UCA's and 5100's

[fsbrain03]

Pregunta for you.

I have just placed an order for some new UCA's. I have some people telling me this is what I need, and someone else telling me something else. If I remove the top spacer, and put in the 5100, at max lift, will this do me some good?

One of the concerns being when the uca rubs on the coil, when at droop.

As you can see, I need much help in the ways of suspension.

In your opinion what are the benefits of the uniball vs. stock, and also will the 5100 fix some of my issues, without replacing the uca.

 

[drew02a]

The uniball ones usually have way more space due to their tubular construction. You shouldn't have to worry about the new UCAs hitting the shock.

 

[fsbrain03]

cool. Then back to 5100's at full 2.5 inches. I would get those, remove my top spacer. Do you think that would correct some of the roughness, and alignment issues up front? Of, and I had a phone call and forgot what I was gonna type here.

 

[drew02a]

How big is the top plate spacer?

 

[fsbrain03]

It's suppossed to give me 3" of lift. It's about a 2" thick plate.

 

[fsbrain03]

In your opinion, with stock coilovers, and if the stock UCA is fine. Should I replace the UCA's?

 

[drew02a]

It's suppossed to give me 3" of lift. It's about a 2" thick plate.

Yeah, getting rid of that will give you a WAY better ride. I usually suggest doing a little of each type of lift instead of doing all one or the other. If you get a 3/4" top plate spacer and set the Billies at 1.75" you'll get a better ride than just setting the Billies to 2.5". Setting them at 2.5" will definitely be better than your current setup though.

 

[drew02a]

In your opinion, with stock coilovers, and if the stock UCA is fine. Should I replace the UCA's?

Yeah, if you're lifting more than about 2", you need new UCAs to get the alignment right.

 

[fsbrain03]

Ok. Got ya. So, I will go ahead with the UCA's, and also get some 5100's when they are back in stock. Downsouth is out until end of September. I was a little worried about putting them all the way up. So that would help, by addidng that small plate to the top.

Guess I can go ahead and put on the UCA's now, and just add the 5100's later.

 

[drew02a]

Yeah that will work.

 

[TKGN1]

I have the 5100s at full height along with OME 881 springs. I have yet to get it aligned (just put the 8100s on last weekend), but I wheeled with it like that Saturday, didn't have any noticable problems. I also just ordered UCAs, I'll wait to get alignment until I get those on.

 

[Silverback]

IMO Billies should be left at 0" lift. Let the coil do the lifting. This way you are not limiting any travel. The IFS only has so much travel, and any type of spacer is limiting it in one direction or another... depending on the spacer location.

 

[fsbrain03]

IMO Billies should be left at 0" lift. Let the coil do the lifting. This way you are not limiting any travel. The IFS only has so much travel, and any type of spacer is limiting it in one direction or another... depending on the spacer location.

What do you suggest for the lift then?

 

[drew02a]

IMO Billies should be left at 0" lift. Let the coil do the lifting. This way you are not limiting any travel. The IFS only has so much travel, and any type of spacer is limiting it in one direction or another... depending on the spacer location.

In coil spacers do not limit travel unless it's so big that the coils touch each other on full compression.

 

[jdmcq]

Either of these lifts (spacer, biillies or coils) will limit your droop to a certain extent. The suspension only has so much movement engineered in to it, up or down. By pushing the suspension down with anything you use up some of that direction, same if you lowered the truck (not on this forum obviously) you would limit the upward movement.

 

[fsbrain03]

Alright. So what are the options to lift, if you don't use spacer or shocks? Longer coils? Maybe some ome's?

 

[jdmcq]

I went with the longer (possibly just stiffer) coils. I don't see a difference between the coil top spacers and Billies, they both preload the coil to provide lift. people seem to have success with the Billies. I don't know that either of those options would be a bad idea (Coils or Billies), probably the worst of the bunch is the top plate spacer, but I know folks that have wheeled the hell out of them too without issue.

That wasn't exactly a definitive answer was it?

 

[AlienXtx]

Im running a 3" spacer lift and havnt had any probs "yet", but i do plan on getting some coilovers soon.

 

[jdmcq]

Some people believe that the top plate spacers can cause shock breakage due to the assembly being lengthened.

 

[taco4x4rar]

Some people believe that the top plate spacers can cause shock breakage due to the assembly being lengthened.

There are 2 different types of spacers out there, there are the ones like toytec and revtek sell that are a preload spacer and mount inbetween the coil and strut, and then there are the ones that are that are considered a top plate spacer which mount on top of the strut rather than inbetween the coil and strut such as the HBS and fat bobs spacers. They both have their pros and cons. The top plate style won't effect your ride because there is no change in the spring simply moves the strut as a whole down, the cons to this is you now have a longer shock assembly which will cause all kinds of problems with out limmiting straps, ball joints become maxed out very quickly and will quickly fail and god help you if you have a 4x4 as it will also over extend the CVs causing boot and joint failure rather quickly along with the possibility of separating the CV from the diff. The preload style spacers don't extend the shock assembly to longer than it should be so there is no harm from excessive down travel however it does yield a harsh ride as you have preloaded the coil thus changing it's effective spring rate but travel stays within what the suspension was designed for, the preloads also cause excessive coil and shock wear from the strut being constantly preloaded, for example I am now only sitting at about 1.75-2" of lift from a 3" preload spacer lift due to the coil collapsing from the constant preload. So there you have it as simple an explanation of spacer type lifts as I can provide with their pros and cons. That being said I would never recommend anyone a top plate style spacer lift as it can cause some serious damage to drivetrain and suspension components, the preloads seem to be the lesser of the 2 evils as they only cause normal wear and tear just a an increased rate.