Everything you need to know about Upper Control Arms (UCA)

They don't appear to have any threads showing to shorten them, but maybe it's the angle.

Do you have your alignment printout?

Also take pics of your LCA pivot cams, front and rear, both sides... plus tie rod threads both sides... plus a couple of the crossmember that the LCAs bolt to.

Measure how much lift you have... wheel/hub center to fender.

 

Ok, that's a mess. Now let's see the rest of it.

Does the note say "arm" or "arms"?

 

Arms

 

I am by no means an alignment tech, but I recently gained access to the alignment rack at work; and some friends to show me how to use it. So I’m learning as I go with the adjustments.

I have a 2010 with BDS/Fox 7” kit, .25” shim on driver side. Previously had TC bushing UCA’s, but decided to switch back to OEM control arms since I don’t need the added caster.

The TC arms are great if you don’t have a drop bracket lift that corrects geometry after a lift. And I’ll eventually re use them on my 2020 mid travel build.

It drives great now: tracks straighter, and steering feels lighter. Bump steer is also reduced, but that may be from changing the rack bushings. I’ll post current alignment photos below.


Rear cam bolts should be as far “outboard” as possible for maximum positive caster and tire clearance from cab mount. The difference is substantial when you watch the tire move while adjusting.

 

I think your rear clearance will be better if you move the front cams in as far as possible and adjust the rear ones for camber. Caster should be basically the same as your method, but the wheels will be a little more inboard.

 

Yeah outboard for the rear, and inboard for the front would give the most cab mount clearance. I wasn’t sure which one was best to mess with to get camber in spec though, maybe I can try adjusting from the rear cams next time.

I want to try the Bison stop cam kit, so it probably won’t be long.

 

Dredging up an older thread here. I have an issue with stance that I’m just starting to dig in to. I’m currently running a set of Ironman upper control arms, and an Ironman Foam Cell pro strut with 3.5” lift. My issue is that my wheels don’t stick out as far in the front as they do in the back. I don’t have a measurement to back this yet, but it’s definitely noticeable. I’ll add a picture below. What I’m wondering if this is a result of a poorly designed UCA? My rear cam bolts are centered in their range of adjustment on the passenger side, and slightly inboard on the driver side. Do others have this issue?

 

Just some quick preliminary thinking, but I believe the only thing that causes the front suspension to pull inboard is more lift. Depending on the design of your UCA it can alter caster and camber, but shouldn’t necessarily change track width

 

I’m curious if others with similar 3-3.5” lift and aftermarket UCA’s also have this issue?

 

I have total chaos UCA’s with Fox 2.5’s set at 3” and haven’t noticed anything like what you’re seeing. But I can take a side profile picture later.

 

So... simple geometry. The lift increases the angle of your LCA relative to level, which makes your tires stick out less. In addition, your cams are pulled in slightly, which does the same thing. You have to adjust the LCA cam lateral to match your UCAs and zero the camber, so I think you are stuck there. Since your cams are nearly neutral I think the UCA is near perfect for the lift you have. Less stance is normal.

I have a 2" lift (same shocks) and stock UCA, with the rear cams all the way outboard and the fronts near the middle... so I probably have a near-stock stance.

On 2nd thought, maybe my fronts are all the way in and the rears near the middle? Can't remember and can't crawl under it now. At any rate, you can fiddle with caster, but camber and stance both will be set by your UCA and lift. In other words, if you had gotten a UCA that stuck out a little farther, you could have adjusted your LCA cams out to match and maybe not lost any stance. But you'd lose some caster adjustability.

If we can all park on some level concrete and get a couple long straightedges, we could measure exactly what our front and rear stance is.

 

This gets to the heart of what I’m trying to find out. Is this a design issue of the Ironman UCA’s? Do others with roughly the same 3-3.5” of lift and different UCA’s have the same issue I am dealing with? I’m weighing my options. My last alignment resulted in near 0° camber angle, and +3ish caster. These UCA’s were designed specifically for this amount of lift, but Ironman has had several quality control issues. Maybe this is one

 

It’s not going to be a design issue with the UCA’s - it’s the fact that a 3.5” lift is going to naturally pull your track width narrower unless you have custom/longer LCA’s to offset the change in angle that they have from the elevated location of their pivot point.

 

For whatever it’s worth, mine appears evenly tracked front to rear. My rear cams are as far outboard as possible for max caster, and front cams are as far inboard as possible for max positive camber. I eyeball the toe myself 0_o. Anyways, here’s a photo.

 

If you’re at basically the same amount of lift but with different UCA’s, and tracking evenly, I’d say there’s a design issue with my UCA’s that didn’t account for the 3-3.5” of lift that I have.

 

Nope. If your camber and caster are correct with the cams in a neutral position, then that's about perfect.

Camber needs to be vertical... zero, or just a small fraction of a degree top-out. You can play with caster, but not camber.

Rear max out, and front max in gives you max caster... but it looks like you are noticeably top-out... too much camber. Bring the front cams closer to the middle until the wheel is vertical. Or maybe it's just my eyeballs...

 

I need to put my eyes on a few Tundras with the same, or close to the same amount of lift to confirm that everyone is dealing with this same thing. I searched this forum up and down for others who have noticed this discrepancy with this amount of lift, and have come up empty.

 

As stated, a lift naturally moves the wheels inward a little with IFS. I think most people are not OCD about it.

Possibly you could find a UCA with a longer pivot arc, and you could move the LCA pivots out to match, but then you'd lose most of your adjustment range. I certainly wouldn't fault Ironman for nailing the lift and alignment with the LCA cams in the middle of their adjustment range.