Upper Ball Joint rubs on Eibach springs, any ideas?

2003 Tundra SR5 TRD
I installed the Eibach spring and damper (bought singly through Toytec) and had an extremely hard time getting the passenger side eye to line up. After what was probably 2 hours finally got it in. Then today I started the driver. After fighting the "same" unknown issue for some time, I FINALLY realized the upper ball joint is making contact with the new springs.
Secondary problem... the axle seems to be at a crazy angle, even after the diff drop kit...
Doese anyone have any ideas???

 

@Darkness

Maybe you need some corrected upper control arms. Or maybe your ball joint is toast? From what I remember it seems most people don’t get much lift out of the first GEN’s without a bracket lift or maybe long travel.

 

Looking at it further, it looks like a new UCA is definitely needed. That ball joint looks cranked!

 

The whole reason I bought the kit was because it didn't "need" anymore parts. Lol... I should have known.
And a Toyota dealer page told me if I had 3" lift I could fit 285/70R17 on a specific Tacoma wheel... well after paying for the wheels to be powder coated, the tires, and mount and balance..... I come to find out that they absolutely do not fit. Rub the outer side of the upper control arm. Oh well. This has been a mess since the beginning lmfao!

 

The spindle hitting. Wow that coil must be far wider than stock.

The arms are pretty short on a gen 1, so there isn’t much clearance when you lift, pretty much always need new uca on a gen 1.

Even if it fit, that balljoint angle is so bad it will wear out fast, it’s probably worn anyways so nbd replacing it.

 

Sure... the ball joints, rods, links were all on the list.
Just not expensive UCAs lol! The springs don't seem that much wider... I have NOT measured yet though. Definitely heavier though.

 

How much lift did you get? Your arm angles look really steep

Maybe you can lower the shock down to the lowest ring position

 

A little over 2" I have been focusing more on fixing the "issue" than measuring. Ha ha.
I'll try to give you a comparison shortly.

It was advertised as 3"

 

check the spring, see if they have the same number

 

They are both hitting exactly the same, but I will.

 

The springs are about a 1/4" "wider" than stock. But I think most of ya'll are right about the UCAs. Doesn't mean that if someone has an alternate idea or suggestion that I won't at least think about it.

 

Maybe used arms can be found? See if the people going LT on their gen 1 have some

 

UCA and LCA is more for alignment, longer spindle could solve the hitting, and ball joint angle

 

I forgot to answer earlier, the spring # looks the same each is rubbed so hard to tell for sure.

I'm currently researching UCA & Spindle replacement options.

Need to get the factory stuff back in by tomorrow if there aren't any "local" options, or I ain't gonna get to work! Lmao

Thanks btw

 

No such thing.

A longer spindle is used on a drop bracket lift because the lower arm is being dropped down lower while the stock arm is still in OE position.

The geometry hasn’t been changed here, just the static position of the arms with a longer shock/spring. The arc of movement is the same.

I still think you’re sitting at probably over 3 inches of lift. It is possible that with an alignment they can move the lower arm a little and get the spring off the spindle, but that upper ball joint will fail pretty soon at that angle.

Do you have any down travel at all if you jack up the front of the truck?

 

Not much movement when on the ground and jacking up. I have it apart to put factory back in for now, but I will write that down on things to check for list.
Thanks!

 

You're too high. Take them off and put them on the first clip, that should be 2.5" of lift according to Eibach. Your truck is running at full droop, you have little to no downward travel available. On a 4wd first gen I wouldn't go over 2" of lift by coilover but 2.5" has been done with no trouble.

I'm not familiar with that kit but it's a bit unusual to mix coils that are made to provide lift with shocks that are made to have multiple perch settings to provide lift. This happened to lots of guys running OME coils on 5100 shocks. Seeing the notes that those are made to work together I bet they wouldn't recommend the 2nd notch (you appear to be on) for a 4wd. Drop it to the bottom notch and get alignment done. That should correct this issue and potentially can correct your tire rubbing issue at ride height.

What tire and what wheel? Some tires with wild off road treads run wider than street tires even if they are 285.

 

Yes. The coils "require" you to use the shocks. And yes I am at the second notch (supposedly 3").
I can't do much until Monday at the earliest since everyone is closed. But I might try lowering the spring perch if other options aren't available or too costly... I just don't want to have to go through it all again after spend in hundreds to try it... local alignments aren't cheap, and I choose to have a shop do the spring compression as I have had a bad experience with ghetto compressors before.
So that's why I am leery (only a bit) to go that route. You know, spend $275 to get the springs adjusted and an alignment, then find out I still have to get different tires, or wheels, or UCA, or spindle, AND then have to pay for another alignment (because most places here won't cut you a break). Hope that makes sense.

The tires are Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs (not my first choice, but I came upon them cheap).
The wheels are the 2018 Tacoma 17".
If the UCA could come up about an inch maybe two, it would allow mounting the tire. As it is right now, I can't even fully mount it... that's how much the tire and UCA interfere with each other.

