Allignment Issues After 3" Lift

Hey all,

A while back I installed a rough country 3 and 1 inch leveling kit and ever since I have been batteling to get proper alignment and my tires wearing unevenly (more on the outside of the tire). To fix this I went ahead and bought some UCA's which from what I've read from many other threads will help achieve better alignment. For referance I bought the Rough Country 3.5" lift aluminium UCA's, now I know that these UCA's are for a 3.5" lift and not my 3" lift but I got a deal on them and figured a half inch differance shouldnt cause me any trouble?

After I installed the control arms, I went to get the truck realigned and had the same alignment issues as before. I talked with one of the tech who had previously specialized in doing alignments for exotics and he mentioned to me that my camber is maxed out and my best bet for near "perfect" alignment was to get some camber/caster bolts that allow for more adjustment than the stock ones. And if that dosent do the trick, possibly opt for some lower adjustable arms.

Before I spend money, I wanted to ask what I should do to achieve good/even tire wear? Would more adjustable cam bolts help this issue? Also any ideas why these UCA's that are made for a lift did not help my issue? Any advice helps, thanks!

 

Don’t know what spec they give you, take a pic of the print out or read the link for better spec.
https://www.tundras.com/threads/alignment-specs.8126/

 

It's sounds like you just need a better alignment place

 

May or may not be the fix for your issue, but I agree that it would be worth having a second shop look at it. Most of us that are in the 3" lift range with decent UCAs do not have any alignment issues. Should be able to get it well within spec.

 

I’d be willing to bet it’s your budget UCA’s for a 3.5” lift you put on a 3” kit. Even the slightest adjustments on suspension’s will throw it off immensely and cause bad tire wear. Get the correct UCA’s for your 3” kit and it’ll get rid of the positive camber wear on the tires. On another note anything over 2.5” leveling kit from rough country is crap. May need to get a different kit than rough country but hopefully not cause them fkrs ain’t cheap

 

Im on the same page, these control arms are not cutting it. I've read a lot of people go with SPC or JBA control arms, how would these be any different than the rough country arms I have on now? Im assuming the SPC and JBA UCA's have a more suitable geometry to correct the allignment?

 

Just FYI, there is a thread on the forum about how mevotech and dorman UCA are actually SPC's and significantly cheaper. May want to research that.

 

I finished dicking around with a similar issue not too long ago. Fully adjustable Icon billet UCA and the shop couldn't figure it out, even my steering wheel wasnt straight.. So I did my own alignment thanks to a sticky in the forum. Set the caster as high as I could using adjustable uca, adjusted camber, got the toe as good as I could and had the alignment place dial it in. Letting them know that I wanted my caster numbers close to where they are because all they know is what the stock numbers are for your vehicle. Had to go to a second shop because the first one wouldn't align to non factory specs...

 

Man, I can't believe how many alignment places can't do alignments!

Check it yourself. Park your truck on flat level pavement, and point the wheels straight ahead. Eyeball along the side of one of your front tires, and line it up with the rear. A straight edge helps. Is the front vertically in the same plain as the rear (camber)? Is it laterally in the same plain as the rear (toe)? Err on the side of slightly toed in, and camber having the top of the tire slightly top-out. If so, you are good... check the other side.

By good, I mean you are close! DIY would require more careful measurements, but you can tell if it's off very much just by eyeball.

Aftermarket UCAs designed for 3.5", should put you near the center of the cam adjustment range with factory caster when you have a 3.5" lift. That shouldn't be an issue at all. Check the cams to see. Caster is relatively unimportant compared to toe and camber, so long as they are about even (little more on the passenger side is best as I recall) and enough... ie you can move the wheels forward if you have clearance, and want more caster.

 

I very strongly disagree that the 3.5" UCAs are a problem. That would only be true if they were defective. Aftermarket UCAs move the upper pivot back and in a bit vs stock. A lot of people running 3" lifts are using UCAs for designed for 0" and can get spec. A UCA designed for 3.5 would just give him a little more caster capability... a good thing. This ain't rocket science, it's pretty basic geometry.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I just had my truck done at https://arrowalignmentlv.com/ and they got it right! Went to another shop and they aligned to factory specs, but it still felt strange and pulled to the left pretty bad. The guys at Arrow said they knew what to do. Pulling into the parking lot, there were no less than 5 lifted trucks of the employees, and they absolutely knew what caster I needed with my lift.

45 minutes later with the tech taking it for a spin twice to get it spot on and I couldn't be happier. If you're in Vegas, this is the spot.