The Getaway...Crom's build and adventures

Yes it does. Not how I want to spend my morning.

Time for a long post.

My JBA HD-UCA is coming out because I had a third alignment with it and the caster is no better than with the stock UCA at the same ride height. I confirmed that with multiple alignment reports stretching back a few years in the OME mega thread. The alignment tech was extremely knowledgeable, and even brought me into the bay and put me under the truck and showed me what was going on. He worked on it meticulously and got camber, caster, SAI, AI to match perfectly on both sides of the truck. This was important to me because it tells a story, it tells me that nothing else got bent on the truck from the first set of JBA UCA's

With respect to the OME suspension, to be brutally honest, the OME front suspension is fine for a pavement pounder, but for me it's crippling off road. With it came more ground clearance, but the trade off was a really rough ride and I had to go slower to avoid the shock topping out. Not so fun for me or my passengers. Stock suspension was better because it was perfectly tuned for the truck, IMO.

Adding to the list above, I also discovered my driver side LCA ball joint is leaking grease, but no noise or other performance issues with it as far as I can tell. I took a good look at the LCA bushings and they are going to need replacement in the next few years. I'm thinking of just doing a full front end replacement.

That said, the top of my list right now is Dirt King UCA + LCA with a 2.5" extended travel coil over shock with resi.

This solution is very expensive, but I feel like it will yield the best results and best performance for mid travel.

If I do this, I can keep the factory LCA's, refurbish it, keep it for a spare, or sell it. OME will go up for sale once it's off the truck.

I am also interested in gussets for the spindle, but AFAIK, total chaos, and all pro, both require wheel spacers or after market wheels which I'm not prepared to do, so I may skip this if I can't find a work around.

My truck will look hilarious with stock suspension in front and Dakars in the rear. And it's unclear to me if this is even going to be possible with the 33" tires, but I will see what I can do.

 

The OME front shocks get lots better with a heavier bumper and a winch. Still not nearly the quality of ride you will get with the setup you mentioned but having come from the place you are now, I can say that it is much better.

I think the biggest problem with OME suspension is that it is designed for expedition vehicles that have all the other ARB parts on including their bullbar. The dakars are probably working well in the rear because you have a shell, and lots of camping gear. I am the same way and love the rear. The front though before I got my bumper and winch was awful. Once I got more weight up there with bumper winch, skids, and sliders the whole suspension got softer. Remove the swaybar and despite the extra body roll on the freeway the suspension is right where I want it.

 

This is all quite discouraging. I had zero probs with and loved OME 881s + nitros no sway bar and Dakars on my 01, and was ready to do the equivalent on the 15. But apparently the 2nd gen stuff is quite a different beast. This and other discussion has me thinking Kings or similar, but I really did not want to do that for what is largely a daily pavement truck.

Fuck.

 

I had the OME kit for 3 years and as soon as I could afford it I upgraded to Extended Travel 2.5 Icons. So much better now.

 

Sorry to here that the setup didn't work out for you, but at least you've got a backup plan (a good one!). I went with the OME because it was the best I could do on my budget. I'm too lazy to read back, but what coils do you have? The 887's I went with are working pretty good on my (heavier than your) front end. I plan to try to keep them after I add the weight of a new bumper and winch. IDK, but if was in your situation, I'd look for a good fix before dropping big money on entirely new setup. FWIW.

 

I've noticed

I've read a few times people are pretty happy with the 887 nitro charger combo. Same ride as the 885 just you get to keep all the height. With or without a bumper. One of the first guys I read about kept his stock UCA's too. Can't remember his name but he has since moved on to a tundra. He switched due to size reasons not ride or mechanical. I believe the truck is currently with a different member If your looking for a good on and off road comprise, that could be it even with the stock UCA'S.
Edit: please disregard my comments, just realized it's your shock topping out that's the problem.

 

I'm a big believer in "credit where credit is due"......That said, I don't know which is more impressive, the composition of this build thread, or, the engineering and craftsmanship of that truck! NASA doesn't go to the extremes you went to building a worthy traveler! And the thread....! I have started reading probably 25 or 30 build thread, seldom getting past 6 or 8 pages before drifting off to another. This one held my attention from start to present. It's a great day when I can feel like I've learned something worthwhile. I can't count the things I've picked up from your build experience! All I can add is, don't stop! This is big fun!

 

just curious as to what value you want in Caster? read where JBA trends decreased Caster, and with lifts and larger tires one would want greater Caster.

