SPC UCA Alignment Sheets

[theesotericone]

I did read the sheet you provided some time ago, and I have read it again now a couple times through and it does in fact say to do just that. I must have missed it before. What amount of caster are you at now? I guess I'm curious because it seems like one may be able to just max the caster out to begin with and solve the pinch weld issues.

1.79 passenger and 1.67 driver. I'm pretty sure 1.7 is the lower end of the specs but it drives great and tracks straight as an arrow. I meant to post up my alignment sheet but forgot. Then in a fit of organizing I put it somewhere. Now I can't find it. lol

 

[thezentree]

I'm good to drive like this, right?

Seriously though, that's with the camber adjustment in the middle as SPC recommends. I'm going to adjust it in in a little while, but did y'all see such terrible angles like this when you installed yours?

 

[JayRolla]

I'm good to drive like this, right?





Seriously though, that's with the camber adjustment in the middle as SPC recommends. I'm going to adjust it in in a little while, but did y'all see such terrible angles like this when you installed yours?

Yeah mine was kind of like that. I loosened the main bolt. Them slowly dropped vehicle down and once tires eyeballed straight I tightened her up.

 

[Road Bull]

Anyone care to confirm?

So I going to get an alignment tomorrow.

A fair amount of you have had good results with the SPC "G" setting. When I was talking to the tech, he said that that setting might make it feel a bit squirrelly on the road.

Would you guys suggest this setting, or would you suggest another setting?

I am trying to get a bit more clearance for my 285/75/16 KO2's on my SCS 3.5" BS F5's.

From what I read in this thread, and on the adjustment sheet suggest the "G" setting for clearing the back of the wheel well. What lower control arms settings work best?

 

[theesotericone]

So I going to get an alignment tomorrow.

A fair amount of you have had good results with the SPC "G" setting. When I was talking to the tech, he said that that setting might make it feel a bit squirrelly on the road.

Would you guys suggest this setting, or would you suggest another setting?

I am trying to get a bit more clearance for my 285/75/16 KO2's on my SCS 3.5" BS F5's.

From what I read in this thread, and on the adjustment sheet suggest the "G" setting for clearing the back of the wheel well. What lower control arms settings work best?

G's way to far forward. That will definitely give you a squirrly feeling on turns. Mine are set to F and camber is within spec on driver side and almost in spec on passenger side. Have him start at F. It'll give you plenty of clearance and get camber close enough to prevent death. lol

Did you crank your Kings up already? How far?

 

[fourfive]

So I going to get an alignment tomorrow.

A fair amount of you have had good results with the SPC "G" setting. When I was talking to the tech, he said that that setting might make it feel a bit squirrelly on the road.

Would you guys suggest this setting, or would you suggest another setting?

I am trying to get a bit more clearance for my 285/75/16 KO2's on my SCS 3.5" BS F5's.

From what I read in this thread, and on the adjustment sheet suggest the "G" setting for clearing the back of the wheel well. What lower control arms settings work best?

Don't be scared of G, it rides and handles fine. On paper G sounds bad but functionally I couldn't tell a difference in handling from D-G as long as the alignment was done properly. That's how I settled on G since it noticeably gave me the most pinch weld clearance. Just be sure to take it to a legit alignment shop. I set another 3rd gen on G with the same results but I realize good results on 2 4runners doesn't generalize across all 3rd gens. Try experimenting with the different settings so you find what works best for your set up. May cost a little more time & money but at least you'll have more confidence with your final decision.

 

[Road Bull]

G's way to far forward. That will definitely give you a squirrly feeling on turns. Mine are set to F and camber is within spec on driver side and almost in spec on passenger side. Have him start at F. It'll give you plenty of clearance and get camber close enough to prevent death. lol

Did you crank your Kings up already? How far?

Right on. I will tell him to start with F and see where that's at. I do a fair amount of highway travels on crappy I-5 fix-it-till-its-broken-or-death highway. Between the super grooves in the roadway wanting to take your car for a ride, or attention getting lane redirection, my 4runner will need to be able to handle Washington's worst. I am not sure that the proper alignment will cure all my contact problems, but I can fix what it doesn't

As far as ride height, I have not adjusted them higher yet. I had been waiting till I got an alignment place lined up before I started in on that. It just so happens that the shop said that they could do that for no fee, so that works for me. I as thinking about adding an inch. The fronts are at roughly 22" and the rear is sitting a tad over 24" hub to fender. (When you guys are measuring hub-to-fender, are you going to the body, or your SR5 / Limited flares? )

It seems like my rears have settled a little, as I remember them being at about 25" upon bumper install. So I am not really looking to try to make the truck sit level. I like the aggressive stance, but I think the addition of the winch and steel line has made the front squat a bit more.

What ride height are you guys front to back?

 

[theesotericone]

[MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION]

How close did you get camber with caster pushed all the way forward?

What ride height are you guys front to back?

I'm sitting at 24.5 rear and 23.5 front. Center hub measured to bottom of SR5 flares. These numbers are fine for comparison but when checking level on my own rig I go from top of tire to bottom of flare. It's a little more accurate as long as tire wire is close to the same.

 

[fourfive]

[MENTION=116877]fourfive[/MENTION]
How close did you get camber with caster pushed all the way forward?

The few different times I've had an alignment on G, I've had my caster & camber measurements range from...

Left caster 1.5 to 1.7
Right caster 1.7 to 1.9

Left camber -.9 to .2
Right camber .1 to .3

 

[theesotericone]

The few different times I've had an alignment on G, I've had my caster & camber measurements range from...

