Tires squeak

You're running positive camber most likely. The upper control arms need to be upgraded with something. That or bring your lower control arm out more. Probably cant due to the camber bolt adjustment maxed out. It looks like the inner tires have camber wear from the photo.

 

If it was me I would have second offroad/suspension shop try to identify/diagnoise/address your specific complaints before the part/suspension swapping trials begin or you go back to stock, etc. If you do go back to stock let the offroad shops know that you are looking for new take offs and work a deal with the other truck owner swapping out his OEM (hopefully newer for you) for whatever lift. The last thought - can you try losing a couple of inches on your current 5" lift with minimal effort/parts/$ to see if that improves? PS: Im no expert (fall somewhere between shade tree and idiot on my mechanical skills depending on the task) so am just trying to help you work thru variables and options. Good Luck..

 

It looks like your tire is rubbing on the sway bar... on both sides...





I'd suggest removing the sway bar and seeing if it still happens... However, be VERY cautious, because if you already have bad bump steer, no sway bar could make that worse... unless the sway bar is in fact causing the issue.

 

Is it just me, or do I not see any lift? tie rod and CV look dead level, and the UCA looks about ready to climb into the fender. Or is it just a weird photo?

I'm thoroughly confused about what's going on in there.

 

Drop bracket lift... I think

Edit: which makes me question whether OP can run 17" wheels. I thought DB's required 18" minimum.

 

You're probably right. That knuckle spindle looks unnaturally tall.

But that's way out of my wheelhouse. I'm just watching for a possible hope of understanding on what the original installer was thinking.

 

Lol, it's not just you. My first thought was "that's 5 inches of lift?".

OP, it could be the camera playing tricks, but everything looks level except the UCA, that looks way off. If you want to maintain (or gain) the lift, I think upgrading those UCAs would be my first step. Then adjust your coil-overs to actually lift the front end. Your coil-overs look like they're set really low, your front shock looks like it's nearly fully compressed. It's been awhile since I lifted my truck. I only have 3" of lift and went with aftermarket UCAs; no issues whatsoever. During my research prior to my lift, I got the impression that UCAs were pretty much a requirement for anything over 3". [EDIT: If you just want your truck to handle properly, safely and you aren't concerned with a lift, I'd just return to stock and run it as originally designed]. An alignment shop can only do so much with stock parts. Definitely looks like you're running a ton of negative camber; again it could be the camera distorting things. I wouldn't be surprised if the alignment shops you took it to just maxed everything out and called it good.

FWIW your tires obviously should not be rubbing your sway bar (anti-roll bar) either, but I don't think that is the cause of your steering issue. Sway bars are designed to resist vertical movement of the wheels in relation to each other. That is, if the one wheel tries to travel upward without the other (as it would when the vehicle rolls through a turn), the sway bar translates that motion via a twisting force on the bar to the other wheel thereby resisting roll. That's why some people, particularly off-roaders, take the sway bar off altogether so the wheels/suspension can travel/articulate more independently of one another. Sway bars don't really have any major effect on steering though as far as I am aware; handling yes, steering no. Nonetheless, appropriate UCAs should push the tops of the wheels/tires out further (reducing negative camber) and remedy the rubbing on the sway bar.

 

sounds like you have too much toe out. i'm sure the 5 inch lift isn't helping.

 

This. This is why I won't lift my truck or fuck with the UCA's, LCA's or any other suspension component. Plus, I can already Mall Crawl really hard with the factory lift. I don't need a 3, 4, 5 or 6 inch lift.

 

once you lift you have to upgrade the bushings, control arms, sway bar relocation, bigger wheels, tires, regear, tune....it's a whole adventure

 

This is the ride I picture you lifted truck guys are on:

 

i cant help much but inside tire is wearing.

 

Get rid of this as a starting point and your truck may drive properly.

Or buy properly engineered components to build a functioning suspension system. People who buy drop bracket lifts or others who try and crank out 3" of lift on stock control arms will always have issues. It's not the result of modifying a suspension resulting in poor performance, it's poor choice of products resulting in worse performance than leaving it alone.

 

OP: To elaborate, ideally your toe measurement is constant as the suspension articulates. As @splitbolt was alluding to with post #14, if your UCAs, LCAs and tie rods are not aligned properly, you'll get bump steer; your toe will change as the suspension articulates. Perfect suspension geometry would result in zero bump steer. That is to say the distance between the leading edges of the tires would remain constant as your suspension compresses and extends. Looking at your pics, as your truck's suspension compresses through a dip in the road, your tie rods are pushing the fronts of the tires outward, creating toe out. Excessive toe out reduces straight-line stability.



If you want to keep the lift, you need appropriate UCAs. Otherwise I'd recommend returning to stock. As it is, your truck really probably isn't safe to be driving. Just my $0.02.

 

I’ve got a 2” lift with factory UCA. Truck rides amazing. I wouldn’t do more than 3” on Toyota IFS.

 

Not with a 2” lift. I’m even running stock needle bearings.

 

Side topic, what's your ground to front fender measurement? I'm currently set at the "one inch" notch, and it looks way higher than one inch. I knew my stock fronts were trashed, but I didnt think they were that trashed.

 

I have no idea to be honest. My truck is at work, I will measure it tomorrow morning.

That’s how my truck sits on 33”x10”:

Buddy’s off-road is stock with 265/70/17s.

 

Yours looks good. and shoot, never mind about the measurement, I forgot you're running 33s. I'm still on 265/70s. Mine looked like your friends before the lift. I haven't gotten a post alignment/settling picture yet, but it feels... high. Makes those tires look like they're stock size again.

 

Thanks!

Haha! Well 255/80/17s are in your future then No cutting/trimming, you get clearance of 33” and they are not that heavy for E load, well depends what tire you get. My wildpeaks are only 52 pounds. Honestly thought 265/70/17s look fine with a small lift IMO. Your truck looks good!