Lift after LCA replacement???

[jman11788]

I replaced my LCAs with new ones because the bushings were shot. I slapped on some new LCAs and it turns it out it gave me about another inch of lift. I currently had 3". The shop could not get my alignment to spec and now my vehicle pulls very hard to the right. Do i need to let the suspension settle for a couple of days?

 

[Tyler James Inc]

1) New LCA should not lift your rig any.
2) You won't be able to get caster within spec with stock UCA, but the alignment shop should be able to get them at least matching. I would bet your lop-sided caster is causing it to pull.
Actually, when does it pull? All the time?
3) No, your rig will not "settle" and fix itself. I don't know enough about caster to know if being 1.3* off balance will cause it to pull hard or not, but something sounds very wrong.
If it's pulling hard, your tire is wearing fast.

 

[jman11788]

It pulls constantly..

 

[St Runner]

I believe replacing the shot lca bushing will give you a little bit of lift. As it wears the bushing out, the bolt and adjustment drop down. New lca bushings bring the bolt and with it your whole car up. It won't settle until you wear out your bushings again. Either drop your suspension down a little or get some adjustable upper control arms

 

[jman11788]

I believe replacing the shot lca bushing will give you a little bit of lift. As it wears the bushing out, the bolt and adjustment drop down. New lca bushings bring the bolt and with it your whole car up. It won't settle until you wear out your bushings again. Either drop your suspension down a little or get some adjustable upper control arms

That's the only thing I could come up with as well.. I will lower the suspension down a little bit. Thanks for the help!

 

[JayRolla]

1) New LCA should not lift your rig any.
2) You won't be able to get caster within spec with stock UCA, but the alignment shop should be able to get them at least matching. I would bet your lop-sided caster is causing it to pull.
Actually, when does it pull? All the time?
3) No, your rig will not "settle" and fix itself. I don't know enough about caster to know if being 1.3* off balance will cause it to pull hard or not, but something sounds very wrong.
If it's pulling hard, your tire is wearing fast.

1. If your LCA cam bolts are not even it will throw the ride height off. I know it sounds crazy but I have tested this theory. My rig also sat uneven after initial lift and then evened out a bit after alignment.

2. Lopsided caster should not cause a pull left or right. I also have tested this because I have had some dumb shops set my caster 4* and 5* but rig still drove true.

To the OP you need to find an alignment shop that knows what they are doing. Someone that does lifted rigs locally. If not you are going to have headaches. I have entire thread about this. My alignment is setup for Thursday this week, ive been waiting two weeks for it thats how busy they are.

Like stated you need to lower her down a bit or get some SPC arms that have camber and caster adjustments.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Caster causes a pull to the more negative side. Your caster is way negative on the right which is why your pulling hard to the right. It is over 3 degrees out of spec given the low end of the caster angle spec for our trucks is +1.7 degrees. They should be able to fix that to get it within .5 degrees cross caster (side to side) which is just as important as camber and toe.
Yet another alignment fail...

 

[JayRolla]

Caster causes a pull to the more negative side. Your caster is way negative on the right which is why your pulling hard to the right. It is over 3 degrees out of spec given the low end of the caster angle spec for our trucks is +1.7 degrees. They should be able to fix that to get it within .5 degrees cross caster (side to side) which is just as important as camber and toe.
Yet another alignment fail...

It looks like they never touched the LCA bolts. Looking at the numbers they just touched the tie rods. But again I have had almost a full degree out of spec caster and never had any pulling as long as toe and camber was good.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

It looks like they never touched the LCA bolts. Looking at the numbers they just touched the tie rods. But again I have had almost a full degree out of spec caster and never had any pulling as long as toe and camber was good.

That alignment was probably after putting the new LCAs on so your right, it doesn't look like they tried to do anything. Set the toe let it go.

Is you caster out 1 degree out cross caster? I remember you posting your readings and they looked pretty good side to side, which is what causes a pull.
The OP's are out 2 degrees cross caster hence the right side pull.

http://www.agcoauto.com/content/news/p2_articleid/176

 

[JayRolla]

That alignment was probably after putting the new LCAs on so your right, it doesn't look like they tried to do anything. Set the toe let it go.

Is you caster out 1 degree out cross caster? I remember you posting your readings and they looked pretty good side to side, which is what causes a pull.
The OP's are out 2 degrees cross caster hence the right side pull.

AGCO Automotive Repair Service - Baton Rouge, LA - Detailed Auto Topics - Wheel Alignment, Camber and Caster

IC what you saying. Yeah I never have had it out cross caster like the OP does, just noticed that when looking at his numbers again.

 

[kquon]

Did you torque the Lca bolts down at ride height? You should be installing them snug while in the air, then lower the car down onto the wheels and torque them to spec when loaded. The lower bushings do not rotate in their sleeves so if you're torquing them while not at ride height, you're preloading the bushing when lowering the car on to the wheels.

 

[Unner]

Like Jay said only reason for it going up I could possibly see is the caster being so wonky. Changing the LCA's won't give you any noticeable lift. If your bushings were so bad that it raised it an inch there would have been no bushing left at all in the LCA...

You need to find a tech who can do alignments. On my lifted rig I can get +1.6* of caster out of both sides on stock arms. Tell them you want the caster maxed out as it's lifted and you won't be able to get it in spec. Then walk into the shop with them and watch them do it, talking to them being friendly and such. I do this whenever my truck is in someone else's hands and they always seem to enjoy it, especially since I'm knowledgeable(typically know way more than the guy doing the work anyway). You can also ask for their best alignment tech or the most senior one so you're not stuck with the 19 year old kid that just got off the streets like I was recently...

Also you should get the cross numbers as close to 0 as possible, right now your cross caster is 2.1* which is crazy and I like my cross camber to be lower than .4* as well but that's not too terrible.

 

[jman11788]

Like Jay said only reason for it going up I could possibly see is the caster being so wonky. Changing the LCA's won't give you any noticeable lift. If your bushings were so bad that it raised it an inch there would have been no bushing left at all in the LCA...

You need to find a tech who can do alignments. On my lifted rig I can get +1.6* of caster out of both sides on stock arms. Tell them you want the caster maxed out as it's lifted and you won't be able to get it in spec. Then walk into the shop with them and watch them do it, talking to them being friendly and such. I do this whenever my truck is in someone else's hands and they always seem to enjoy it, especially since I'm knowledgeable(typically know way more than the guy doing the work anyway). You can also ask for their best alignment tech or the most senior one so you're not stuck with the 19 year old kid that just got off the streets like I was recently...

To the OP you need to find an alignment shop that knows what they are doing. Someone that does lifted rigs locally. If not you are going to have headaches. I have entire thread about this. My alignment is setup for Thursday this week, ive been waiting two weeks for it thats how busy they are.

Like stated you need to lower her down a bit or get some SPC arms that have camber and caster adjustments.

Yeah I see what you're both saying. The tech told me it would pull right, but i didnt think it would be this bad. He told me there was no more room for adjustment for caster..I think what I may have done wrong installing the LCAs was torquing the bolts while the vehicle was still on jacks stands. But I would think the alignment shop would have fixed that correct? There is no way I should be getting 2 more inches of lift...

 

[jman11788]

Well I just re torqued the bolts on the LCA with the vehicles weight on the suspension. Absolutely no change in ride height. 39" from ground to fender. It was a little over 37" before the install. Ughh now I have to install my old coils back on in the meantime...