Left caster 1.5 to 1.7
Right caster 1.7 to 1.9

Left camber -.9 to .2
Right camber .1 to .3

Nice man. You've got a damn good alignment guy. There pretty hard to find. My guys also very good and he understands lifted rigs really well. I wheel with him. lol

 

[fourfive]

I am not sure that the proper alignment will cure all my contact problems, but I can fix what it doesn't

No doubt but it did help minimize the amount of pinch weld clearancing & fender liner trimming I had to do when I switched to a 16x8 3.5bs wheel.

As far as ride height, I have not adjusted them higher yet. I had been waiting till I got an alignment place lined up before I started in on that. It just so happens that the shop said that they could do that for no fee, so that works for me. I as thinking about adding an inch. The fronts are at roughly 22" and the rear is sitting a tad over 24" hub to fender. (When you guys are measuring hub-to-fender, are you going to the body, or your SR5 / Limited flares? )

I measured to the flares because I've never attempted to remove my flares yet ;P
I talked myself into being ok with having to go in multiple times for an alignment (to a good alignment shop & not the corporate bs) when I was dialing in my ride height & SPC settings. The process of experimenting with different ride heights, SPC settings & test driving to note the pros/cons in drivability took me over a year but helped getting me to what I feel is my best set up.

What ride height are you guys front to back?

With my usual cargo gear and not including my 2" body lift:
Front 2.15 - 2.25"
Rear 3.15 - 3.25"



I posted how I measure center hub to fender ride height in another thread & copied it over here so others know what objective baseline measuring points I use.

I've found that trying to get a tape measure dead center on the hub while trying to hold it up to the fender can throw my measurements off around .5". The most consistent method of measuring lift for me was using a 48" or longer level (cheap from HF). The level helps ensure I'm taking a vertical measurement.

1. Use the level to make sure the surface I'm taking measurements on is completely flat.
2. Take a ground to fender measurement & a tire diameter measurement.
*It's important to actually measure the diameter & don't assume that a 32" tire is really 32 inches.
3. Divide your tire diameter measurement by 2 & subtract that number from your ground to fender measurement and that should provide a more accurate/consistent center hub to fender measurement. For those that have a body lift, subtract it from your final measurement.

Example:
Ground to fender measurement: 41.25"
Acutal tire diameter: 32.2"
Ground to center hub: 16.1 (actual tire diameter divided by 2)
Body lift: 2"

41.25-16.1=25.15

25.15-2=23.15 (center hub to fender measurement)

 

[thezentree]

Any of y'all had trouble getting caster within OEM specs (what are OEM specs?) with the UCAs set to E? When I had mine aligned they changed the UCA from E to D because they said they couldn't get the caster right on E. I suspect that they're just being lazy, but apparently they're the only place in town that can align a lifted vehicle and I have an alignment plan with them so I'm stuck with that shop.

I want to push the tires away from the pinch weld some more because they're rubbing on flat ground when turning.

 

[fourfive]

Any of y'all had trouble getting caster within OEM specs (what are OEM specs?) with the UCAs set to E? When I had mine aligned they changed the UCA from E to D because they said they couldn't get the caster right on E. I suspect that they're just being lazy, but apparently they're the only place in town that can align a lifted vehicle and I have an alignment plan with them so I'm stuck with that shop.

Looking at a couple old alignment sheets, for a 97-99 OEM caster is listed 1.7-3.2 & 2000-2002 caster is listed 2.3-3.8

 

[papabeach]

I’m on G, rides great, drives straight. 285/75/16 BFG KO2s, FJ Trail wheels. Sittingckse to 24” hub to fender on all corners

 

[SnowLizard]

Just installing now... set to D for now, after reading thread, I bet I can set to G... but what about the LCA adjusters?

the front bolt should be all the way back? and the back bolt should be all the way forward?

so... when looking from the front, the back bolt head should be to the passenger side, kicking the rear out...
and when looking from the front, the front bolt head should be to the driver side, pulling the front in...

correct me if I'm wrong...

thanks guys!

 

[Road Bull]

The front coils went up an inch and the used the G setting. It felt pretty good driving home. It didn't seem to wonder on the road or feel weird making turns. I will check it out more tomorrow in the light of day so that I can recheck everything. But so far I am digging it, and... a lot more room between the tire and Pinch weld. Will take a few photos when I can.

 

[SnowLizard]

The front coils went up an inch and the used the G setting. It felt pretty good driving home. It didn't seem to wonder on the road or feel weird making turns. I will check it out more tomorrow in the light of day so that I can recheck everything. But so far I am digging it, and... a lot more room between the tire and Pinch weld. Will take a few photos when I can.

can you take a pic of your passenger LCA alignment bolts?

 

[Road Bull]

can you take a pic of your passenger LCA alignment bolts?

I will try to do this tomorrow during daylight.

 

[Road Bull]

can you take a pic of your passenger LCA alignment bolts?

Here are a few bad pics of my LCA alignment adjustment I snapped when the rain let up for a minute. I have gained quite a bit of clearance to get rid of the rub. I will be paying attention over the next few days to confirm driving characteristics, but, so far it feels solid. The cam pics go: Driver's side front, rear, then Passenger side front, then rear.

I included a before pic of where the tires were rubbing.

 

[theesotericone]

I included a before pic of where the tires were rubbing.

Gotta love the SPC arms. You got plenty of clearance from the pinch welds now. Just a heads up, if you haven't done the washer bottle relocate yet, you're gonna want too. The trade off for clearing the pinches is hitting the washer bottle at full stuff. It's 80 bucks from Sonora Steel and takes less then an hour.