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

I’m finally in the club. 315 75 r16 Patagonias are on around 16x8 0os SCS F5s, lifted 3 in the front 2 in the rear lift, TC UCAs, warfab tie Rod sleeves, all installed yesterday. After a quick lap around the block when I finished, some slight rub on the CMC full lock, and when flexing a bit on turns. Going to get an alignment today and ask to push caster as far fwd as possible. Wish me luck guys, real test will be a big trip up to bald mountain for a poker run in September.

 

Alignment took care of any rub on the CMC(except full lock reverse, but I figure thats gonna require a relocate which isn’t on the table for now). Rubbing on my sway bar of all places, roughly where I have circled. happens when turning and have slight articulation. damn! Wonder how I can solve this one, I’m hoping to keep the sway bar at least for now. I’m running 4.5 bs 16” wheels, I don’t touch the UCA.

 

Thanks to this forum I have successfully fit 35s. Going for another alignment to push the tire further forward since my lower cam tabs are all in neutral positions. I guess my fault for not having the larger tires on the truck just telling them I want maximum clearance wasn’t enough even for a dedicated Toyota off-road shop in Colorado. Oh well just money.

-12 offset rrw RR-7h
Falken wildpeak at3w 315/70r17
Fox PES DSC 2” lift
Deaver u402 stage 1

 

What UCA are you running?

 

SPC. I think the next alignment should get me to stop rubbing the cab mount and pinch weld on the driver side. It doesn’t rub under slow wheeling on the passenger side currently. These tires are about 34.5” but they’re wide at 12.7”. So wider than a 35x12.5 but maybe .1” shorter or so depending on the tire

 

Was there ever a consensus on the 16x8 rim with the least fitting issues off the bat? I read through most of the thread and I see SCS F5's (presumably +0 / 4.5" BS?) and SCS RAY10's (-12 / 4" BS)?

I suppose anything that sits closer to 4" backspacing is kosher at this point?

 

I’m at 4.25” backspacing. I wouldn’t go any more than that since I’m REALLY close to the SPC UCA as it is. But I love how it fits rn. I rub my frame slightly at full lock but from what I hear that’s always an issue. I’m going for an alignment in the morning and advantage of low offset is my LCA are in neutral positions and my pssenger tire didn’t rub at all off-road. Once I move the tire forward I should have much more clearance due to decreased scrub radius. So I think 4.25”-4” is perfect but everyone’s opinion is different

 

Here’s my final alignment. Plz roast it to know if I can trust this shop. They didn’t understand how more caster reduces clearance but I’m still happy with the clearance improvements so far just based on looking at it. Maybe there’s more to be had

SPCs in position A. I don’t want to run D/E because the ball joint they pushed almost all the way in and the rubber boot barely touches my springs at full droop. They said that’s normal for SPCs and big springs like on fox shocks



Front driver


Rear driver


Edit: looks like my SPCs are running +4 caster so I’m at 5.2/5.5 caster which will reduce clearance to my cab mount chop some but maybe negligibly so. Is that too much caster to run? Drives fine but wondering if things end up weaker or something

 

that's not how caster works. The caster your truck is running is what the alignment sheet shows. They should rotate the front driver side bolt 45 degrees clockwise so the bolt is in the 9 o'clock position. Then use the upper spc ball joint to get the caster number and camber number that you want.

edit. after looking at your pictures further you are running the balljoint in position G which means it and the uca are adding 0 caster and the only thing it is doing is adjusting camber. Take it back or take it somewhere else and have them fix it, When I have done alignments on SPC uppers I shoot for 4 degrees caster and I prefer how the trucks drive with a little negative camber. I like -.5 degrees camber and .04 toe per side. Have them start by rotating the front control arm cam. Then you have to redo the caster swing and start monkeying around with the uppers, will likely land with the uppers in position b or c. By turning the front cam it will also force them to pull the ball joint out and away from the spring which will create additional room between the ball joint and the springs.

