Installed leveling kit and UCA hits coil. HELP!

I installed one of those 2.5" spacer kits from rough country as well as bought new struts and lower control arms. Marked my eccentrics, put load on suspension before torqueing and compressing washers, ect.. I eventually realized that stock upper control arm would not receive the upper ball joint shaft because the knuckle was at an angle that caused it to hit the coil.. Did some trouble shooting and ordered JBA upper control arms that compensate for the additional front lift. The new JBA UCA are still making contact with the coil whenever I turn the steering wheel. I feel as if the struts are too stiff not allowing the LCA to flex enough in order to get enough clearance for everything to work. I really need to get this figured out. Below is a picture of what I feel the appropriate angles should be, and then a picture of mine.

 

Never mix spacers with a lift. IMO, it's a huge no-no. Get rid of the spacer and your problem should be solved.

 

Everything is OE spec besides the spacer and upper control arm. The spacer is the only thing lifting the front suspension, the control arm is supposed to compensate for the increased height and allow for a proper wheel alignment. The problem I'm having is that it seems the new shock and coil are too stiff. When I put a load on the coil, it only moves the control arm about 3/4" before lifting the truck off of the jacks. If they would compress about another inch then I'd have the clearance to attached the knuckle to the UCA without anything making contact.

Could it be the shock is too stiff or stuck?

 

Could be... I would remove the shock and assemble the knuckle/ UCAs first. Then reinstall the shock. Trying to line up 2-3 moving parts at the same time can be a bit of a pain. As you have found out...
I would also loosen the UCA bolts, then retorque once everything is back together and on the ground, including the upper and lower shock mounting points. This will help to ensure no binding at full extension/ compression of the shock

 

You'll be suprised how much more the suspension compresses once you have the wheels back on the truck, especially if you still run the swaybar.

Put the tires on and let the full weight of the truck sit on the suspension and recheck. My guess is it will be fine. my spindles also contact the coil at full extension. Just the nature of the suspension on these trucks.

 

Looks like the red coilovers have mad adjustment room just take the tension off of them. What brand are they and can I buy them?

 

Toytec Aluma Boss.

 

It's too stiff cause you got a puck. It causes preload and is making your life harder than it needs to be

https://youtu.be/4-uodQ2GMQg?si=su6dXUYYzvCO0TkQ

that's a Chevy I think. But the difference with our Toyota shocks is there isn't a tapered arm to the mounting point. Ours are just welded. So it winds up cracking.


Good luck though homie

 

Op ain’t been seen for 16 months, ghost thread

 

Probably broke his shocks

 

In that video it's a strut lowering spacer. It doesn't change the preload or change the spring stiffness. All it does it change the ride height.

 

Ahh you right but I will mention this for anybody else that wants to do the "puck lift"

When the coilover is lowered down with the spacer, it changes quite a few things. Issue #1, Stock bump stop is now too short for the new compressed length. The shocks now bottom out before the bump stops engage which can cause the shock to break. Issue #2, At full droop, the coilover extends too far and the upper control arm can hit the coilover shock and spring. #3 With excessive suspension droop at the wheel, the upper control arm ball joint is now fully maxed out beyond what it was intended for, which can cause premature wear or failure. There are a few other issues with steering joints and cv axles that can arise from this, so its best to avoid spacer lifts all together.


Also in his OP's first pic, is that not a preload spacer on the bottom of the shock assembly?? It's on the bottom, but I assume it serves the same purpose?

 

It's not a strut spacer for lifting purposes. The strut assembly is an off the shelf Monroe Quick-strut. Instead of using a coil spring that has a flat base, or a stamped steel contoured base, they use an inexpensive plastic spacer to make the coil spring seat correctly on the strut base. The springs that are included with the quick-strut are also a shorter length to make up for the extra height of the plastic spacer. So at the end of the day, the OP's monroe strut assembly is no taller than the OEM height.

 

Why are you using spacers to provide lift when you have adjustable coilovers?

Typically those coilovers are set to SOME lift, usually around 2", when they ship. Based on how much threading I can see at the top of the coilover, it looks like you've got a decent bit of adjustment there. Remove pucks if you have them installed and adjust coilovers to achieve the same 2.5" of lift and you'll have a much better experience.

 

He doesn't, that was a reference pic. He's mixing non-OEM quickstruts and a spacer with aftermarket UCAs and getting poor results. Not surprising. Ditch the quickstruts and their big fatty coils that make contact with the UCA and get some decent ones with better coils or factory TRD coils.

 

ahhh

 

I forgot i started a short thread on the Monroe struts. There’s some interesting info that i found during my little escapade...
https://www.tundras.com/threads/what-height-are-my-monroe-coils.133424/