Uca And Lca Positions With King Bolt On Kit And Donahoe Uca's

izzermatic · 09-19-2007, 10:59 PM

I need some advice.

4 months ago a had a King bolt on kit installed. When I picked it up I noticed the camber was a little positive. I questioned the installer and he assured me it was within specs. Later I had it in the dealer for something unrelated and asked them to check out the alignment and was told it was adjusted as much as it could but it was within spec. So I delt with it until I noticed the tires wearing a little on the outside edge.

So I started looking on the forum and it appeared the answer was to replace the UCA's because the stock ones had limited adjustments and were unable to compensate for the lift. I wondered though, if the camber was positive the UCA was the only adjustment, it would have to be adjusted in and that was kinda against the whole bigger, better, faster, sweeter theory that most aftermarket equipment follows. Right? But, they were shinny and sweet looking so I shelled out the 1300 bucks to have the Donahoe UCA's installed anyways.

After ordering, but prior to having the Donahoes installed, I noticed a couple of threads claiming they did get alignment dialed in without aftermarket UCA's. Several of them referenced adjusting the cam on the LCA. That made sense to me because if the LCA was adjusted out then the UCA wouldn't need to be made shorter and the stock one would work. Well it was too late to cancel the Donahoes but as least I knew they wouldn't need to be made shorter than stock and maybe they could be longer if I wanted them to be.

When I dropped it off I asked if they would be making an adjustment to the LCA and they told me 'yes' and to make a long story short they didn't touch them.

But what they did was shorten the length of the UCA by adjusting them in and lowered the position of the kings so it sat a little lower.

Now I really have no preconceived notions of how it should be other than it should make sense to me and this whole experience has left me with alot of questions.

Any advice?

**jeshua** · 09-19-2007, 11:04 PM

The Kings will peforme amazing when its all installed right.

To make sure I have it right you are aligned correctly know but they lowered you a little after the last install? If thats right then you are good to go hit the desert.

***Shadow-Warrior*** · 09-20-2007, 05:35 AM

Moved thread out of General to Suspension Tech

fj4M&E · 09-20-2007, 09:30 PM

I ride with Kings all the way around, the FJ rides about an inch higher but I didn't have any trouble getting it to align, rides great.

I still have the future upgrades TC UCA I want to go a bit higher and all pro upper and lower control arms and the springs. It should give me the lift and based on past experience it will all come into alignment.

izzermatic · 09-21-2007, 07:51 AM

Were there any adjustments made to your lower control arms?

**TCao** · 09-21-2007, 09:46 AM

FWIW, I have the King coilovers (with a ~2-inch lift) with the stock front UCAs (A arms) for about 6,000 miles without any unusual tire wear and the front alignment were done by adjusting the two cams on the front lower A arms. I have since upgraded to the Total Chaos UCAs purely for the improvement in strength and durability compared to the stock ones as well as more articulation from the uniballs as compared to the OEM ball joints. I'm very surprised to read that your alignment shop decided to adjust the upper A arms and not using the lower adjustment cams. The DR UCAs should already be adjusted at the factory to accommodate lift up to 3 inches.

izzermatic · 09-23-2007, 06:29 PM

That's kind of what I thought. How far have your cams been adjusted? If you were looking at say the right side and stock position is at 6 o'clock. How many threads are exposed on the top of the shock piston above the collar?

**TCao** · 09-23-2007, 06:52 PM

Quote:

izzermatic previously said:

That's kind of what I thought. How far have your cams been adjusted? If you were looking at say the right side and stock position is at 6 o'clock. How many threads are exposed on the top of the shock piston above the collar?

I don't have my FJC right now but going from memory, the wheel alignment cams are in the middle adjustment range. As for the front coilovers, there are about two threads showing above the top spring collars. Attached is a photo of my coilover prior to installation. This setting yields ~2 inches of lift in front.