Alignment with SPC UCAs (1 Viewer)

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GMSilk_Fj60

SILVER Star
Joined
Jun 26, 2004
Threads
83
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226
Location
Central MD
Took my truck to a new alignment shop. Drove it home and it drove fine. I looked under once in the garage and saw one of the alignment keys Appears to be upside down? Then look closer and the SPC ball joint is maxed outboard on oneside, central on the other.

Also I’m running 285/70r17 (33.2”x11.2”) and there is only rubbing on the drivers side.

Pics in order: drivers side aft, drivers side forward, passenger side aft, passenger side forward.

passanger aft alignment key appears upside down.

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Yep, that’s bad. Time to go to an off-road specialty shop, preferably a Cruiser shop, to have this done. It’s not rocket science, but you have bad luck so far!
 
UPDATE: Still looking for a competent shop...

Took my land cruiser to land cruiser heaven, supposedly a land cruiser specialty shop for an alignment. They said they could do it no problem. I left my truck with them after I showed them the issues with the front suspension and instructions on how the parts should look and function. I told them about the last shop I had taken it to get aligned and how they did it incorrectly causing dangerous steering issues. Prior to leaving it with them I marked reference scratches and took photos prior to work being completed. When I picked up the car marks and settings were exactly as I had left it earlier that day. No work had been done. When confronted with the evidence I was told to pay and they would do it the next day. I told them I wouldn’t pay since no work had been completed. At that point they told me they took it to a 3rd party shop and they have no idea what work that shop did. They threatened to keep my truck on their lot unless I paid since they had already paid the other shop. I told them I’ll call the cops and we can let them settle it. They gave me my keys and told me to go somewhere else and not come back. Mid Atlantic Cruiser folks... AVOID THIS PLACE!
 
Anybody mid Atlantic know a shop that’s confident on how to align SPC upper control arms?
Que Mugato voice, “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills here!”
 
From your pictures hard to tell what your adjustment cams are doing or where the BJ is positioned in the UCA. What were the alignment numbers before & after? Post that up.

Alignments aren't rocket science, call around to to qualify if anyone is familiar with/knows how to align SPC UCA's, usually a performance oriented alignment shop.

Last option is a little drive but look up OTRAMM- they probably know SPC control arms and adjustments.

And give those gnarly fluid leaks some love: valve cover gasket and brake line fitting.
 
UPDATE: Still looking for a competent shop...

Took my land cruiser to land cruiser heaven, supposedly a land cruiser specialty shop for an alignment. They said they could do it no problem. I left my truck with them after I showed them the issues with the front suspension and instructions on how the parts should look and function. I told them about the last shop I had taken it to get aligned and how they did it incorrectly causing dangerous steering issues. Prior to leaving it with them I marked reference scratches and took photos prior to work being completed. When I picked up the car marks and settings were exactly as I had left it earlier that day. No work had been done. When confronted with the evidence I was told to pay and they would do it the next day. I told them I wouldn’t pay since no work had been completed. At that point they told me they took it to a 3rd party shop and they have no idea what work that shop did. They threatened to keep my truck on their lot unless I paid since they had already paid the other shop. I told them I’ll call the cops and we can let them settle it. They gave me my keys and told me to go somewhere else and not come back. Mid Atlantic Cruiser folks... AVOID THIS PLACE!
Sounds like LCH must be too busy making overpriced seat covers to be bothered with such mechanical stuff...
 
I had a similar issue with a chain alignment place with my SPC's. They set one side to D and the other to B, then maxed the eccentrics to try to get into alignment. What ends up happening is the arms fighting the SPC ball joint and in my case, the steering felt weird.

They are making it hard on themselves. They just need to read the instructions, set the macro adjustments to symmetrical settings on the ball Joint and fine tune with the eccentrics. I printed out the directions and the shop even got it wrong.

Went to 4WD Parts and they nailed it right away. Marked everything with paint pen, 30 day warranty and test drove it with me to confirm it was centering and tracking the way I wanted.
 
I have had excellent results with a frame and alignment shop here. While they don't specialize in Toyota, they are much more knowledgeable than a wheel alignment shop. They check the whole front end for play and have found a bad tie rod end one time and a bad steering rack another. Were familiar with SPC and had pricing if the ball joint needed reclocking. Might try looking for a frame and alignment shop in your area and see what they have to say.
 
UPDATE: Still looking for a competent shop...

