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

I bet you haven't trimmed any plastic yet.

Folks inevitably have to remove/melt/bend/reshape plastic from the inside the wheelwell when running a 33" tire even if lifted.

 

This..

Not to mention a cab mount chop.

I've trimmed ALOT of my front fenders to clear. I have zero rubbing now.

 

Listen to the Moose ^^^ Start trimming and chopping. Nobody ever sees it anyways unless you're a Tacoma dude who is gonna stick your head in someone's fender well in a parking lot...not that i've ever done that.

 

I'm Running the stock 16" TRD Bead locks that came on my TXpro' with Nitto 285/75/16. These wheels already seem to have some factory offset. I've trimmed all that can be trimmed without completely removing the inners and melting some stuff.
I really screwed up by not getting the center hub to fender measurement PRIOR to the Toytec Adjustable coilover and LR uca's. Add that to the fact that these TXpro's seem to already be an inch higher than the standard Dbl cab 4x4 and you see my concern about cranking it up anymore. Hell, I had Nitto 295's for a few miles and had only a slight rub before swapping out for the 285's thinking that would solve my problem. I took hours reading all the posts about the LR uca adjustments and have mine on "0" (t1) figure D. I just noticed the front to back distance on the left side vs right is about an inch diff too. If another trip to the alignment shop wont work I don't see any option but to again downgrade tire size. CRAP!

 

I wont have any shame sticking my head in another fender. I consider it taking one for the (TW) team. I'm just not sure these 2012 and 13's have the exact same fender dimensions as the earlier models.

 

Anyone else even have these grooves on their's?

 

Installed in the neutral position (D) and got the truck aligned. Tires rub on rear of fender well. Going back to have the clearance maximized as BJMoose said in the OP. I'm going to try and see if the tech can get it really close (to perfect numbers) in the F position, but may have to settle for E.

I didn't think this would be too much of a problem w/ 32" tires and 3" of lift.

 

Yes. Didn't see them mentioned on the install sheet. Didn't find any matching bump on the inside of the bushing. Said "Eff it" and installed with the grooves on the outside of the UCA.

 

I had some issues with the tires rubbing the frame at full lock. Noticed the camber on the LR UCA was way in. I asked them to slide the UCA knuckles as far out for clearance while maintaining a 2.5ish caster. Was able to get the clearance and maintain caster without adjusting UCA caster.

 

I've got plenty of clearance to the frame, as the upper BJs are further away from the fender (as set on the UCA), I'm rubbing the tire on the inside rear of the fender, which I know will be much worse when stuffed. I want to try and cheat the caster setting (forward) on the upper BJ and make up the difference on the lowers to set the caster at about 2 degrees overall. We'll see.

 

I had that same rub. Back of fender.

Changing it to the settings that BJ Moose wrote fixed it. That plus a good alignment will get you set.

 

Nice! I can imagine it working, but good to hear it in practice. Thanks!

And the truck has been aligned again, upper BJ set to "E". Good clearance all around, couldn't be happier. Forgot the alignment numbers in the truck, but I'll add them soon.

 

Ok fellas so I just got an alignment last night but I have the steering wheel pulling to the right and the vehicle pulls to the right when trying to track straight. Toe is at 0 and Camber is at 0 . Drivers Caster is 2.2 and Passenger Caster is 2.5. The alignment guy adjusted the caster first via the LCA cams and said that it was maxed at those numbers. What do you guys think the problem is?

 

^^Responding to my own post above. Problem is resolved. Went back to the alignment shop and the tech suggested we flip the drivers and passenger tires (front only). After the flip she drove way better and didn't pull to the right. I don't know if this is common or not but now I'm thinking I may have a balancing issue with one tire? or abnormal wear on one tire? (I didn't see any and am frequently inspecting my tires)

 

I've had tire-induced pull before. It's not a balance issue - balance induces shake/shimmy/shivver.

Just something about how the tread pattern and belts on the tire wear.

Just go to a front-back tire rotation when you rotate, keeping left and right on the same side each time.

 

Agree with this 100%

When tires are cross rotated, the wheel actually roll is the opposite direction. I know that many say this is OK for radials. but I am old enough to remember when this was quite a problem.

The tire guy that swapped from side to side was changing the rolling direction of the tires. IMO, one of those tires has an issue. Possibly an internal belt has shifted or seperated. Long term you may see more issues.

To prevent this from happening, always rotate front to back. Cross rotation can create it.

 

Just got another alignment, I have my LR uppers set to the +2 setting, shop set my caster to 1.7 on the left and 3.4 on the right... I told them it needs to be in the 2.5 range, but they said the camber didn't allow that... Do they just not know how to use the LR uppers? Or are they idiots? Idk...

 

LCA cams may be seized...

 

It would seem they may need you to bring in this write-up (the section where Moose explains maximizing clearance) and the SCS install sheet.

I think the tech would've told him if they were seized, or should have anyway.

 

I've been holding off to replace the cams for when I can get some poly bushings for the lca, which are supposed to be available by the end of the year....