Lift gone wrong???

[rkymtnman]

So I bought this '98 as a donor for the body and frame primarily. Swapped over the entire front end from my clean, low mile '99 that was in a minor accident. The '98 came with "a 3-inch lift" that I was planning to remove but decided to keep since the 32's that came with it are brand new.

I got everything put on the '98 today and noticed the geometry is really jacked up. Pics here >>

front and view

In pic 2, the a-arm is planted in the shock and rubs when you turn it. Now this is completely unpsrung.....sitting on jack stands. I suspect when I put a wheel on it with some weight behind it - that will change but it seems really strange to me. The first pic shows the a-arm at a pretty severe angle.

Is this just the reality of a 3" lift or did I do something very wrong or something in between?

 

[Soulman]

I think that's typical, dependent on the height of the lift. That's one reason that people buy after market UCAs. Mine does that and I just installed brand new OME springs and shocks. It's should only touch at full extension once there is weight on it.

 

[thecole1098]

That's normal. You don't need to worry about interference when the weight of the vehicle is on the ground. Mine does this with my 3" lift.

 

[rkymtnman]

Thanks...I was really hoping I didn't do something stupid

I'll run it as is for now and look at something different down the road.

I appreciate the input.

 

[Renegade_Medic]

Yes, that's normal, once the weight of the vehicle get's on there, it will settle down. Are you also doing new, OEM Lower Ball Joints with this lift?

Also, do you plan on wheeling it very hard? Those are top strut spacers and they are less than ideal. For daily driving on pavement they are fine, but if you start wheeling it much, you could run into trouble with them.

 

[SpidermanGeek]

The '98 came with "a 3-inch lift" that I was planning to remove but decided to keep since the 32's that came with it are brand new.

If the 32's are 265/75s, you could have ran those without the lift.

 

[rkymtnman]

This will be mostly a pavement queen for the next 6 months. It is my son's rig and his plan it to do some wheeling with it. We do know that lift is not idea for wheeling and he is budgeting for something different in the next few months once he saves up the cash. Planning to drop by Toytec this week to talk options.

The upper and lower ball joints came off the '99 and are in decent shape. We literally swapped everything except the lower a-arms. The ball joints are tight and the boots are still completely intact. We have a brand new set ready to go in once he pulls the trigger on the new lift - or in case the used set we swapped in fail.

We are focused on getting this thing back on the road and got concerned when we saw the geometry of the front end once we swapped from the other 4runner. Knowing this is normal, we can button it up and get it back on the road while planning to replace it this winter.

Thanks again for the input....helps a ton.