I think I've put my rig through some of the heaviest use you can. I run SPC's. I've broken links, blown CV's, bent ADD tubes, mangled both inner and outer tie rods, flattened cam tab bolts and a list of lots of other trail damage.

Not once have my SPC's moved.

I understand but 3" lift alone tells me nothing other than height. Rub also relate to spring stiffness and rate on compressions. As well as strut rates and so on. You running OME's, HD OME's, Coilovers, Bilsteins, OME struts, etc... thats the only thing I am saying. It wasn't intended to put you in a place of going on the defense. Please don't take it that way. I purely used it as an example that a comment like " Three inch lift on 285's with no rub" doesn't tell me anything about the rest of your set up, and the rest of the setup does play a factor in rubbing. This was again was intended to show that despite searching forums not all information is provided for each setup being commented on. You said it yourself you will get A or B opinions on this matter.

I respect Tim, I think we all do. He has given us so much information, which is why I reached out to him directly prior to starting a thread. It was a little unexpected having had that conversation through PM's to have him post his initial comments directed at me. I have made these comments in this thread to let you folks know that I have done my due diligence and researched this matter. This thread feels as if it has become something it was never intended to. I'm purely looking for insight and input.

I did know I was going to have rub issues. I am now running you folks through my stock setup to see if you folks have insight to how to correct this matter the most efficiently. And lets be honest almost none of us are running identical setups so I understand it is hard to sift through for others as well. Some of you have only used one brand of UCA's and some have used multiple.

Thanks all for the insight so far. I'd like to stop discussion about the above and return to my search for information. So for more specifics my trucks situation when it is sitting flat on the driveway with wheels facing forward have just under a half inch from the outer most edge of my stock UCAs to my tires (285 KO2's). With that little space there I'm hesitant to believe a UCS change will yield the best result. Which is why again I'd like to ask the question in this format: Will I see greater corrections to my UCS rub with a change of UCA's vs change of wheels to a backspace of 4? Did anyone find themselves with this little space between UCA's and what worked for you to correct it?

One thing I haven't found which I find odd. And I'm not sure if anyone else has tried to get this info. But I haven't found a page in any forum, no on manufactures sites listing angles of bends in UCA's, or distance from mounting points to uni ball of their UCAs. That sort of information would be relevant in trying to eliminate UCA rub. I would assume they can use different angles since uniballs allow for better articulation and those angle changes would help to minimize or eliminate rub at full tilt. Has anyone tried to really log information like this?

I had about that much space between my tires and UCAs when I first went to 285s, I originally corrected it with wheel spacers, however I eventually switched to uniball UCAs for alignment reasons and that also corrected my rubbing issues so I removed the spacers, no rubbing whatsoever since getting aftermarket UCAs, I’m also running stock wheels

I run Bilstein Tundra valved 5100 and Tundra TRD springs in front, clip on the middle (3rd) slot. Used to run Level 8 MK6 wheels 17x8 -12 offset (like 4.1" BS) and did not have issues with the stock UCA when I was running 33" tires. I found this backspace to be a great compromise.

On the SPC arms, you need to look at what your definition of "heavy use" is going to be. I wheel the snot out of my rig with 37s and have never had them slip - not even a little. But I am a rock crawler and snow wheeler primarily and do not try to see how much air I can catch with my rig. All my friends that crawl have the same experience with them.

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To be more specific I'm running a Toytec Boss setup but in general I don't necessarily see how different shocks / springs are going to matter if they are properly lifting the vehicle to a certain height. I'm probably actually am/was closer to 2.5" in the front than 3" anyways.

I do wonder if its possible people have sagging bushings which is causing the wheel to sit in a way that it rubs the control arm. (also unlikely I'd believe)

What is likely is the difference in backspacing between the 96-98 wheels I was running and the 99+ wheels you are running. As far as I'm aware of is the 99+ wheels will fit a TBU but the 96-98 won't indicating the BS is different.

No need to apologize since I wasn't offended to begin with anyways. The issue that arises with forums is that most (if not all of us) are not paid so there's not any real motivation to detail everything to fine points. More of a result of laziness / time constraints than withholding information though.

I'm glad to hear that you hate wheels spacers.

To your specific question, I don't think you're going to see a big difference between the two as far as tire to UCA clearance is concerned. With UCAs, you're 'pulling' for clearance, and wheels are 'pushing' for clearance, if that makes sense.

I do think wheels will give the biggest difference overall, as it increases the whole track width for stability, where as UCAs will optionally help add castor and a bit more droop (if the front suspension setup allows). Teeter - Totter.

The higher negative wheel offset will definitely help with UCA clearance. One thing to keep in mind with negative offset (like the -12 that rkntoy mentioned on his MK6, or the -12 I'm running with the Pro Comps) is that the tires will swing in a wider arc, and thus have a higher tendency to rub against the flares or the wheelwell/pinch weld. I'm seeing some mild rubbing with this setup with a 2" lift and 265 tires, so obviously 285 would be worse. As others said, lift does not make a difference at full stuff, unless you limit the compression.