Took my land cruiser to land cruiser heaven, supposedly a land cruiser specialty shop for an alignment. They said they could do it no problem. I left my truck with them after I showed them the issues with the front suspension and instructions on how the parts should look and function. I told them about the last shop I had taken it to get aligned and how they did it incorrectly causing dangerous steering issues. Prior to leaving it with them I marked reference scratches and took photos prior to work being completed. When I picked up the car marks and settings were exactly as I had left it earlier that day. No work had been done. When confronted with the evidence I was told to pay and they would do it the next day. I told them I wouldn’t pay since no work had been completed. At that point they told me they took it to a 3rd party shop and they have no idea what work that shop did. They threatened to keep my truck on their lot unless I paid since they had already paid the other shop. I told them I’ll call the cops and we can let them settle it. They gave me my keys and told me to go somewhere else and not come back. Mid Atlantic Cruiser folks... AVOID THIS PLACE!
I had to involve my credit card company after dealing with LCH for months on their crap fitting, badly assembled seat covers. They wanted me to send MY center console cover to COLUMBIA to fix their crappy pattern. Look for my post on this forum for my experiences. I wouldn't trust them to put air in my tires.
 
Shooting emails back and forth with OTRAMM and it sounds like they lost their alignment guy. Bummer.

I was looking over the FSM and some YouTube vids. Is there a way to adjust the lower control arms?

Since I’m running 285/70R17s I don’t think there should be any rubbing, but there is on the drivers side. PhoRunner (YouTube) was able to use the adjustment cams and SPC settings to move the wheel more central in the wheel well. Any one else have to do this?
 
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Is there a way to adjust the lower control arms?
No. Only the uppers are adjustable.

Since I’m running 275/75/17s I don’t think there should be any rubbing, but there is on the drivers side. PhoRunner (YouTube) was able to use the adjustment cams and SPC settings to move the wheel more central in the wheel well. Any one else have to do this?
Yes. That’s the beauty of the SPC arms and ball joints: their adjustability! But PhoRunner is working on a 3rd gen 4runner, which does have alignment cams on the LCAs, so not very applicable to 100s.
 
No. Only the uppers are adjustable.


Yes. That’s the beauty of the SPC arms and ball joints: their adjustability! But PhoRunner is working on a 3rd gen 4runner, which does have alignment cams on the LCAs, so not very applicable to 100s.
I had an old gen1 taco that I was able to do what he did. Lower cams to pull front forwards, upper SPC to align. Sounds like no such luck with the 100. Looks like I’ll pinch weld mod and live with it if there’s no way to move the wheel more forward without messing up the alignment.
 
I had an old gen1 taco that I was able to do what he did. Lower cams to pull front forwards, upper SPC to align. Sounds like no such luck with the 100. Looks like I’ll pinch weld mod and live with it if there’s no way to move the wheel more forward without messing up the alignment.
Your 275/75r17 shouldn’t be even close to rubbing. The wheel well is large enough to easily stuff a 33” diameter tire without any issue and plenty of people do with factory UCAs.

Check the ball joint setting to see if it’s in the D position, then adjust it to change caster so that the knuckle and wheel shift forward enough to not rub. Setting E or F should get rid of the rubbing at the pinch weld.
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Your 275/75r17 shouldn’t be even close to rubbing. The wheel well is large enough to easily stuff a 33” diameter tire without any issue.

Check the ball joint setting to see if it’s in the D position, then adjust it to change caster so that the knuckle and wheel shift forward enough to not rub.
View attachment 2475928
It’s set up on the D setting. Only rubs when turning. 1” wheel spacer and TRD rock warriors.

To move the wheel forward with setting E or F wouldn’t it also throw off the caster beyond return to spec with the cam bolts? Here’s the last alignment report:
As pictures above earlier in the thread show, the wheel camber settings are maxed out so things are wrong elsewhere.
Thanks for the help/convo so I can understand these better. Really appreciate it.

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For the SPC's, personally, I'd select position "B" and enjoy 4 degrees of caster.

Your effective wheel offset is ~25mm. I'm guessing you are just rubbing on plastic by the pinch weld. Find where it rubs and make accommodations as needed...

 
For the SPC's, personally, I'd select position "B" and enjoy 4 degrees of caster.

Your effective wheel offset is ~25mm. I'm guessing you are just rubbing on plastic by the pinch weld. Find where it rubs and make accommodations as needed...

Wouldn’t B move the wheel closer to the pinch weld, though?
 
Yes, I'm saying, address pinch weld, enjoy more caster.
 

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