Dialing in the pizza cutter setup....

[human1391]

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to replace my front lower control arms to elimate a very mild tire rub. I am running skinny 37s on stock overland wheels w/o spacers, Rough Country 2.5 Leveling Kit and JKS Control Arm brackets. After 5K miles this setup has turned out much better than expected and now I'm just looking to address the rub issue to make it perfect. I did add have to add 2 thin washers under the steering endstops and that cleared up the rub at full lock left, but full lock right still produces a slight rub. Because I am running the JKS brackets i thought of using their fixed length lower arms but according to their website, they are something like 1/4-5/16 longer than stock and I am thinking that is going to throw my caster out of spec. Does anyone know of a non-adjustabl/ high clearence LCA that I might be able to use? If needed I can go to an adjustable but I don't know if I need it as my setup is fairly mild IMO.

 

[DirtHeadDavis]

If it were me, I'd just run 1.5" or 1.75" wheel spacers - which would also allow you to run a 12.50" wide tire. I did so for over 2 years and with stock control arms.

 

[bobfriesenhahn]

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to replace my front lower control arms to elimate a very mild tire rub. I am running skinny 37s on stock overland wheels w/o spacers, Rough Country 2.5 Leveling Kit and JKS Control Arm brackets. After 5K miles this setup has turned out much better than expected and now I'm just looking to address the rub issue to make it perfect. I did add have to add 2 thin washers under the steering endstops and that cleared up the rub at full lock left, but full lock right still produces a slight rub. Because I am running the JKS brackets i thought of using their fixed length lower arms but according to their website, they are something like 1/4-5/16 longer than stock and I am thinking that is going to throw my caster out of spec. Does anyone know of a non-adjustabl/ high clearence LCA that I might be able to use? If needed I can go to an adjustable but I don't know if I need it as my setup is fairly mild IMO.

The steering end stops are adjustable using a wrench. Can you adjust your right-hand end stop a bit more? Do you notice a significant loss of turning radius? Is the rub bad (damages something), or is it just an annoying noise?

Adding spacers (a very big change compared to changing/optimizing the wheel backspacing) would put more stress on ball joints and other parts so I admire your objective to avoid them.

 

[WJCO]

If someone tells you to cut the frame, ignore them.

 

[human1391]

thanks bob

The steering end stops are adjustable using a wrench. Can you adjust your right-hand end stop a bit more? Do you notice a significant loss of turning radius? Is the rub bad (damages something), or is it just an annoying noise?

Adding spacers (a very big change compared to changing/optimizing the wheel backspacing) would put more stress on ball joints and other parts so I admire your objective to avoid them.

I did consider adding another washer under the endstop... as it is that little extra travel is currently not usable anyhow. It is certainly a very mild rub and just something i can account for by being mindful. The loss of radius was bearly noticable, it is more so when pulling head-in to tight parking spots that I notice. All in all not a big issue, after 5K miles it has bearly begun to wear though the powder coat on that one LCA. I should add that the skinny 37 and the lack of spacers was part of the original vision. I don't care for wheel poke or the associated rooster tails of filth whenever it rains. I am very happy with they way it looks and performs in that regard.

 

[wayoflife]

Hello Everyone,

I am looking to replace my front lower control arms to elimate a very mild tire rub. I am running skinny 37s on stock overland wheels w/o spacers, Rough Country 2.5 Leveling Kit and JKS Control Arm brackets. After 5K miles this setup has turned out much better than expected and now I'm just looking to address the rub issue to make it perfect. I did add have to add 2 thin washers under the steering endstops and that cleared up the rub at full lock left, but full lock right still produces a slight rub. Because I am running the JKS brackets i thought of using their fixed length lower arms but according to their website, they are something like 1/4-5/16 longer than stock and I am thinking that is going to throw my caster out of spec. Does anyone know of a non-adjustabl/ high clearence LCA that I might be able to use? If needed I can go to an adjustable but I don't know if I need it as my setup is fairly mild IMO.

If you're still just rubbing on the right, what you need is to lengthen your track bar just a bit as your axle is not completely centered at ride height. That is, assuming you have an adjustable track bar. Of course, additional washers on just the one side will fix it too. Drop brackets or new control arms will NOT address the issue you are experiencing.

 

[human1391]

If you're still just rubbing on the right, what you need is to lengthen your track bar just a bit as your axle is not completely centered at ride height. That is, assuming you have an adjustable track bar. Of course, additional washers on just the one side will fix it too. Drop brackets or new control arms will NOT address the issue you are experiencing.

Thanks Eddie, Makes perfect sense! Looks like there is an adjustable trac bar in my future, assuming i get the axle centerd up properly and i get equally small anmounts of rubbing at both ends I'd still like to consider higher clearence LCAs with the goal of getting all the washers out of the endstops. Any recommedations?

 

[wayoflife]

Thanks Eddie, Makes perfect sense! Looks like there is an adjustable trac bar in my future, assuming i get the axle centerd up properly and i get equally small anmounts of rubbing at both ends I'd still like to consider higher clearence LCAs with the goal of getting all the washers out of the endstops. Any recommedations?

Maybe it's just me but I am unaware of any LCA's that would prevent the rubbing that you are experiencing. The proper solution to this problem is to 1) space out your steer stops 2) install wheel spacers or 3) run a set of wheels with less back spacing.

 

[human1391]

Maybe its marketing hype but Ive seen a few manufactures advertise improved tire clearence from their LCAs. I'll just mention JKS because I was on their site recently. Loud and clear on the proper solution btw, just mentioning what I have seen.

 

[wayoflife]

Maybe its marketing hype but Ive seen a few manufactures advertise improved tire clearence from their LCAs. I'll just mention JKS because I was on their site recently. Loud and clear on the proper solution btw, just mentioning what I have seen.

JKS is a good company and I like their stuff. That said, most aftermarket LCAs are bent inward in the same way to provide more clearance BUT, that just allows your tires to rub on the frame rail.