Possible Trimming and CMC - Suspension Help

I recently upgraded to 275/70s but the wheel offset wasn't big enough so I rubbed on my sway bar connecting rod. I then bought Spidertrax 1.25" wheel spacers and it fixed that. Now when I slightly turn the wheel and hit a bump going >5 mph, I rub on the fender, frame, and whatever else is down there (See pics). What do I need to do to fix this? Cut the fender flares, do a CMC, or anything else? You can see in the pics what actually rubs on the body. Thanks for the help.

 

Start with your alignment numbers. What is your caster? Stock or aftermarket UCAs?

Once you get that wheel as far forward as you can, start cutting plastic before you do the CMC. Sometimes taking off the mud flaps and some plastic trimming is enough.

 

It looks far from anything. The smart thing to do would be use chalk so you know where it rubs instead of people guessing

 

If your wheels have pockets between the stud-holes, you could run smaller spacers. Borla makes 3/4” ones. 1.25” is a huge amount of offset to have added.

 

Not sure on the caster. I recently got a 4" lift too so my shop is going to do a realignment in 2 weeks so I will have to wait on their numbers. My UCAs are Zone Offroads, that makes sense to see if they can realign it better to rub less. Thank you.

 

It looks like nothing but I'm running stock coilovers so when my IFS flexes, the body rubs. You can see a triangle of where it rubs in the pics on the bottom of the fender flare

 

Don't go cutting anything until you get the alignment. Tell the shop you want the caster as high as reasonably possible, not "within spec" on their readout. Anything higher than 4* is a good aiming point, assuming your UCAs are designed to provide that. I don't know anything about those UCAs.

 

My only concern was wasting money on going too small of a spacer because 0" spacer meant I could only turn the steering wheel at maybe 75% full lock

 

Yeah it came with the lift. I don't need the ECGS needle bearing with these UCAs but you're right, idk much about them either or alignments in general. I will get the alignment and see if they can fix it before I need to cut. I specifically bought these 275/70s because I researched most people don't need to trim so it's a little frustrating

 

What about your lift makes you think you don't need the ECGS bushing?

 

I had just a leveling kit 3/2 with spacers and would get an aggressive rubbing feel and sound from 20-30 mph and 45-55 mph. I had this jank lift for about 15k miles until I went for the full 4" suspension lift. The geometries must've matched up much better because the rubbing feel and sound is completely gone. I assumed I would have to get the ECGS but it seems as though it fixed itself. Maybe when I get an alignment, the rubbing will come back lol seems to be when you fix something, something else gets out of alignment

 

It’s drop-bracket lift so his cv angles are stock/OEM

 

Just when I think I'm starting to know some things about vehicles, guys like you two come out and sweep what I think I know lol

 

Your tire size should not rub with with a 4” drop-bracket lift. Either your wheels have way too much offset or your alignment is insanely off.

Definitely get an alignment ASAP. If it’s truly a drop bracket lift, you should just get an OEM spec standard alignment and potentially remove the wheel spacers first, before going in.

edit: I’ve been driving and lifting every Gen of Tacoma for about 18 years. Promise it won’t take that long to figure it out. Do some searching on the subject on this site and you’ll find a lot of good info mixed with a bunch of salt and uninformed opinions. Theres a reason the “This thread is worthless without pics” emoji exists

 

Got it. I'm unfamiliar with that type of setup, so I'll see myself out.

 

I'm at the stage of learning everything about my vehicle, what the parts do, and how to fix them. I do not have much hands-on experience, especially having to do with an alignment. What is a "4*" alignment? What would a number look like for a stock alignment?

 

Caster is measured in degrees. A higher caster means the wheel is pushed forward in the wheel well to mitigate clearance issues. However, other posters above me have mentioned that with your type of lift you can't/wouldn't/ shouldn't aim for that. So I'm going to stop giving advice since I misunderstood your setup and let someone more familiar with it take over.

 

In retrospect, I kinda wish I got a 1st gen or even a Pickup but I needed something that will forsure start and drive forward so I'm learning as I go

 

Do you have a link to your lift? Is it a BDS 4”?

A 4 wheel alignment is not needed because there’s nothing they can do with the back wheels anyway. I get mailers all the time for $69 alignments. Toyota will be closer to $100 and if you start requesting a custom alignment it’ll be more than that. Depends on your area..but I’d just call a local offroad shop and ask who they recommend after telling them the exact lift you have.

What width and offset do your wheels have? Most 6” drop bracket lifts require 18’s, never looked into 4’s

 

It’s basically a giant spacer/bracket setup that lowers the lower control arms (uses a longer spindle and puts a giant spacer in the newly created gap between the top of the struts and upper arms. The bracket also drops the diff 4-6 inches depending on the lift. That’s what sets it apart.

Now his cv axles are back to OEM angles but his stock travel range is now entirely 4” lower, meaning the typical rub issues aren’t reached.

It’s possible a db lift’s specs may still allow the outer part of the fender where mud flaps mount to get hit depending on tire size, wheel offset, spacers and alignment. If his whole problem is scrub or huge offset from wheels and spacers, he can do what you mentioned and max the caster and maybe solve the problem. 275/70/17s are only 32’s and should fit with a ton of room on 4” db. Interested to see what happens