Alignment, Caster, Clearance, and Driving Report with Light Racing UCAs

Hey guys

I have these UCAs ready to get installed and should get the bolts from my Toyota parts dept today. I'm worried about the possible rubbing on the cab mount. I have XD Monsters with +18 os. I have 1" spacers to clear the 285 BFG ATs. I had to remove the front flaps but absolutely no need for a cab mount chop. I really don't want to do the CCC.

My current alignment is
Caster Left 1.84 Right 1.76
Camber Left 0.75 Right 0.83
Toe Left 0.01 Right 0.03

My alignment guy who is been said to be the best in the city said he pretty much maxed out the caster as much as he could. He did say the UCAs were preventing a better alignment which is obviously why we are all here.

Is it still a safe bet to adjust the UCA cams to the +1 position?

Thanks

 

suby

 

WELL THIS IS WHY YOU BOUGHT THEM ISNT IT
SO YES....
THEY ARE MADE TO BE USED......
G/L

 

Since he already got you to 1.8* i think the +1 setting would work out well, then maybe he can dial the caster back at the LCA a little to get your camber and toe closer to 0. Plus the camber adjustments on the UCA will help

 

Awesome, thanks! I'm trying to get a day set up to get the UCAs installed in the morning, and then right to the alignment shop in the afternoon. Will post results once this happens.

 

I TOOK A PIC OF MINE FOR YOU THE OTHER DAY
FULL DROOP

 

These bolts are the ones that you are needing to check.. No cotter pin there.. Please disregard my arrows.. Was asking another question in another thread...

 

so... what IS the torque spec for those two bolts?

 

This:

 

Guess I should of read more.

 

RIF

 

Raf

 

I see what u did there

 

Got my alignment today.. Here is what they got me to..

Front Left:
Camber: .1
Caster: 2.6
Toe: .03

Front Right:
Camber: .2
Caster: 2.7
Toe: .03

Front:
Cross Camber: -.1
Cross Caster: .0
Total Toe: .06

Any thoughts???

 

Looks better than mine

 

Installed the UCAs yesterday and alignment today. I set the cams to the "+1" position to get more clearance off the rear fender. I adjusted the slides in the driveway enough that it almost felt pretty good on the road. I brought it in for an alignment this morning. The end result was he couldn't adjust the LCAs due to seized nuts from rust but they were pretty maxed out anyway on caster (if I recall correctly from the last alignment). To compensate for one side he was having trouble with, he adjusted the cam on right side to 0.25+ and left the other at +1. Is having them set at two difference positions ok?

I told him that the wheel shakes going over dirt roads or if the right tire hits a bump, it jerks to the right. He said an alignment won't help that. Is this correct? He recommended UCA limiter straps. I never heard of those before. He said he sees many lifted rigs with them

p.s. the bolt for the ant-lock line cracked off in both UCAs. Need to fix up how the lines are attached.

 

I took some pics of my LR UCA install. It was easier than I thought it be especially given the fact I didn't know how much bending would be needed on the inner fender. I bought new UCA bolts just in case that I hope I can take back. I even bought a large set of channel locks just for the job. But not much bending was required really.

First, I did the harder side, the driver side. I removed the battery as shown:


I had to remove that bracket to get it out of the way. Also eventually popped some clips for that wire. I just used a fork looking screwdriver. lol


You can see the UCA bolt there prior bending


Time to jack up the side. Here's how I did it. Floor jack under chassis, remove wheel, let LCA rest on jack stand.


Time to bend fender


I removed the clip that keeps that fender flap on. The end of the bolt is now exposed fully. That line you see going down is metal, but my socket wrench gets in there with little issue


Next I removed that bracket on the UCA


Next is to remove the tie rod bolt, I made sure the sway bar bolt was not seized. You need an allen key and a wrench to take it off. Otherwise, it just spins. The allen key is inserted in the center to keep the bolt from rotating as you remove the nut.


Here is how I removed it:


Now I am ready to tackle the old UCA


I had a pitman arm puller that did the job perfectly. I forgot to secure it and when it popped, its a wonder I didn't bust that anti-lock line.


I secured it after with a plastic tie.


Now I can take the long bolt out. I tapped it from the other end and although it pressed against the fender, it stil came out. The large washer was getting stuck on the bolt and then bringing up on the fender which slowed me down.


But it came out. I used a punch and a hammer on the other end to get it out most of the way.


Time to grease the bushings. I dumped the grease from the baggie into a cup for convenience. At first I wondered if it would be enough but the fitting that goes in after pushes out excess to reuse. Read the instructions that came with it for applying grease.


So install the UCA, I just laid the bolt inside so I could see the end under the fender and with the washer against the side of the UCA, fed the bolt though. Then tapped it further from under the hood. I managed it myself.


I didn't tighten at this point, not until I bolted on the ball joint to the spindle.


I think I tightened the ball joint nut to 85lbs. I reused the old bolt as that had a flange. The bolt that came with it did not and I was not fussy on using it. I then tightened the UCA bolt to 85lbs.

Next was putting the sway bar bearing bolt back into the spindle. This was a problem as I didn't have enough muscle to push it down. No problem though. I got a ratchet strap and pulled it down that way but securing the other hook to the jack stand. It didn't take much to get the bolt in there.


The little bolt for the line bracked cracked off in the UCA. I had to rig up something with zip ties. I didn't do that yet when I took this pic.


So I re-attached that wire and bracket from earlier and put the battery back in. But that was the job. Repeat for the passenger side. That was easier. I learned my lesson from before and zip tied the spindle to the coil to keep it from falling over after popping the ball joint.

The tie rod nut was seized on the passenger side which slowed me down. I applied some heat and eventually got it.

Hope this helps other folks.