Trim or new alignment to fix tire rub?

lots of people do!

 

Ohh also not sure if you’ve noticed but it probably rubs or makes contact different or more in reverse vs driving forward.. keep that in mind when testing out the fitment if you do some trimming, might think you are clear but still hit in reverse

 

Any time you change the geometry of your suspension you need an alignment regardless. Get some new UCAs that are better for your size of lift and get an alignment. If you still have rubbing, further assess and start cutting/modifying things

 

These pictures. Are the Pass-R, Dr-R, Dr-Fr, Pass-Fr?

 

I'll just add to this thread since I already posted up the pictures in the 275 thread. Trust me, I was in the no CMC boat probably 2 days before I decided that was going to be happening to my truck. Like everyone else in this thread has already said, it really isn't that serious or difficult. I am by far not a seasoned welder (actually been at it less than a month lol) and I did my own CMC and cut out my own plates. Also yes it was painful to cut up my 9 month old truck with less than 10k on it, but you know those 275/70s are worth the tiny pain since they look so good

 

Yep, sorry for the poor quality.

 

Haha, right.

I made contact with a local guy, thanks to the help of this community of course, and I’ll be chopping Saturday!

Honestly, it boiled down to this..


Stock TRD OR wheels has a positive offset, which I think was 12-18? In size 16

New methods are 17inch, with a zero offset.

So, even if I did go down to 265/70/17’s I think I may still rub.

So, CMC.. here I come. After seeing photos, and thinking it was going to look like… well..sloppy, I am super impressed with how these pros do the CMC. Even those at home. So, I’m confident it’ll work out after the chop.

 

If that's the case then you absolutely can get more caster. Those rear ones are 180* out from the position they should be in

 

I ran mine hacked open without plates for years and used to be in the camp that plating was a waste of time that serves no function. I have no doubt that running them open funneled water and snow into the frame contributing to this delightful mess that had to be cut out and patched, directly opposite the cab mount on the passenger side frame rail.



I have since changed my point of view on plating the cab mounts. It's not necessary, but it's worthwhile to do at some point to avoid this.

 

I wasn’t necessarily recommending it! Just saying it’s been done

 

I gave you the answer already. Get an alignment for $99 and you’ll be fine.

 

I am indeed doing the alignment first lol. In hopes it fixes it.. if it doesn’t, I’ll CMC

 

So, front ones okay, essentially flip the rear? Just want to know when I go in Monday so I can at least try to explain it better lol.

I thought I was maxed out, from my limited understanding of what I was looking at.

 

I'll use your first picture which is a picture of the front of the driver's side rear cam (eccentric)

The cam bolt is offset within the two end circles (the pieces with the graduation marks are on) Once you loosen the bolt going through the cam, you can turn the other cam side (the other side of the cams not shown in any of your pictures, where it looks like the end of the bolt is sticking out) which turn the cams against the thick metal tabs on both sides of the cam circle. As you turn the back of the cam (again, not pictured) the cam moves that LCA leg inward via the LCA bushing, shortening the arm or pushing the arm outward, lengthening the arm. As you do this, you change both caster and camber. The rear LCA bushing has more of an affect on caster than the front one, and the front bushing has more of an affect on camber than the rear one. To lessen confusion, I'm not going to explain why this is.

So, back to the first picture, notice where the bolt head is. It is inboard, towards the body, meaning the bushing is drawn inboard. That circle cut-out in the cam, that is at about 10 oclock means it is almost maxed out inward (shortened) (if that circle cut-out was at 9 oclock the rear arm of the LCA would be at it shortest) You want those cut out circles to be inboard and the bolt heads out board, which would make the rear arm of the LCA it's longest. Once this is done, then you start adjusting the front ones until camber comes into spec and hopefully get it a tiny bit of positive camber since the camber spec range favors positive camber (-.03* to +1.2*) With a 2.5" lift and stock UCAs, I don't think this will happen though

By looking at all four of you cams, in essence, you are the opposite of what you want for max caster as you rear LCA arms are almost at their max shortness and your front cams are more on the long side, with the driver's side a little longer than the passenger side.

If you want, you can see the affect yourself. Just mark the rear cam position, loosen the bolt, and turn the side that looks like the bolt is sticking out. If I remember right, it is a 21mm. You would want to jack up the side your on a little (but not all the way off the ground) or else you'll be fighting against the weight of the truck. Also, the cam only needs to be turned 180* with the cut out circle and graduation marks going from 9 oclock to 3 oclock position staying up top. You can turn 360 but it's redundant.

One more thing, when you turn the cam after loosening the bolt, it should move freely. If it seems stuck you may have a seized cam (the bolt seizes to the inner sleeve of the bushing) If this happens STOP as you will turn the cam circles into the tabs and flatten them out.

Hope this helps and wasn't too confusing.

 

Wow. This is perfect! Really gives me an idea of how to approach the situation, when I talk to the tech, and that’s all I need!

Can’t thank you enough.

 

John, could I run one more thing I recently found out by you? So, while I do have my alignment Monday, I can’t help but wonder..

I spoke to the manufacturer of these UCA I have. They claim to be max caster, for lifts 2-4” but I couldn’t get a solid degree out of them.

Earlier you mentioned that you were unsure just how much caster I could get, if I was on stock UCA that is. My curiosity is this.. assuming I flip those bolts, maxing the length of the LCA, and do have UCA that claim to offer max caster, in theory.. I should be able to get a bit more caster than stock UCA? Say, 2.5-3*? Which I hear may be ideal in my situation. Would that make sense? I know this is all assumptions and theoretical. Just curious on your thoughts.

 

Usually, with a 2.5" or above, you lose the caster enough caster to fall out of spec. I think the lower end of the spec is 1.2* My lift on my 4runner was near around 2.75" and I had 275s on there and the max I could get was around .8 to 1*

What UCAs are we talking about? There should be a spec to the exact amount of caster and camber it corrects for. I have a set right now that are really nice but my lift is barely 2" and I had to take them off because I couldn't get less than 4.25* of caster and it messed with driveability. These would probably be perfect for someone who was 2.5" or higher. So I went with the SPCs for the adjustability and they've been great. Many people have problems but I'm not doing any harsh off-roading. I had them on my 4runner too and actually took them on a couple trips and beat on them for a while and they held up.

One thing about caster obtained from the UCA as opposed the the LCA. With the LCA, it pushes the bottom of the tire forward, pivoting at the UBJ. With the UCA you actually move the top of the tire backwards, pivoting at the LBJ, towards the cab, thus possibly creating a unnecessary rub.

 

Got an alignment. Tech advised that this was the best they could do, since it’s lifted, and I think the numbers look okay, thoughts?

 

You had those initial caster numbers with a 2.5" lift, stock UCAs and with the cams in the position they were in?? OK. Something's not right but does it still rub? It should rub worse now because they decreased caster on the right. But the numbers themselves look great. It should drive nice and straight.

 

So, I do have aftermarket UCA (Tuff Country) that claim to accommodate a 2-4” lift. So, idk how much that plays into things. So, I’m still testing a bit, but the BAD rub doesn’t seem to be there. I did hear a slight plastic rub (in a spot that was really bad before) and I’m going to observe if the cab mount is still rubbing or, if now it’s just plastic and I can use a heat gun / trim.


Also, I asked about flipping the rear cams 180°, but he kind of looked at me funny. He said with the lift we are kind of limited. Which, of course made me skeptical that he actually knew what I needed.