Westcott Lift and UCA

[BoulderT4R]

We have a ‘24 TRD Pro with the Westcott Lift and stock UCA. Running 275 tires.
The 4Runner is in alignment but the steering doesn’t feel very tight and responsive….especially at highway speeds and sometimes makes me a bit nervous.
I’m wondering if this is due to the caster and maybe the stock UCA are at their limit with the lift?

If I went to aftermarket UCAs what should I expect to see in terms of ride quality changes?

I’m not opposed to going with UCAs if they will make a big difference but don’t want to go an spend ~$1k, or whatever they will end up costing, only to find they don’t make any difference

 

[Swipter]

Did you, by chance, change your tires? I also have their lift, spacer lift they do, and have no issues. Maybe air pressure check?

Not trying to hijack your thread.

 

[BoulderT4R]

I did recently put 275/70 tires on it. But the steering feeling was there with the old OEM tires and didn’t change much when the 275s went on.

 

[rdruss]

Does Westcott have any advice?

 

[nooreddin]

that what i guess

 

[gordonp]

If I went to aftermarket UCAs what should I expect to see in terms of ride quality changes?

I went with JBA upper-control arms, and my experience:
My alignment shop achieved 5-deg of caster. I found this gave good return-to-center, and also good "hands off" highway straight-line stability. Better than stock.

What I lost was any tiny semblance of road-feel. The greater caster is very comfortable and non-fatiguing for long drives, but if you're after a sporty-road-feedback kind of experience, this will definitely dilute that.

I also had my alignment shop set toe-in for "minimum wear". This means the tires "straighten-out" under highway forces and are parallel. This tends to lighten the feel even more. And combined with 45psi Load Range E (hard-rubber) and open-tread, it's very light feel.

But despite the light feel on the highway, I find it stable, and resistant to side-wind (and passing semis) --- better than stock in this regard.

You know, with aftermarket upper-control arms, you'll likely open the door to numerous choices - you can probably return to stock caster if you wish (but I wouldn't). And with polyurethane pivots on the UCA, you may enjoy a tighter feel in any event.

HTH!