on the market allow more articulation and a stock Upper ball joint is not going to be happy at the more extreme end of it's articulation and you'll be wearing them out prematurely. Aftermarket UCAs not only fix the caster lost when lifting but also change the angle at which the upper balljoint or uniball are in relation to the spindle so they are in a better position for range of articulation. Plus the stock UCA is just weak sauce.

 

For those who want to fit 35's but want less of the rubbing issues, check out 35x10.50x17's. I'm running the Kenda Klever's and fit them with much less than 3" of front lift.

I'm running King 2.5's at maybe 2" of lift, CMC, pinch weld beat, and a little trimming up front. I'm sure I'll have to heat of the fender liners and push them in just a tad more, but that's really all I have to do. The SPC control arms I have are in position E with the lowers maxed forward. Very easy alignment and didn't have to touch the lower arm much.

 

I'm not planning on going beyond 2-2.5". The full OME 2" kit is my current my plan.

It's unclear to me if aftermarket UCA's alone allow more travel/droop/articulation. It appears they allow for it if the rest of my suspension depends it. I've heard so many different takes on this that it is not clear to me what the actual limiting factor is for down travel. Is it the lower control arm, the coil spring, the shock absorber, the upper control arm, something else, or all of the above? The thing that makes the most sense to me is the coil spring, because it's the only thing that seems like it would not get damaged or cause problems by hitting the end of its range of motion (disregarding limit straps).

 

I tried fitting a 35" on -6 offset and -20 with stock UCA. The problem I faced was the alignment and lack of adjustment.

 

I was just looking at the Super Swamper TSL/SSR Radial Tires in 35x10.5x16 for the same reason, but the OP says he fit 35x12.5x16 without needing to trim the fenders.

https://www.4wheelparts.com/p/super...res/1102?Tire+Height_PQ=35&Tire+Width_PQ=10.5

 

Do what about the coil spring??? The benefits to UCAs outweigh the cons associated with the stock. Also some of the aftermarket coilovers you have to run UCAs to clear the bigger spring on OMEs you'll be fine with that clearance but others not. If you want a really good more budget friendly UCA look at the JBA standard duty. That's what I have and I'm not nice to them for sure.

 

He also said every truck is different and YMMV. Everyone's set up, tires, wheels, lift, truck, etc is all different and what works for someone may be the baseline for others to have to do a little more to fit.

 

If you set yourself up with an OME 2" Kit, you won't need UCA's if you dont want to fit 35s. If you want to fit 35's with an OME 2" kit, then you will need UCA's such as SPC to help you set the balljoint, camber, and caster properly. If you ran a OME kit with stock UCA's, they will pair together just fine since your travel numbers aren't really being limited.

If you ran SPC's and stock shocks, your shocks would be the limiting factor. If you ran stock UCA's and King Ext. Travel coilovers, your UCA's would be the limiting factor. This is because the ball joint is not designed to droop the length the Coilover can. Some will disagree, but I personally do not think you can properly fit wide 35's (35x12.50 or 315s) without a UCA to help adjust your camber/caster/maxing LCA.

 

You don't need to trim the fenders for 35's but each situation is different. My buddy decreased his up travel to keep the tire from ripping off his flare.

I don't think there will be much difference between a 35x12.50 or 35x10.50 when it comes to hitting the flare, but more-so when rubbing cab mount or plastics.

 

The tire size itself doesn't affect the alignment does it? Or does it? Given the same lift height, the suspension components are all in the same geometry regardless of tire size, yes? Does the extra width of the tire demand a different alignment?

Do you think this is true simply to move the tire forward enough while keeping everything else within spec? This is what I was getting at with my original question.

 

17x8.5 -25 rrw rr6-h on 35x12.50r 17 cooper evolution mt

 

Yes the extra width requires a different alignment. You don't need to worry about rubbing with a 32", so you could (for the most part) keep stock alignment specs. With 35s, you need to have the adjustability from UCA's for the specific alignment.


Yes to your second question too

 

From what I have read it is unclear to me what component of the suspension, under ideal circumstances, stops the wheel from traveling downward. My best guess is that it is the coil spring. Some background is in this post on limit straps.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/mid-travel-bs-2-0.410188/page-2#post-11562270

The author states that the shock absorber, UCA, and LCA can all be damaged and/or cause problems if they reach their range of motion limit. This suggests to me that the coil spring is what should, under ideal circumstances, limit the down travel of the wheel.

As an aside, if the above is true of the OME coil overs and it is also true that the OME coil springs are longer than stock (there is a post somewhere suggesting so), the OME coil overs will increase down travel over stock and thus could be considered “mid travel”.

 

Sorry you are confusing me now. Do you think the after market UCAs are needed to a) keep the alignment in spec, b) needed to fit the 35” tire in the wheel well, or c) needed for both?

If the answer is (a), can you explain why a larger tire requires more adjustability in the UCA?

 

C

 

Fair enough. I suppose the only way to know for sure is to try to fit and align a 35 with no lift, but that might only be an academic exercise.

In any case, if I need to go the UCA route, I feel like I need to also get extended travel coil overs to get the most out of my investment. The challenge is that I am having a hard time determining which coil overs are extended travel because I can find very little reliable information on actual compressed/extended lengths of the various shocks on the market.

 

Fox, King Icon, etc. all make an EXT travel. The difference between brands is negligible. You gain 1" on average over standard travel.

I would say, if you like offroading, do it right once and buy a full king or fox 2.5 setup with UCA's.

 

Not everyone is setting their truck up to hit whoops at 50mph. Some just want extra ground clearance or better looks or more flex. That's why so many kits are made and brands like Bilstein, ome, and others exist. I hate it when people tell others to just buy the high qaulity kits. I love my 5100s. They are perfect for what I do right now. Will I upgrade in the future? Probably, but I had a budget at the time and I stuck with it.

Get a kit you can afford. Figure out what your plans are for the truck and find a suspension that will do that well. You probably won't need UCA right now if your still below 2 inches of lift. The UCAs are designed to help with camber (primarily)and caster, they help alot when your above 2 inches of lift. Most caster adjustment comes from the lower control arm. @In4aride runs 37s on stock uppers with 4° caster. He rubs alot but it's also a huge tire. Get some UCAs if your still rubbing after beating the firewall and cutting the cab mount. High speed stuff you don't want to rub at all, slower offroading is fine to rub a little.

Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they all stink.