AznSky

So even after shaving my a-arm, it gets REALLY close when flexing. And i'm very afraid of what will happen when I air down. So instead of putting out 400+ bones for new wheels, I opted to go the cheap way and get 1" wheel spacers from ebay. Total cost was 154 shipped.

What it looks like right now:





The solution:



These are NOT slip-on, as you can tell. So there shouldn't be any vibration. We shall see.....The only thing I'm worried about is the extra stress on wheel bearings and cv's.

slyang1012

NICE.. i hope everything works out for you. I bought wheel spacers for the same reason, but as i put them on.. it did not quite fit so i spent 600 for new wheels and it solved my problem.. To be honest i have a peace of mind knowing i have wheels that clear the aarms. however i really hope that they fit on your rig! Please post picks when its on!!

Crux

What is the size and backspacing on the wheels you are running right now?

AznSky

they're the stock 16x7 alloys. So it's whatever they are lol. Like 4. somethin?

4Hummer

carefull with those.. re-check the bolts often.

Ive seen them loosen up on people

AznSky

yea my friend's helping me put them on, using a torque wrench and loc-tite.

RaceTaco

I have a $200 fix for the a-arm rub problem that's safer then wheel spacers and cheaper then new wheels and that also gives you more wheel travel. here's a link to eBay store that has a fix:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

RobT2k

It doesn't look like you shaved the A-arms very much. How did you do it?

r0cky

I'm curious about that too because mine are shaved FAR more than yours, AznSky ... just trying to visualize where you shaved them down because it looks like there was a lot left you could've taken off. That being said, those wheel spacers are very nice and bright!!

FirstToy

The reasons are interesting, sounds good.
Would others like to chime in with opinions? I don't know enough about this.

I'll just copy parts from his ad, hope you dont mind RaceTaco:

"You can regain stock alignment when lifting one of these Toyotas. They use your stock ball joint instead of Uniballs like other kits and unlike other kits that claim to increase travel but don't These will increase the wheel travel by 1-1/2" when using aftermarket shocks (Sway-a-way, DR, King or Rev Tech spacers) and that will improve your Off Road & street ride a great deal.

They are a great improvement when wanting more travel and lift at a lower price than a long travel kit and allow more clearence for bigger-wider tires ( tires won't rub on arms like the stock arms )."

"Why I don't sell uniball type A-Arms for 96-04 Toyota's: Here it is plain and simple, Uniballs are great on Race Trucks or extremly hard use off road vechicles but can be noisy (clunking) and can be harder to get if you need to replace (very few off road shops carry them) along with more work to install and because of mounting the uniball 2" above the stock ball joint pivot point they change the ball joint archteculation angle causing makers to shorten the arm 3/4" under stock arm length to get the alignment close to stock again and that 2" difference is the reason why uniball A-Arms punch holes in the inner wheel wells. Are uniballs stronger " Yeah you bet they are and I use them all the time" but I never have any trouble with stock ball joints on a truck used as a daily driver with weekend offroad trips and the stock ball joint has more angle then a uniball with hi-misalighnment spacers and a 3/4" bolt (this is the reason ball joint arms get more travel). And uniballs don't like mud, sand and snow with salted roads since they don't have grease or a rubber boot to protect them they end-up wearing the teflon band inside them giving you that squeaky clunking noise that you would hear on a race truck after 200 miles through the desert. So if you ask me Too much money for no real gain in suspension travel or performance. My comments here pertain to upper a-arm kits and not Long travel extended arm kits or other vehicles that may have weak stock Ball Joints."

deathrunner

I have upper uniballs and they never make any noise. I hit mud....I hit alot of sand....

I have heard bad things about ATS or inland truck products...check the total chaos upper arm that is a good solution.

AznSky

I shaved about a good 1/2-3/4 inch off. Reason I didn't want to go anymore was because of strength issues. That being if I started cutting into the hole and getting really close to the balljoint location, I was afraid of all the load going through the side of the hole and having the balljoint at the edge.

here's a pic from steve's site for comparison just because I didn't take a before pic:

sschaefer3

If you took that much off, you opened up the clam shell. I would highly suggest you plate it and weld it shut.

It is like a VW bug, the strength comes from being a fully enclosed. Not to mention rust back there.

I close the arms off with 3/16" plate they are made from some sort of 1/8" ish material.

AznSky

yea I did close it up already. cut out a piece of metal ( don't know what thickness) and set it in there and welded it back up. Setting the piece inside didn't make the a-arm wider than when I cut it either.

Steve I didn't take as much off as you did though, as you can see from the pics.

4unner4life

how are those spacers working for you?

AznSky

tried putting them on this weekend, and the retard that sent me them sent the wrong lug nuts. He sent the ones made for 1 1/2" spacer so they don't sit flush inside the spacer when bolted to the hub.

Supposedly they have shorter ones so he's sending me those, will get them on Thursday and see.

AznSky

so discount tire won't balance/rotate my tires if I have wheel spacers on. So decided to not put these on and get wheels when I have the $$.

I paid $154 for them, so I'll sell them for 100 shipped.

Napoleon047

that sucks, i have wheel spacers on the front to clear my upper a-arms, but i have yet to take it in for a re-balance

francr

apologize for the hijack. WIth the uniball like camburg engineering upper arm installed, can you still align the front end to stock limits?

punkbek3886

do you still have those wheel spacers?