https://www.spcalignment.com/instructions/25470-INS_WEB.pdf

 

Yea it’s in G I always read the instructions backwards it’s annoying.

so if I’m running 1.2-1.6 caster is this alignment not acceptable or just could be better? Passenger lower cam tabs are maxed out for clearance it’s just driver that isn’t

i did some moderate off-roading from my last alignment and the machine already read a bunch different. Is this normal for alignments to get jacked up so easily with slow off-roading?

they keep saying G gives the most clearance which I guess is true being lowest caster and that the alignment sheet doesn’t read right with SPCs which I get isn’t true now. Kinda disappointed since they put SPCs on all their rigs. I could try to go back but I think they’re likely gonna tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about just like when I tried explaining more caster reduces tire clearance but it’s all moot cuz I wasn’t talking to the guy doing the alignment since they don’t let you in the shop which makes sense for safety to some degree

 

Local shop is tellin' me their process for 35's is a minimum 3" lift and a cab mount relocate but they'll try a CMC/pinch weld mod/alignment combo if I really want them to. I think I'll hold off and shop around as I'm not too fond of the thought of a relocation.

 

Having the ball joint forward like that does help clearance but so does moving the other cam to help pull the lower ball joint forward. You can get the same clearance and have more caster by maxing the cams. I hated the way my truck drove with under 2 degrees of caster.

 

When you say hated how it drove can you elaborate? Did the steering fee heavy on-road, have issues turning off-road, hard to drive straight on the freeway?

it sounds like though if I’m rubbing now there’s not a way to significantly move the tire forward (maybe a bit more driver). I’ll definitely try another shop at some point and try to explain what I want exactly. Could even put the lower cams and SPCs in E prior to the alignment and then just ask them to adjust toe and camber with the SPC like some people suggested

 

That's basically what all the shops in the Reno/Carson area will tell you as well. An aggressive CMC will likely suffice depending on your suspension setup if it allows for enough adjustability to move the tire forward far enough.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought unfortunately. I might have Stellar Built do an aggressive CMC and hammer out the pinch weld as best they can, poke at the fenders myself and then take it to a local alignment shop.

 

Lift doesn't do a thing to clear bigger tires, they don't sound knowledgeable. I'm on 285/75R17 right now with zero lift and yet to push the wheel forward with an alignment. All fender work and simple cmc.

 

Yeah, this was my concern. I went for them because they're the best rated and most recommended shop in my area but I was a little concerned when they wanted 3"-3.5" for tire size... obviously not a huge concern since the tires still need to fit at full suspension compression.

They're doing my 5.29 regear and Fox 2.5 RR install, so I guess I'll see what their work looks like real soon. They're super patient and easy to talk to and I haven't had any other red flags, so maybe just a brain fart day.

 

I ran 35’s at stock ride height for several months. Ride height doesn’t matter when you stuff the tire. They should be pulling the shocks and cycling the suspension to full bump while going lock to lock on the steering. Hammer and cut what rubs and then set alignment.
If someone states something different, they don’t understand the assignment.

 

Thanks for all the info here I got 35s (315) on the rig. You guys are awesome. I have SPC uppers which helped a lot.



forgot to mention the cab mount chop and pinch weld flatten

 

Question for you all: how close do you guys get to your reservoir while flexing and turning? After some flex tests on a nice ~4 ft ramp near my house, I realize that I only impact my swaybar on my driver side while turned, so I'm going to flip the bracket tomorrow (based on reading I may have erroneously installed the bracket or spacer).

However, on both sides, when ~ max turn, stuffing the wheel, I can't even get a finger between my tread and the reservoir. Do you guys have more clearance than this? Contact is mostly close to the dsc knob. Im going to also check if I can bend the reservoir bracket back at all tomorrow to give extra clearance. Luckily clearance to CMC is great, some slight tread touching with high flex turned, but the wheel is still free to move. Granted this is all parking lot testing, going wheeling in another week.