 

After a good nights sleep I've decided I should take a more calculated approach to resolving my concerns.

So this morning I took out the JBA HD-UCA's and put the Toyota UCA is back in. I'm keeping the OME suspension up front for now.

Going for an alignment within the hour.

Thanks. They are 885 coils with OME 90021 Nitrocharger Sport Front Strut. Yeah that's good advice, I need to make sure that whatever I switch to is going to do the job.

I sincerely appreciate the complement. I'll share it with my wife! I will do my best to keep it going.

I want stock numbers, When truck had 2.2-2.4* caster It handled really well. With caster 1* or less, it is scary to drive on the interstate ~70mph.

 

Returning to Stock UCA

Here are some pics form today's work. I used a zip tie to pull back the mud flaps to clear the tires. I did not have enough time to check for full stuff clearance. I need to go to dirt for that or find a loading dock.

 

The JBA deal is a bit discouraging - I have the regular JBA's on my truck but have yet to get an alignment. Dude said 2* caster should be attainable.
You will be happy with those tires, I've run a set since Oct 2012 I estimate close to 50K miles on highway, mud, gravel roads, thorny pastures etc., no flats or even as much as a low tire yet and they still have a little tread left! Very little rubbing on the UCA with stock suspension + leveling spacer, but the springs were squatted close to stock height due to the weight my winch and mount.

 

...well wishing you luck on sorting this out, amazing you got done this morning what you did!....i may be on the extreme side of Caster with 3.7degree, but read more is better for steering and tire clearance, when modifying suspension.

 

I think I got a bad set, that's all. I really want Marlin to succeed in his endeavors. I've provided him my alignment sheets and other documentation for his records.
Good to hear about your experience with the tires! Tomorrow I'm taking the family to dirt, and nature, and I'm really looking forward to it!

That's a lot of caster, which UCA are you running?

Thanks. It's crazy. This was my third time swapping UCA's. I had the first UCA out and stock one back in, in about 35 minutes. Then ate breakfast, folded a huge load of laundry, and then finally took care of the passenger side. About two hours total. The hardest part of the day was lifting the 85lb wheel/tire back onto the hub.

Eventually I will get an impact gun or something to help zip things off, but for now all I have are simple hand tools.

I took the truck for alignment at Firestone, everything is in spec except caster of course.

 

Here is a fun mod I did back in the summer of 2011. Anytime red light. Very stealthy for night ops. The red light is great for visibility in the truck and can't hardly be seen from the outside truck. I tapped into the always hot +12v map lights. I used telecom beads for tapping into power, RJ45 jack and modular plug for the connectors. lol I used a micro SPST toggle switch. The light positioned in the recessed part of the console is ideal, because the light does not go into my eyes or the passengers. And can't be seen from the outside. It works awesome and looks great!



One night in July 2013 while camped in Yosemite NP I was working UHF radio operators 30 miles away and my oldest kid who was 3 years old at the time was on time out for poor behaivor, essentially she was out of control in the tent and would not be still or quiet. I made her sit in the foot well of the truck while I worked the radio. lol She has quite the sense of humor. But as you can see, the LED light works very well.

 

Tonight my wife was out and so i took advantage of that and mended the red light in the dome light fixture. When she came home I was soldering at the dining table, it's a good thing she didn't come home when I was making a mess with the dremmel. Anyways, it too had a micro toggle switch, but somehow my youngest broke the switch. Its taken months but I finally replaced it tonight with a rocker switch. The kids loved that thing so I'm sure they'll be quite happy to see it back in action.

 

Truth. I even read somewhere that the Navy conducted a bunch of research and they determined that a sufficiently dim white bulb was as good as or even most effective at night ops.

I really do like the red light though.

 

This is a great idea Crom. Perfect for those early morning leave times with the kids. I usually turn out the overhead to get them in the seats but then can't see. May have to add this to the list. Thanks.

 

You can get spindle gussets to clear without wheel spacers but you lose the ability to run a sway bar.

 

Thank you very much. I see now the difference between the two styles of gusseting.

 

It's interesting to me that this was your experience. I resisted getting aftermarket UCAs for the longest time and I was only able to get .7 or .8 caster.
I don't run a swaybar either, and I never once felt like I couldn't take my hands off the steering wheel at 80.

The biggest difference I feel now that I have about 2 degrees of caster is the tendency of the truck to straighten itself if I let it. With minimal caster, I could turn and it would stay turning but now the wheel feels "heavier" if that makes sense.