285 clearance remedies

[judoant]

Just put on some Nitto Trail grappler 285/75-16's on my 99 limited with stock 5 star wheels and 3" lift. I have already noticed right frame and left UCA rub at full lock to the right. Full lock left appears to be clear. I hit both UCA's and full drop. I also think I am going to rub inner wheel wells at a minimum with the wheels stuffed.

Where do I start resolving these issues? I think I can deal with the frame rub, but the UCA clearance needs resolved. I would like to keep the wheels and avoid spacers if possible. However if everything can be resolved with new wheels or spacers then so be it. I will explore those avenues. I do want to do it once and do it right. I have had this rig for a long time and plan to keep it as a toy for off roading.

Will SPC UCA's provide the clearances at full drop and right turn full lock or am I wasting my money starting with UCA's? I also read the SPC UCA's will allow to move the wheels forward providing firewall clearance. Is that accurate? SPC UCA's are now around $600. For another $150 should i go ICON? From what I have seen they won’t move the wheel forward enough.

 

[UnderFire]

If you're willing to spend the money total chaos UCA's will easily solve you rubbing issue on the UCA and allow you to dial in max caster to pull the tire as far away from the firewall as possible with stock geometry without sacrificing drivability.

Sent from my JSN-L23 using Tapatalk

 

[thezentree]

I have SPCs and got them specifically because they Use ball joints instead of uniballs. Between those, the 1.25” spacers (too cheap for new wheels) and hammering the pinch welds I have no rubbing up front

 

[Ryance39]

I’m running 285’s on my 5 stars on my 99 with 3 inch lift as well. I’m running 1.25 spacers and hammered the pinchweld and have no rubbing. I did have to trim a bit of the front of limited flares but not much.

Spacers and a hammer are the easy fix. UCAs like mentioned above would solve some of it too.

 

[Black798]

Just put on some Nitto Trail grappler 285/75-16's on my 99 limited with stock 5 star wheels and 3" lift. I have already noticed right frame and left UCA rub at full lock to the right. Full lock left appears to be clear. I hit both UCA's and full drop. I also think I am going to rub inner wheel wells at a minimum with the wheels stuffed.

Where do I start resolving these issues? I think I can deal with the frame rub, but the UCA clearance needs resolved. I would like to keep the wheels and avoid spacers if possible. However if everything can be resolved with new wheels or spacers then so be it. I will explore those avenues. I do want to do it once and do it right. I have had this rig for a long time and plan to keep it as a toy for off roading.

Will SPC UCA's provide the clearances at full drop and right turn full lock or am I wasting my money starting with UCA's? I also read the SPC UCA's will allow to move the wheels forward providing firewall clearance. Is that accurate? SPC UCA's are now around $600. For another $150 should i go ICON? From what I have seen they won’t move the wheel forward enough.

New upper control arms will solve your rubbing there. I highly recommend SPC over any other brand because it's the only one that actually allows you to physically shift the entire tire and spindle assembly forward in the wheel well. The others let you add more caster but not in a way that really helps tire clearance. Plus the added bonus of a balljoints that don't squeak and require constant maintenance. I've cleared 33s and 35s on a lot of Toyotas, 3rd gens specifically and the SPC arms are by far my favorite to work with.

Keeping the stock wheels will minimize the rubbing you have on the firewall area but if you find you are still rubbing there I'd encourage you to have the pinch weld physically cut off and re welded. Not just smashed over with a hammer. It's functional but it really isn't pretty. Depending on how hard you stuff the tires you may also need to cut a small amount out of your fenders, I did when I ran 285s, but that depends how much you use your suspension

 

[RandyBobandy]

I had uca rub that I cured with spider trax spacers until I got UCAs, which I would definitely recommend for the caster correction alone, great drivability mod, I also have a 1” body lift which seems to stop any other rubbing

If you don’t want to spend the money for control arms yet I would sell you my 4 spidertrax spacers for $100 shipped, that should stop your uca rub

 

[judoant]

I went ahead and bought some SPC UCA's and plan to install them asap. What would be the optimal setup? From what I gather I should move the LCA casters in some way that moves the LCA towards the front of the vehicle and set the UCA at setting "D". I assume the place that aligns the truck will fine tune?

I have never done anything with LCA casters. Any tips on how I move them forward because I need more clearance on the firewall? I have an aftermarket front bumper so I am not too concerned about clearance up front.

 

[thezentree]

This thread is pretty helpful: SPC UCA Alignment Sheets

 

[Bad Luck]

I went ahead and bought some SPC UCA's and plan to install them asap. What would be the optimal setup? From what I gather I should move the LCA casters in some way that moves the LCA towards the front of the vehicle and set the UCA at setting "D". I assume the place that aligns the truck will fine tune?

I have never done anything with LCA casters. Any tips on how I move them forward because I need more clearance on the firewall? I have an aftermarket front bumper so I am not too concerned about clearance up front.

I recommend bringing the instructions on how to align SPC upper control arms with you. You should also be prepared to pay a little extra to get an alignment with them because it is more work than factory due to the upper control adjustability. If they don't charge extra then I would tip the guy that did it.

 

[thezentree]

I recommend bringing the instructions on how to align SPC upper control arms with you. You should also be prepared to pay a little extra to get an alignment with them because it is more work than factory due to the upper control adjustability. If they don't charge extra then I would tip the guy that did it.

It has been my experience that if you give them the instruction sheet, the tech will read the first three sentences, immediately forget what little he read, and assume that what you really wanted is for him to attempt to align the thing with UBJs and not touching the cams. That’ll be $120, thanks come again. But I’m not bitter...

OP if you want them to mess with that UBJ, plan on literally standing next to the tech the whole time it’s on the lift, or they WILL **** it up. I quit asking them to do that, set the UBJs to E, centered them in the slot, and never mentioned aftermarket control arms to them, and have gotten in-spec alignments ever since.

I’m not saying that Bad Luck is wrong (I want him to be right), but in general I find myself wondering who ties these alignment techs’ shoes for them. I hope you have better luck that I do.

/rant

 

[judoant]

From everything I have read so far I think I am planning on front cam pulled all the way in. Rear cam pushed all the way out. Ubj on “G” and pulled all the way in towards the engine.

This should hopefully get the clearance on the firewall. I just hope I clear the uca with these new SPA’s.

 

[judoant]

I got the spc’s in last night. I got lucky with the ubj’s. They pressed right out. I adjusted my cams front in, rear out and it appears to not have moved my wheel location at all. Can you tell from this pic if there is any more adjustment or is it maxed out?

This is the drivers side. On the passenger side I was able to get the rear cam all the way out but the front would only move about half way there. Trying to get it all the way it seamed to bind up and rotate back. Not sure what’s going on with that one.

 

[judoant]

I also have the ubj set to “G”

 

[judoant]

I went ahead had the alignment done. Here are my final numbers.

I will say these uca’s accomplished my goals. I no longer rub at either uca nor the passenger side frame. I also stuffed the wheels and have no rubbing. I have not had time for a full road test yet.