Question on extended travel suspension

delloro

delloro

New member
I am considering a lift for my 2015 SR5. Not too much, probably about 2". If available, I want more a little more travel. Not a full-blown long-travel set up.

Must the UCAs be replaced to get a little more? Are they the limiting factor?

How much additional travel is available with only coil overs and UCAs?

How much more travel is available from Icon stage 2, King, or a Toytec Boss? It's not clear from their websites.

Thanks in advance.
 
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Yes, but it's mainly to re-gain factory alignment specs.

I have ICON stage 2 with Dirt King heimed UCA's with a total of roughly 1" of 'extended travel'. Everyone else is roughly the same i'm sure.
 
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Maybe my definition of "travel" is off. What is gained by something like a complete Bilstein coilover set? I was under the impression that the 3" lift would give you 3 more inches of total wheel travel (flex). Because the flat-ground starting point has been pushed down relative to the frame, you would gain 0" down and 3" up for a net gain of 3". I also thought that this would not require new UCAs.

Would UCAs be required for this setup, or are UCAs only required if you want additional down travel?

This is vs. the spacer lifts that raise the vehicle but the wheel travel (flex) stays the same.
 
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When you lift it, all you're doing is moving the zero point. You are not gaining or losing any travel.

An extended travel shock has 7/8" milled out of the piston stop, so it adding that amount of travel to the existing amount. For example, a long travel suspension has 14" of suspension travel vs the factory's 6". The wheel has the capacity to move vertically 14", that doesn't mean it's a 14" lift.
 
^^^ what he said.

Technically a lift gives you no more travel. It just raises the ride height.

However, most suspension lift kits (shocks, springs, coil overs... will add some travel over stock).

The front coil overs marketed as extended travel add about an inch of travel at the wheel. This is the limit of the control arms and CV joints.

The rear can support much more travel and most lifts will add a few inches of travel back there with LT kits going up to 28" of articulated wheel travel.

This gets confusing because IFS has basically equal articulated and vertical wheel travel, but a solid axle has a huge difference due to motion ratios and angles...

Here are some basic numbers I have found (not sure how accurate they are):

stock front: 7.78" stock rear 9.1"
extended Icon front 9.5"
TC 2" LT front 11"
TC 3.5" LT front 13"
Articulation measured at the tires makes little difference here.


For the rear:
MT LT rear 11.5" vertical but about 28" articulated at the tires.
 
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An extended travel shock removes the internal bump stop to gain that little extra travel compared to the regular replacement coil overs.
 
marshal said:
Uniballs specifically
Click to expand...
Actually.... I've been running extended travel with the Camburg BJ UCAs with no issues... I am switching to uniballs shortly, but they have worked fine so far for me and a few others. I would not run the LR UCAs though.
 
Never mind, I misread wfo9's post.

The coil over replacement systems add a little bit of travel over stock up to the limit of other suspension components. Maybe an inch. This isn't as much as the OP wanted, but it's better than nothing and cheaper than replacing the entire from suspension.
 
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delloro said:
Why?
Click to expand...

Going to TC Uniball UCAs because they provide better caster angle and can hold up to more abuse than the Camburg BJs. I originally went with the camburg BJ because I was doing a pretty mild build and they are quiet... Now I'm going a bit more extreme and can deal with the noise... Still like the camburgs for most builds.

The camburg quality is really good though. Hopefully I won't regret the switch. Going to keep the camburgs for a few weeks to make sure.
 
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wfo9 said:
Going to TC Uniball UCAs because they provide better caster angle and can hold up to more abuse than the Camburg BJs. I originally went with the camburg BJ because I was doing a pretty mild build and they are quiet... Now I'm going a bit more extreme and can deal with the noise... Still like the camburgs for most builds.

The camburg quality is really good though. Hopefully I won't regret the switch. Going to keep the camburgs for a few weeks to make sure.
Click to expand...

had my TC's for 2+ years, replaced the uniballls for the first time this past christmas (really easy job with the right tools, and the uni's themselves are cheap if you know where to look). as long as you grease the bushings at your oil change intervals, you shouldn't have any issues whatsoever.
 
marshal said:
You know camburg makes uniball uppers roo
Click to expand...
Yep, considered those, but I got a decent discount on the TCs + the results of the caster and camber offset seemed a bit more consistent on the TCs.

I also considered the adjustable TCs with the heim joints. The ICON tubulars also looked good. Pretty sure they are all decent. I do like camburg stuff though. Super high quality.
 
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