Reversing UCA's (Pics)

[HARDTRAILZ]

Kyle, that rough ride is due to the shock bottoming out... the only way to fix that would be to cut down your inside spacer, or add shims like Fishy did.

i can agree, but why did taking the spacer from outside the strut make it ride so much different then??

If i had some cash to waste I would run the 88s with a 2 inch outside spacer to try that, but I dont and the truck ride pretty well now.

[fishsticks]

Kyle, that rough ride is due to the shock bottoming out... the only way to fix that would be to cut down your inside spacer, or add shims like Fishy did.

i can agree, but why did taking the spacer from outside the strut make it ride so much different then??

If i had some cash to waste I would run the 88s with a 2 inch outside spacer to try that, but I dont and the truck ride pretty well now.

You could be having an alignment issue? Hard to say without seeing your truck. My mysterious shimmy while turning left disappeared this morning after removing my upper shims last night. No idea why.

I'm pretty sure the 88's with a 2 inch outside spacer would net some serious binding at full droop. My total strut assembly is only 11/16" longer than stock, and I'm right at the CV's limit.

[johnburgelin]

I'm glad you guys are blazing the trail (no pun intended) for me on this mod. I've got my UCA's flipped and a rough country kit on order. I'm probably going to stick some washers in there like fishsticks for the extra travel. I've also got 87's (or 86's I don't remember) that I'm putting in as well as soon as the rough country lift shows up. That being said I'll have an extra set of marks front spacers in case anybody wants some to play with!


Then I'm gonna put an extra spacer in the back after I figure out where the front will be. I have an extra mark spacer to cut down if I need it and the .75" spacer from the rough country kit.

[Rob93]

Maybe I missed it.. but has there been a successful alignment with flipped UCAs yet?

[johnburgelin]

Maybe I missed it.. but has there been a successful alignment with flipped UCAs yet?

I've got mine flipped and did my alignment myself camber-wise and steering/toe (obviously) mine is right on
Camber was checked with a level off the rim (bubble is in the middle)
Toe in/out was measured with the (long angle sticking out the front) method

I ended up jacking the truck up loosening the 3 LCA bolts and yanking the arms out as far as they'd go then tightening everything back down.
and make sure you have a ream of paper or so (phone books work in a pinch) when you adjust toe in/out and do a final measurement of everything after you drive it around for a couple miles (over bumps of course)

[Trail X]

Was looking at this again and noticed this flip may affect the caster angle. Donny, did you notice any difference in the auto-centering of the steering wheel?... it's force or lack of force?

[fishsticks]

Negatory... still drives down the road smooth. Wheel is centered and takes no additional force to turn. I haven't even bothered to realign it since I kept messing with/adding weight to the front end. I think once my rad skid shows up (Today hopefully!) and I get it installed I'll look at correcting any issues. It's already damn close.

[mrtsobe]

After reading through this thread I still can't decide whether I would be better off reversing the uca or not. My TB came stock with 84s in the front and I have 87s and the rough country 2" lift to install. At the moment I don't have any extra weight to add to the front end to help it sag down and I am having trouble deciding if I am a candidate for reversing. From my understanding reversing is beneficial for correcting ball joint angle and alignment, but I am still a little fuzzy on whether or not it has any negative effects (other than having to cut away the inner fenders). Are most of the folks doing this in the 3-4" travel range? Which I am clearly not and don't need to go to these extremes or could even I benefit?

[fishsticks]

After reading through this thread I still can't decide whether I would be better off reversing the uca or not. My TB came stock with 84s in the front and I have 87s and the rough country 2" lift to install. At the moment I don't have any extra weight to add to the front end to help it sag down and I am having trouble deciding if I am a candidate for reversing. From my understanding reversing is beneficial for correcting ball joint angle and alignment, but I am still a little fuzzy on whether or not it has any negative effects (other than having to cut away the inner fenders). Are most of the folks doing this in the 3-4" travel range? Which I am clearly not and don't need to go to these extremes or could even I benefit?

87's plus the RC lift put you in the 3-4" range. Might as well flip them while you have it apart. It helps the angle even on a 2" lift.

[mrtsobe]

Thanks, that'll give me something to do this morning while I wait on the parts to arrive. Do you think my TB will sit level or should I add more spacers to the rear?

[mrtsobe]

Got them off, will have to reverse them when I get home from work.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Has anyone other than me flipped the arms and gotten an alignment? Curious to see another printout and how close the caster is.

[janesy86]

I'll be flipping mine in the next couple weeks and will be getting an alignment, so I'll post up once thats done.

[SteveTB03]

I got an alignment when I was up in Seattle and was pleased with what they did... atleast that is what I remember feeling since I don't have the sheet anymore. I got my alignment probably beginning of last August.

And thiswas with BDS lift, mark spacer, and .75" of uhmw spacer and z71 springs.

[fishsticks]

I driveway aligned mine awhile back just to get the positive camber out. No ill effects.

Now that I'm through adding weight to the front and actually have a consistent stance, I'll probably pony up for a professional alignment.

[Rob93]

Has anyone other than me flipped the arms and gotten an alignment? Curious to see another printout and how close the caster is.

I did. No idea where the printout is anymore, but it was aligned properly
86 springs from 82, marks lift+outside spacer

[janesy86]

Finally flipped my UCA'sand threw in the 1/2" spacer from Marks lift. Also running 87's.

Went to Firestone for an alignment (well tried). After waiting for almost 3 hours, at least I live down the street so I sat at home waiting, I get the call back saying its ready. Go to the service desk to get my keys and ask for the spec sheet.

Well now I'm pissed... He says I didn't ask for it ahead of time so they can't get me one, and even if I did their printer is out of ink. Go out to the shop and talk with the guy that did it and he assures me 'it's good'...

Go around the back to my truck and can clearly see it still has a good amount of positive camber. Was just annoyed with them at this time so I just left. I'm going to go to another Firestone and get them to do it again, and if its out of spec I'm going to rip them a new one.

Rant over.

[HARDTRAILZ]

That is bs. I would bd calling the gen manager and working up the chain to get someone fired. I didn't ask for my printout and they gave it to me. They even gave me the specs when they told me I needed bj before getting aligned.

[janesy86]

Oh, no doubt. I shouldn't have to ask for a print out of the spec sheet. And I can clearly tell they didn't do anything. I will be contacting some one higher up. But first I'm going to try a different Firestone nearby and I really want to see what the 'before' alignment numbers are then I'll send that to a manager... i have the lifetime alignment so I wont be losing any extra $$, just annoyed I have to go again and waste more of my time.

[lupisnegris77]

i will be flipping when marks new lift gets in also be throwing on new shocks and within the next couple weeks swappin in some 88's or 87's(still undecided) Much thanks to all the pioneers