 

Slow down bro. It sounds like you may have skipped the planning phase with this project.

Gen 1 wheels and taco oe wheels have a ton of backspacing. They dont fit very well with larger than stock tires.

@Darkness had great advice. Anything more than 2 inches of lift on a gen 1 is just a recipe for broken parts, cvs and steering racks, ball joints. Maybe this is just too much shock and spring for the truck. If you are at the max droop, it might not even cycle properly when you bottom out.

What tire size are you trying for?

 

If you are running 285/70/17 you might need spacers. Here is how you'll know:

Grab your wheel and lay it inside up, get a stick or something flat that you can lay across the rim from end to end. Get a measuring tape out and measure from where the lug bolts pass through to the stick. This is how you measure backspace.

If it's more than 4.5" you'll need spacers. If its 4.5" you should be okay, if it's less than 4.5" you should be great.

If you already got it aligned and the shop didnt mention this problem, maybe consider a different shop.

 

I totally get that assumption, but I promise I asked and asked and researched (unfortunately I never got on a forum until I had problems). I was told by two Toyota dealer people that if I had a 3" lift I would be able to fit 285/70r17 with some plastic trimming, possible mud flap removal.

I was ALSO told by them the back spacing on these wheels was more than it is.

I was LEAD TO BELIEVE by Toytec that the Eibach spring and strut were MADE to be fitted on my truck without having to replace ANYTHING else except the differential spacers to take some of the stress off of the CV joint at the hub.

So lack of planning only came into play in terms of not knowing the weather yesterday and today, and not joining a group like this so I could hear from people who REALLY know what the f is going on.

Don't take that the wrong way. I've put what I had planned into this and I am reluctant to put more into it. I'm not trying to crawl the toughest trails in Utah, but it would be nice to get up Poison Spider without scraping and slipping and stacking rocks. (Hopefully that shows that I know a little bit)

I really do appreciate and am listening to everyone's advice. I have a lead on some used ucas that are supposedly gonna help... but no price yet. If that doesn't work for whatever reason, the springs will go back to the shop for the adjustment, and then alignment. If the plan doesn't sound good, please by all means, let me know.

Now to 100% agree with you and Darkness, I think this is too much of an assembly for the first gen Tundra (only after tearing into it more extensiveex than I have had option to before. If I had known that BEFORE purchasing the first gen I would have gotten another second or third gen. And if I had known it before thinking of lifting, I would have said f that! Lol

So some buyers remorse is coming into the equation, but I do love my truck and want the old girl to get a little makeover if I can "make" it work. Also I am will to bet Toytec and the other companies I purchased items from will not refund me just because it isn't working out like I had hoped/planned.

Let me know if I am missing something else! Thanks guys!!

 

how much taller is the springs ve OEM springs, could you use the stock spring and top clip.

 

Oh no. It is 5.5" back space. I was pissed... I was told it was 4.5"

 

I have not had it out of the driveway since I started the install yesterday. So no shop has touched. I took all the separate parts in to be assembled while I was driving the factory stuff...

 

That's shitty man. You'll need to run spacers then, no way around that. It isn't my cup of tea but lots of guys run them without problems. Get a good set of 1.25" or even 1.5" and you'll be on those tires right away.

 

Okay, well that's good then you haven't burnt money on alignment.

Drop the coils down a perch, get the assemblies back in. Pain in the ass but it gets easier every time you pull/install.

Get some of these Get aligned, you'll be good. Add some future plans to replace the joints, both the upper and lower and possibly outside tie rod ends. These are normal wear parts that you want in good shape if you hit trails, if they're worn at all now they'll wear a bit faster now that they're working at different angles. Budget for that, go Toyota at least on the ball joints.

 

Yes. Yes it is!
Yeah, I've always thought they were a bad idea, but I have a crawling buddy who swears by them, just torque properly and replace when they start to corrode. Hell of alot cheaper than properly offset wheels though... lol.

 

Couple things.

I’m sorry i did not mean any offense to you. What i wrote comes across wrong. Everyone does something wrong on their truck sometimes and has to find the solution. You got some bad advice, we all do. Worst case you put your stock shocks back on u til you get some spacers and get the coils remounted on the toytech units. Take it to the shop and tell them they used the wrong mounting point.

Gen 1 tundras are amazing trucks. You can fit those tires fine with 2 inches of lift. I ran that size on my gen 1 with icon coilover set right at 2 inches. I used 4.5 BS wheels. Never rubbed anything.

1.25 wheels spacers will fix you up. I run them on my current rig because i prefer the look of the oe alloys. If you tighten them properly and check them after 100 miles they will be fine. I got my gen 1 wheel spacers from all pro offroad back when i used those

 

Where do you live? Maybe a forum member can help you out?

 

Another thought you need to ask toytec on Monday.....

Are these coils always going to hit the spindle at full droop? Even when you get the ride height proper, it will still droop out sometimes