FJ Cruisers of Northern California
UCAs with 3.5" lift question
So I bought some front OME light coils and I was about to buy the struts from Metal Tech and the guy recommended I get UCAs since the lift is over 2" and he said that it can cause the FJ to drive poorly on the road without aftermarket UCAs. But he also said some people have never had problems with keeping the stock UCAs.
Money is tight for me right now, so I'm trying to find out if I really need the UCAs or not. What are your thoughts on this? And if yes, I should get them, anyone know of any good deals right now (Light Racing or Camburg preferrably)?
Views: 272
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by PBn'FJ on
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When you lift your truck, you will decrease your caster angle. The lower the caster angle the more the truck will feel like it "wanders" or does not track as straight as it used to. Some people don't mind and/or their truck may have been on higher end of caster spec from the factory so the lift did not put it as far out of spec. Each truck is different.
Aftermarket UCA's have the upper ball joint set back further to correct the caster angle back to stock specs with the lift in place.
You should plan to have your alignment checked/adjusted after the OME install to see how far out of alignment spec your truck is.
The guy from Metal Tech is just trying to keep your suspension geometry as close to original design as possible which is good advice. In the end you have to make the decision on what you can live with or afford.
Personally, i found the wandering on my FJC annoying on long trips so i installed aftermarket UCA.
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Permalink Reply by Markie Sharkie on
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Ok so it's something that I can just deal with until I can afford them later on (which shouldn't take too long, just can't afford the struts, UCAs, and whatever I need to pay for realignment and stuff all at the same time).
As far as the OME's giving me 3.5" in the front, will it be ok having a 2.5" lift in the back? Or is that going to cause problems? If so, I'll probably sell the OME coils and just get a 2.5" front setup instead.
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What springs did you buy and are you installing spacers on top of them? You mention light coils which is usually in reference to OME 884s. 884 are supposed to be 2"lift springs on a truck with stock bumper if i recall correctly.
What rear lift do you have? It sounds like you are putting this together one piece at a time.
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Yeah I picked up the OME 884's. The Metal Tech guy told me those will give me 3.5"? But then I keep seeing people selling the 884's with spacers, so it also sounds like the coils are a 2" lift (I've been confused about this for awhile now... could you clarify?).
I already have the Daystar 1.5" spacers on the front, so I can just use those (would I still need the UCA's with this setup?). I also have an aftermarket bumper on, but it's a tube bumper from Intense Fab, so it's pretty light.
As for the rear, I have 2.5" Donahoe Racing coils and shocks. I'm just trying to at least make the FJ completely level since the front is currently at 1.5" and the rear is 2.5". I don't mind the front being slightly higher though since I'm going for that prerunner look.
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I am not a suspension expert and would contact Toytec, Metaltech, Slee, Wheeler's offroad or another OME authorized dealer to get advice on their products if you are unclear on the specs of specific springs or recommended usage.
Personally I would not put the Daystar 1.5" spacer on top of a lift spring. The spacers supplied by Toytec for OME springs are typcially 0.5" for the 884 or 885 spring to give a 3" lift.
BTW, did you measure before and after you installed the Daystar spacers to see how much lift you actually got out of them? I only see reference online to 2.5" front lifts from Daystar.
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Ok, I'll look around. I Googled "OME 884" and I saw a few results say 2.25" with it.
I didn't measure, but it's definitely lower in front than the rear and I have 2.5" of lift in the rear.
One of my main concerns though is the UCAs. If it's a 2.25-2.5" lift, then I would not really need the UCAs, correct?
In regards to money though, could I save on the OME struts and just put the coils onto my TRD/Bilsteins that I currently have?
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Permalink Reply by PRS TiFJ on
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884s will give you about 2" of lift in the front with a stock bumper. under no circumstances would i stack a 1.5" daystar spacer on top of those. 3.5" will give you very bad CV angles and will destroy your CV boots within a few months. It is never recommended to stack lifts, but a small spacer to give you 3" wont be bad. over 3" of lift is generally not recommended on the FJ due to the CV angles. A diff drop will help to some degree, but i would still recommend to stay at 3". It is also recommended that anything over 3" and UCAs are needed due to caster angle issues. Additionally above 3" you will have to worry about UCA to Coil contact at full droop.
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So would you say I'm ok without the aftermarket UCAs with this lift?
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Permalink Reply by GHOST on
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I think typically OME lifts give you anything between 2-3 inch in lift. I have OME 885 springs upfront and run stock UCA's. I do notice very slight wandering but it might be due to the road surface. Nothing that would make me go out and buy new UCA's. When the time comes to replace them, I will then replace them with aftermarket UCA's. I say drive it and see if you need the UCA's. I was going through the same issue when doing my lift and figured worst case scenario, I would just buy UCA's if the alignment was not in spec and the wandering bothered me. As far as the shocks go, I would go with OME shocks for OME springs. Can you run OME springs on OEM shocks? Yes. Should you? No, at least in my opinion.
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Permalink Reply by TRD Black on
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Hey it must be fate that I saw you waiting accross the light at brookside & Pershing from me today. I'm running OME all the way around and need to replace my shocks right now. I have been reading on the blue room trying to decide what to do all night, as this wasn't in my plan. Weekend before last I did the Rubicon and after pulling my car up on the lift to replace my front axle I noticed my shocks are close to toast. I hit the back passenger side shock pretty bad and need new lower link mounts because I crunched those too on either slick rock or the Rubicon. Don't know how long the front shock has been going out but it seems like everything decided to wear out at once. Anyway, I am in town and can show you first hand what the potential downsides can be to not upgrading the UCA. That said, I've run my OME for three years and I have not had a complaint other than the loss of a smooth ride I experienced when I took out the TRD shocks. I never had much of an issue with UCA related steering feel, but did notice it. If I had it to do over I'd save the $ till I could buy the Toytech kit or Icon stage 1 at least. Granted, that may have blown as well in the same time frame, but I hear nothing but praise at how smooth the Icons are and my wife does not like the teeth chattering feel of stiff springs.
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Hahah I thought that was you.
I just don't know how much of a difference I'll feel. If it causes problems, then I don't want to deal with it, but if it's just something I can deal with then it doesn't bother me. But I won't know until I try and I'm trying to save money since I do more daily driving than wheeling.
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