UBJ Blown and outer tire wear. OME 881 & 5100. What gives? (Was Front End & Brake Conundrum.)

Bring this darn subject up again. I again have knocks in my front end and outer tire wear. I suspect i have blown the UBJ again. (JBA this time that lasted about 2 years under normal driving.)

Please don't tell me JBA sucks. I have already heard that. They were what i could afford and i am not building a rock crawler. I need a 4WD & winch to get fellow scout dad's with sedans out of trouble on trips.

NO off road to speak of. Just light trail a few times a year.
The set-up is:
04 Double cab V6 AT running 265/75R16 on Gen 2 rims. Manual locking hub 4x4 conversion using all stock parts.
OME881 plus 1" caps. 5100's all around. Stock LCA. Stock spindles, steering & tie rods.
Front end does have a hitch and winch with Tundra brakes. Stock bumper but for sure the front end is heavier than stock.
Stock rear end with OME 5 leaf & levelers.
Owned the truck since 2010 and it has never been hit. Every time i get an alignment it passes just fine. (Lifetime alignments was a good deal for me...)

Here is my question.

1. Is there something special that has to be done with the alignment once you lift a truck? This seems too frequent to have issues for daily driving.
2. The only consistent off angle driving my truck sees is entering my work driveway. It is a standard driveway but i always enter one wheel first and usually more than a crawl but not crazy fast. This puts the truck front end into a rather decent angle as i go up the driveway. Could this be stressing things out?
3. What am i missing here? What other info is needed

Thank you.

 

I wonder if maybe you just have too much weight up front with the addition of the hitch and a winch for the 881s to handle. Then again, you have a stock bumper so doubtful.

Can you expand on the outer tire wear? Is it even wear just more on the outer shoulder or are you seeing cupping and/or feathering? Specifically on one tire or both front? Rear wear?

Share a pic of the tire wear?

Where was your last alignment report (toe numbers)?
*I saw your report on the previous page, wasn't sure if you've had another alignment since then*

 

Interesting.

Are you greasing the UBJs every so often? I'm on my original ball joints in my JBAs and they're as tight as new. Been installed for a couple years now.

How certain are you it's the UCAs at all, bushings or ball joints?

 

@Area51Runner
I'll get tire wear pictures. Outer shoulder is worn away. Not cupped just worn. I will dig out my last alignment info if i still have it.

@MalinoisDad
Fair questions. I have not take things apart yet but the sounds and tire wear is the same as the last time I did this. The entire front end was re-built 4 years ago. All bushings, tie rod ends & ball joints, etc. That I realize means nothing and until I get it apart I will not know but it sure seams like I have read this book already. I have not lubed the joints in probably 10K miles. They probably have 20K total miles on them.

I posted prior to taking apart for ideas on what to look for when I do. My plan is to disconnect the strut and then look for where the wear is coming from. Then buy the parts but I don't want to do this ever again so asking what am I missing??? I am by no means an off road guy but I am mechanically inclined and sure think I am doing things right... I also hate paying someone to do something I should be able to do so I am game for learning.

 

I put the truck up in the air Saturday and turned the steering end to end to try and detect joint movement or the source of the knock. I visually looked and then placed my hand (safely) over every joint looking/feeling for relative joint motion when you get to the end of travel and load the system up. This is how i found the bad joint last time. I found nothing. I checked UCA ball joints, UCA pivot joint, LCA ball joint, LCA pivot shafts, Tie rods & Wheel bearings.

To please my wife i put new tires on and had the system re-aligned. Below is a image of the wear and the alignment before/after. Does not seem like the alignment was way off but with JBA UCA's i think the camber needs to be something other than stock. I have lost the install manual from JBA and could not find it online.

Any advice?

 

You definitely needed new tires! Whoa!

Looks like Toe was off on the drivers side which may explain the outer shoulder being worn more. Regardless, looks like numbers are all back within spec.

Can't comment on the JBAs since I have no experience with them.

 

Sounds frustrating. Have the front bearing(s) checked. How much front lift do you have?

 

Ya. They were shot. The new clunking up front is what got my attention. Something is still not right so maybe i have more than one problem.

Not quite sure how to declare the actual lift. I did not measure at the start. Running OME 881's, 5100's, JBA UCA's & 1" spacer on top of the strut. Everything else is stock. (Spindle, LCA, Tie rods, etc.) I have a front hitch and winch but stock bumper. Some lift and some added weight.

The only reason the JBA's are there is because i blew out the stock Upper ball joint pretty fast. JBA advertised these would work with my set-up and were affordable.

Thank you.

 

My front setup is identical to yours, minus the 1” spacer - I am not running any spacers. I realize if you removed that to test for any differences you’d need another alignment which is sub optimal.

 

Bad LCA bushings will cause all of this.
Even if they dialed in your alignment, they would shift in and out of alignment throughout your drives, which could be the knock you're hearing.