Hey all, newbie here with a small 1.75" front and 1.5" on the way. It's my daily so down the road when that changes, so will the build. Until then, will my factory UCA's work with that amount of lift? Or, should I purchase UCAs just in case or to ensure proper caster? I don't want to blow money where not needed, but I know this is important to ensure good ride quality and tire wear. If it's deemed necessary, is JBA uca's a good brand? I don't really want adjustable and like the 3 degree caster setting on the JBA's out of the box. I just don't know anything about them. Any advice/help on this issue is greatly appreciated so I dial this in correctly.
At that lift, it's not "necessary". "Necessary" is a funny word, and in order to understand it, you need to know where OEM UCA's fall short, and what problems afternmarket UCA's solve, and how, and other options.
The short version, is at your proposed lift, they likely aren't necessary, even more so if you have a competent alignment shop that is willing to work with you. Lifts reduce caster, which increases "wander" in the steering mostly noticable at highway speeds. This results in constant effort to keep the truck going straight and control darting from side to side. Which effect defeats the purpose of a luxury off-road rig that is also a fantastic road-tripper with moderate mods. A competent alignment shop would be able to use the LCA adjustment cams to "push" the lower ball joint forward and gain back a little caster with the OEM UCA, at the slight expense of not getting camber in spec. That's a trade I'd personally make all day long, and twice on Sunday. Twitchy steering sucks every. single. time. you. drive. the. truck. With that small of a lift, you run the risk of having too high of a caster angle with aftermarket UCA's and their built in +2.5-3 degrees, which leads to heavy feeling steering, and "possibly" increased wear in steering components. You don't mention what size tires you're running. If you're on the upper end of what fits without rubbing, and have an OEM front bumper, if you push the lower ball joint forward using the LCA cam bolts, you might end up rubbing the front fender liner. If you're on OEM-ish tire sizes, you're good there.
You will likely also gain back a small amount of front wheel travel in the form of droop with aftermarket UCA's, but if you're not off roading a ton this isn't likely a deciding factor. If you go aftermarket, and have a shop install, you'll likely be $500 in labor + parts + alignment.
As to which afternarket UCA's are the best? They are ALL outrageously priced for what they are and what they do. I have had SPC adjustables on my 100 series and run Freedom Offroad on my GX currently. Those are the only 2 I'd choose from. If you're going to pay outrageous money, get the SPC adjustable ones because you (meaning your alignment tech) can absolutely dial in the best alignment, especially as you rethink lift and tire size choices down the road (buy once, cry once). All the rest of the high priced ones offer no advantage over the cheaper Freedom Offroad. And when you hold the OEM ones in your hand off the truck, you'll quickly realize that even the Freedom Offroad "cheapies" are so much more massive and overbuilt compared to the stamped and rolled OEM design, that you'll wonder why you should pay $400-$900 more for brands like JBA, Ironman, etc etc.
If I were you, throw on the lift. Then go to a GOOD alignment shop that works on 4x4's, not some chain place with a 19 year-old working on your rig. Tell them you want caster as high as possible, even if they have to push the LCA forward and sacrifice camber being out of spec (then religiously rotate your tires). Drive it on some long highway trips for a few thousand miles. If you feel even after this that it wanders too much for your liking, then go adjustable SPC UCAs.
My 2 cents only...
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