Which Upper Control Arms ?

so if your truck is lifted, the caster angle cannot be corrected to the original spec by an alignment?

No, and depending on how high it will be the caster and the camber since the caster/camber is adjusted by the same bolts.

For instance my 99 limited with a 3" spacer lift could not get more than 1.2 degrees caster (I'd like to see 3.5) and the camber was 0 on the right and .5 positive on the left.

Upper arms will fix this.
 
I would do the UCA's at the same time as the lift to avoid aligning it twice.
Absolutely!
[MENTION=113822]LookAtThatDog[/MENTION]

Definitely a good idea to do the UCAs at the same time as the lift. Knock it all out at once. Here's a snap shot the results of my alignment after the lift and UCA install. The SPC UCA's have an adjustable eccentric "plate" that can be changed to increase or decrease caster as needed. I left mine on "D". They were within my budget and I met a guy at an estate sale with total chaos UCA's and he said he wasn't happy with them. Hopefully the picture shows you the advantages you have with after market UCA's.
 

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Absolutely!

[MENTION=113822]LookAtThatDog[/MENTION]

Definitely a good idea to do the UCAs at the same time as the lift. Knock it all out at once. Here's a snap shot the results of my alignment after the lift and UCA install. The SPC UCA's have an adjustable eccentric "plate" that can be changed to increase or decrease caster as needed. I left mine on "D". They were within my budget and I met a guy at an estate sale with total chaos UCA's and he said he wasn't happy with them. Hopefully the picture shows you the advantages you have with after market UCA's.

I'm in love with your caster!
 
Absolutely!

[MENTION=113822]LookAtThatDog[/MENTION]

Definitely a good idea to do the UCAs at the same time as the lift. Knock it all out at once. Here's a snap shot the results of my alignment after the lift and UCA install. The SPC UCA's have an adjustable eccentric "plate" that can be changed to increase or decrease caster as needed. I left mine on "D". They were within my budget and I met a guy at an estate sale with total chaos UCA's and he said he wasn't happy with them. Hopefully the picture shows you the advantages you have with after market UCA's.

Actually it doesn't make sense, you left them at "D" it is supposed to be zero in that position?
 
I just lifted my 2012 limited 2 weeks ago and here is my experience so far. Hope it helps.

Lifted it with the toytec front adjustable coilovers (had toytec set at 2"), 1.5" sway a way rear springs (weird that box was from icon) and bilstein 5100's all the way around. Also running 18x9 wheels (-12 offset) w/ 275 65 18 tires. I DID NOT buy/install any uca's.

Based on other threads I thought I would be able to achieve alignment within all specs without the UCA's. This is not the case for my specific vehicle. I have taken it to 2 alignment shops and came out the same way. All specs were good EXCEPT for the caster. For the 5th gen I believe caster needs to be btwn 2.5 - 4 and we could only get it to around 1.2. Camber is good and set so that tires do not wear unevenly.

The ride is not bad but a bit twitchy at speed over quick bumps in road (as someone previously posted) and feels a little "loose" in some areas. Also have a little bit of tire rub every now and then on full reverse turns. I will be purchasing the UCA's and paying again for install and alignment.

IMHO I wish i would have just nutted up on the original install and purchased the UCA's. After multiple trips to alignment, hassle of dropping off vehicle, etc. maybe my experience will save someone additional time and $$.
 
I just lifted my 2012 limited 2 weeks ago and here is my experience so far. Hope it helps.

Lifted it with the toytec front adjustable coilovers (had toytec set at 2"), 1.5" sway a way rear springs (weird that box was from icon) and bilstein 5100's all the way around. Also running 18x9 wheels (-12 offset) w/ 275 65 18 tires. I DID NOT buy/install any uca's.

Based on other threads I thought I would be able to achieve alignment within all specs without the UCA's. This is not the case for my specific vehicle. I have taken it to 2 alignment shops and came out the same way. All specs were good EXCEPT for the caster. For the 5th gen I believe caster needs to be btwn 2.5 - 4 and we could only get it to around 1.2. Camber is good and set so that tires do not wear unevenly.

The ride is not bad but a bit twitchy at speed over quick bumps in road (as someone previously posted) and feels a little "loose" in some areas. Also have a little bit of tire rub every now and then on full reverse turns. I will be purchasing the UCA's and paying again for install and alignment.

IMHO I wish i would have just nutted up on the original install and purchased the UCA's. After multiple trips to alignment, hassle of dropping off vehicle, etc. maybe my experience will save someone additional time and $$.

Yes, I wish I had done the same, especially after seing countless other people do it without arms.

I thought that the reduced caster would bother me less than it does - I just got my "suicide arms" and I think it should work out fine, they just require a little more "attention" to use them properly.
 
Need to read the BIG PRINT on the Instructions

Actually it doesn't make sense, you left them at "D" it is supposed to be zero in that position?


Yea, I had to read it twice when I installed them. if you leave the eccentric at "D" or zero it equals +2 degrees combined ball joint/UCA. If it didn't come in the positive during the alignment, I would have re-positioned the eccentric. Without the adjustable UCA I believe you're stuck with whatever the factory adjustment can get you to.
 
Yea, I had to read it twice when I installed them. if you leave the eccentric at "D" or zero it equals +2 degrees combined ball joint/UCA. If it didn't come in the positive during the alignment, I would have re-positioned the eccentric. Without the adjustable UCA I believe you're stuck with whatever the factory adjustment can get you to.

Yeah and the problem is that the factory adjusters are doing camber/caster at the same time so that sucks.

The arms I bought are fixed caster but gives you and extra 2.5 degrees and then you adjust by the factory adjusters to fine tune.
 
Just pulled the trigger on some SPC UCA's. My new OEM upper ball joints where spitting oil withing a few thousand miles and the right side has already has some play and tire is wearing out. So hope these fix the issue. Im sure its the lift that caused the new OEM UBJ to fail.
 

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