Lift and uca dilema

So I ordered some Bilstein 5100s with the intent to set coils up to the highest setting (about 2.5") and put some aal's in the back. They should be arriving tomorrow. After a little boredom research it seems that I will need uca's if I am going to go 2.5" of lift in the front. I have newish tires and don't won't to burn them up. But haven't found any smokin deals on uca's. Are there any alternatives to replacing the uca's? I hadn't really planned on spending another 3,4, or 500 dollars

 

No worries! Bilstein would not design a shock to give certain lift heights and not work without providing all components. So the 5100 series shocks are designed to work with your stock components. With lifting the front 2.5" with your stock OEM coils, you will still have room/spec to get the vehicle aligned and not eat up your tires.

 

You guys told me I would need to replace the uca's through an email yesterday

 

You don’t “need” em, but you should have them.
I had stock UCA’s on mine with a minimal lift.
Was able to get the alignment close but never spot on, bought SPC arms and never looked back.

Highly advised for UCA replacement.

Just piece of mind and more adjustments.

If you plan on bigger tyres, you will need to adjust caster for optimal clearance. Stocks won’t do this.

 

@Wheeler's Off-Road Inc I ordered the 5100's from you guys. I chatted with a guy on the phone and through email and he said yes I would need to do uca's if I went 2.5

 

Okay thanks

 

The UCAs affect caster, unrelated to tire wear. It might make bump steer more pronounced.

 

The SPC arms can be found for cheap, usually open box or scratch and dent sale.....eBay,Amazon,CL....

 

HUGE apologies for the confusion. Our sales team deals with these questions constantly and there is always some differing lift factor there. As @Gixerkiller said, it is not needed but definitely helps get a more spot on alignment.

 

@Wheeler's Off-Road Inc no worries I was just hoping for a YES or NO answer. I guess I will put them on and see what the guy doing my alignment says

 

I'm running 5100 w/ OME 882 on my XtraCab. The 5100 are set at 0 and the coils are providing the lift (I believe it's around the 2.5" range). I have stock UCA and had an alignment done without issues. The cam bolts being nearly seized are more of a trouble than my UCA. That being said, looking at the angles in my Upper balljoint, I believe i'd benefit from better UCA. I just don't have the money to spend on them, and I use my truck as a DD/Weekend Warrior. You should be fine with installing your 5100 and getting an alignment. Make a decision on the UCA after driving around a while.

 

@codosa I think that's the new plan. Thanks for the input.

 

The answer is always "it depends"...

Most of the time, plan on just doing the shocks/lift, and get it aligned. If the shop gets it within spec you're all good in the hood. Sometimes, however, they can't get it aligned. Sometimes it's because of prior damage or some other issue, but *usually* you don't need them.

Then you have a situation like mine: I have King extended travel coilovers, total chaos uniball UCAs and a diff drop kit, even though I'm only sitting at around 1.5-2" of lift. Because of the extra droop travel of my coilovers, I wanted the UCAs and the diff drop to help ensure proper alignment and CV angles throughout the travel range.

At 2.5" you should really think about a diff drop as well.

The other reason for aftermarket UCAs is tire/wheel clearance. Some wheel/tire combos will rub the UCA either at full droop or even at ride height, so keep that in mind too (stock wheels you should be fine).

 

It really seems to depend on each individual truck, some people find they need them some don't. 2.5" lift is about the threshold where they are or are not needed, anything above 2.5" and they typically are needed. I would install your new 5100s and get an alignment done and see how it turns out, if they can't get it where it needs to be or where you like it, then time to start looking at some UCAs.

 

To be honest I probably didn't "need" my UCAs, but, well....

 

I dunno if I did either, I got them shortly after I got my front suspension but it's good to know they're there now.

 

Yeah, I didn't even try driving it on stock UCAs with my Kings. I did the shocks, diff drop, and UCAs all at once (did the BJs etc.. too). I think my theory for why I needed the UCAs holds up though.

 

@jbrandt what do you think for a diff drop? 1"?

 

Most of them are only 1" as far as I know. To get more than that you end up with a drop bracket style lift (like the 6" Pro Comp lift kit).

By lowering the diff, it would contact the skid plate if you don't get the spacers for the skid plate as well. I forget teh brand, but there's a kit that includes the spacers you need. I ended up fabricating my own using some 1" square steel tubing, but then ditched that and I'm currently fabricating entirely new heavy duty skid plates (3/16" steel plate).

 

Alot of people find them pretty useless. All it does is tilt your diff forward and transfer the bad angles to your driveshaft.