yamaboy03

Hey, i recently put a 3 inch spacer kit on my 02 tacoma prerunner and now whenever i hit a speed bump kinda fast my front radius arm will hit the coil. I can see exactly where it is. Do i need to get a wider upper control arm?
-the left and middle photo is the coil decompressed
-the right photo is compressed
i was thinking i might need a wider upper and lower comtrol arm? please let me know, i only used these spacers because my tires were rubbing on the inside of my fenderwell.

crolison

you need to take that spacer out, its over flexing your suspension

tigertowncruiser

you could also install limited straps to prevent too much downtravel. i believe a prerunner is 2wd , so you dont have to worry about cv's.

Gerdo

I'm not sure what you are calling a "radius arm".

Is it rubbing a little or a lot? If it's a little, it may not be a problem. Would a 1/4 wheel spacer help?

Pictures?

yamaboy03

i just put some pictures up.. hope that helps

BajaRunner

Something ain't right, sorry to say.

Looks like full droop is causing the upper a-arm to contact your coil?

Is your spacer really 3"?

I think you added too much lift...post pictures of your CV angles, etc. Did you get an alignment too? Alignment may help a tad. But, you're just going to have premature wear on all your components.

Gerdo

That is a ton of droop to come in contact. I'll have to see where mine are when drooped.

The difference between mine and yours would be... my lift is with taller coils and yours is a spacer. The spacer goes on top of the shock/coil plate (correct me if I'm wrong). a lift like mine keeps the stock droop and since your lift lowered the shock plate it will allow the wheel to droop that amount. Since you have a 2wd you don't have to worry about over extending the CVs. Does it hit a lot? If just once in a while it probably isn't a big deal.

You could check into Total Chaos upper A arms.

yamaboy03

the spacer only measures 1.5 inches and it raised the front 3 inches. had an alignment done also. the spacer is mounted on top of the coil. it doesnt hit a lot but i just have to be careful when i go over speed bumps, like a lowrider : ( i dont know what else to do other than buying a new coilover with 2.5 inch lift..

BajaRunner

Well, at least your 2wd so you don't have to worry about the CV's.

I dont understand why it would be hitting like that. Maybe bad ball joints? Someone will probably chime in here soon with a similar experience.

yamaboy03

This is a close up of where the coil is coming into contact. Its about 3/4 inch and it chipped the paint. Will this cause major issues in the future?

brian2sun

What kind of spacer kit did you use? Was it made for a prerunner, normal 2wd, or 4wd?

yamaboy03

Brand New set of 3” front lift/leveling kit for the 1995-2004 Tacoma 2WD 4WD (6-Lug)



***Highest Quality Kit Out There Guaranteed**




Super high quality. CNC milled from BILLET T6061 aluminum to exact specifications, then sandblasted for added rigidity, and finally anodized Silver. No one offers a kit quite like ours. The anodized finish forms a hard coating thats corrosion/scratch resistant. Last much longer than the spray paint used on most other leveling kits. Most billet lift kits don't even have any surface treatment and will corrode over time, leaving a pitted surface with a white residue. No expense shared over here. Not to mention the coating makes the spacers look fantastic and blend in with the rest factory suspension. Comes with complete hardware + instructions. A easy way to gain a full 3” in the front while retaining a stock right quality.
NOTHING beats leveling kits made from billet aluminum. They are simply the best! Lighter and much sturdier than leveling kits made from steel plate and tubing. They’ll never bend or break at the weld spots. Every single spacer that comes off the machine is EXACT the same. Much easier to install than kits made from poly-urethane. Will never squeek or cause premature strut failure from over extension of the struts. Install is very easy and can be completed in about 30mins-1 hour. No need for spring compressors or strut dissembly.


THIS IS PULLED OFF THE INFO FROM EBAY..

brian2sun

I think that much lift completely on top of your strut assembly is the problem. Most spacer kits have one (1-1.5") spacer inside the assy and another on top (1-1.5"). Crolison is right, it's over-flexing your suspension.

yamaboy03

So im guessing after reading the specifications for the coilover spacers, they would be legit right? Saying that it wouldnt have premature strut extension. Well then why would my truck have this problem?

yamaboy03

ok i know what you mean but either way, if i put 1.5 in, in the strut assembly and one on top, wouldnt that be the same thing as putting it on top of the strut?

brian2sun

I'm really not sure why you get 3" of lift out of a 1.5" spacer, but the overall geometry is being pushed to the limit. I guess it's just another reason why people say spacer lifts suck. Are those stock shocks?

yamaboy03

yeah theyre stock shocks.

SharpStick

There's a small tooth of metal on the top of the steering knuckle (that's the part you're talking about) and you can grind it off. That will probably take care of the problem - I had the same thing on my 4R when I put the Tundra swap on, and I ground the tooth off before it attacked my pretty new springs.

The Tundra springs are wider than the 4Runner springs which is why there was contact, but I don't know how they compare to the Taco coils. The spacer you're using might shift the spring out a little.

I wrote a nice big post about that yesterday but it appears to have been eaten by the YotaTech editing software.

If you want to hit this story on off-road.com, I've highlighted everywhere I cut and trimmed and ground. It's not a lot of metal, just some sort of engineering leftover.

http://www.off-road.com/trucks4x4/Pr...tegoryId=46623

STICK

yamaboy03

My buddy tells me that he thinks i should get 1.5 inch offset ball joints. That would bring the upper control arm back up and the joint would sit level. What do you guys think?

yamaboy03

So would offset ball joints bring the steering knuckle back to the stock position??