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

So Firestone actually listened to me and didn’t touch caster. They also didn’t fix camber, but whatever.

 

Clocked it to “D” but I’m in 35’s so I’m still tweaking it to see where I like it.

 

I've noticed my truck feels a little twitchy on the highway and get a decent amount of feedback through the steering wheel when going over speed bumps. Does anybody else experience this issue when the lower eccentric bolts are fully maxed out for caster?

 

Some how my toe got way off so had new alignment done today. UCA set at “D”.. Drives great again.

 

Yes, I noticed that immediately after leaving the alignment shop. Almost any harsh bump on the highway or any pothole is felt through the steering wheel and basically the entire front of the truck. I’ve got the UCA set to D and the lowers maxed. I have around 3.5° of caster and have minimal rubbing with 285/70/17 tires but even with new inner and our tie rod ends and lower control arms, it’s an adjustment. I’m tempted to remove the sway bar to compare how it feels but I haven’t gotten that far yet.

 

Interesting. My sway bar is removed. Wonder if our trucks just don't like having the eccentric bolts maxed out.

 

I think it has more to do with the angle of the front wheel after pushing it further forward to get the 3+ degrees of caster. Based on other replies and threads I’ve seen, it likely puts more, or a different kind of, stress on the steering rack which is why we feel the bumps more in the steering wheel.

 

I have my SPC's set at position E and I don't feel anything in the steering wheel. My lowers are seized and are not maxed out. Where is your upper balljoint set at? I kept adjusting them and then readjusted the tierods for the toe until it felt comfortable and straight to drive. I have no idea what my alignment numbers are and I'm not sure I care since it drives straight and feels the way I want it to. I'm keeping an eye on the tire wear to make sure things are messed up.

 

Upper ball joint is in position D. I originally had it set to E but moved to back to D because I had 4.5° of caster at E with the lowers maxed. I’ve since had my lower control arms replaced, along with inner and outer tie rods. After this last alignment I’m right around 3° of caster and the truck drives straight. But, I still feel every bump through the steering column and in the floor board, more so than I did with the OEM UCAs.

 

That sounds odd. Position E is less caster than position D so something doesn't sound right. Maybe yours were at C and got moved to D. My truck was at C when I got it and it was twitchy on the highway and would dart back and forth. D made it better but my tires still rubbed more than I liked so I tried E and it feels better and rubs less.

 

Honestly, I haven’t been pleased with any of the three alignments I’ve gotten since these UCAs went on. Right now the truck feels fine on the highway but the bumps and feeling everything in the steering wheel is kind of annoying. I’ve been leaning towards doing my own alignment. Maxing the lowers, setting the camber on the UCAs with a block of wood and a level and trying to get the toe as close as I can. From there I could take it just about anywhere and tell them to fix the toe and be good to go. And I’d consider going back to the E setting but I don’t want to rub my cab mounts. I’ve already trimmed a ton out of the front fender liner and bumper and I have no intentions of doing a CMC.

 

Position E moves the tire forward, further away from the CMC, position C puts it closer to the CMC. It's really a trial and error thing and once I started moving things around, I figured an alignment from a shop would have no guarantees with a lifted truck. I might get the toe checked if it looks like I'm getting some tire wear.

 

I’m confused.. I installed my Spc uca and I’m trying to prevent rubbing on the inner fender. With 285/75r/16.. they are measuring little bigger than 32”.

what position is this? A? And with max castor on the the LCA what position should I start at.

 

Yeah, that looks like A which pushes the tire back. You want to start around D to see how it feels and how the clearance is. 285/75/16 tires usually are around 32.8", it depends on the manufacturer.

 

Ok I did that but didn’t have my lower control arm adjusted.

ill set it back and see.. I cut the fender flare back a lot. I plan on going 35s so I’ll be cutting, trimming and hammering soon

 

BFG robbed me .8 inch

 

Looks like G to me. Either way get your lowers adjusted to max out the positive caster first then dial it in with the cam position. The big knob to turn in terms of wheel clearance is maxing out positive caster with your LCA cams.

 

The picture is the driver's side and the round portion is pointing to the rear of the wheel opening which would be A.

You can't really measure the tire easily on the truck so it's probably closer to 32.8 than you realize.

 

i moved to position A and it helped the camber for sure.. didn’t see much castor change. Going to alignment shop Thursday

 

Right you are. Their images always confuse me. I still stand by my alignment recommendations though