Lift Disaster, Dispair, and Correction

So, I've come to the realization today that my front lift is just a total disaster.

In general here's a list of the current issues

-My maximum steering range has been severely limited since the wheels hit things at only 2 spins of the steering wheel.

-My sway bars have become damaged due to the wheels hitting them and rubbing.

-My wheel rims have become damaged due to the above.

-The front left tire now has a huge gash and I can only assume that it's from the skid plate due to being too close.

Currently I'm feeling pretty shity, for a while I thought that I had done a good job as far as researching and picking out equipment but now I feel pretty defeated and I also feel bad that I've damaged stuff a little bit...

So currently the plan is to lower the front, but I am worried about the current upper control arms adding way too much caster at a lower amount of lift. So then I wonder if I should go ahead and change the uca's again... But this is incredibly hard for me to do financially.
Although at the same time I was told by the most recent alignment shop, the only one so far that seems to know what they are doing, that the alignment was difficult to do because the lower control arms are too far down due to the lift. Which basically remove the amount of adjustment room they have camber/caster.

Current equipment:
-Front 5100s
-Front OME 885's
-Stock new LCA's
-Fabtech UCA'S

Any suggestions?

 

Tire size and pics? What are your 5100's set to?

 

Stock 16" wheels and tires. I would have to look at the tire to see the exact size if you need.

5100s are set at 0 as recommended by TW.

 

Sway bar will contact the EMU coils without a spacer, I believe. I run 885s with no sway bar...so not 100% on that. As to the tires and wheels hitting things in there with that little of a lift, I'm quite surprised.

What size are the tires? You said you're running stock 16" wheels, but didn't mention tire size.

 

I do have spacers on the sway bar as they came with the fabtech uca's, but the sway bar never even comes close to the coils, it collides with the wheel/rim if I attempt to turn all the way. And when I say turn all the way, I'm not saying that I get to like 80% or 90% and then it collides... It honestly feels like maybe between 50 to 70% max turn. It makes driving in parking lots very difficult.

Okay so I came outside to look at the tires, they say 245/75 R16

 

My 885 coils give me the same lift that I got from 5100s set at the 1.75" setting with stock coils. It wasn't terrible with stock UCAs but SPC uppers improved things greatly. Are the Fabtech uppers adjustable, or do they at least correct caster for the lift?

 

Jeez.

 

Wow.

That's pretty crazy. I suggest pulling the sway bar, at least temporarily. It's free and takes less than 10 minutes and should solve all issues you've mentioned.

 

Well either every single alignment shop in my area are fools, I am missing something, or these UCA's add extreme amounts of caster.

Non-adjustable, I regret that now.

 

Sounds like you need a proper alignment or a different wheel offset. Removing the sway bar is an immediate and free solution until you sort out the actual problem.

Do you have the printout from when you had the alignment done?

 

I was going to ask for this as well.

What model fabtech UCAs are they? 0-3" or 0-6"? Idk much about fabtech UCAs as usually I recommend SPC or TC etc.

Pics would help as well.

 

Most alignment shops will ignore you when you start talking about aftermarket UCAs and caster. It drives me crazy.

 

Yes I guess I will have to go ahead and do that for now, it has been far too cold recently so maybe this weekend will be kind to me.

 

It's -20F here at my office with 20 mph winds

 

Last week it went from -55 (wind chill) on Wednesday to 55 on Saturday.

 

I found one shop that told me they could do it, said they do aftermarket stuff no problem. They did improve it MASSIVELY but still caster is over 4 on both wheels. It had be at about 5.5 previously.
They told me the camber bolts were maxed out and that this was as good as it gets.

So... My thought is lowering the lift may or may not give the bolts more room since the wheel will move outwards a bit.

 

I learned this the hard way with a powder coater. Nightmare. 1 week quote turned into 2 months and the cost changed 3 times. I digress.

For my lift, I had a recommendation from a local 4x4 shop that was not able to facilitate lift installs at the time; they used another business to install their lifts. I got a kit installed they were familiar with and have used before. No issues.

 

I have the same set up as you but stock uca. My wheels are fn fx pros 17x8 and tires are 265 70 r17. I have no rubbing what so ever and turn just fine. Where in GA are you. I got my alignment done at https://www.fastlaneimportautorepair.com/ in Smyrna. They specialize in toyota, lexus and nissan. They will get your alignment right. I found them at the suggestion of this shop: https://youtu.be/qv9q5ka0M98 who specializes in custom toyota, lexus, and land cruisers.

 

I'm in Duluth for work and the gf, I'll have to look them up. What I'm trying to avoid is getting like alignment after alignment and using up all my limited funds chasing something that might not be possible.

I'm hoping to get it all done at one time, I'll reach out to them and see what they suggest.

 

It sounds like your UCAs are for a bigger lift than what you have. They might be set for a 6" lift. This would explain your issues. Lowering might actually make it worse.