a-arm rubbing issues - solution came in the mail today

AznSky · 05-05-2005, 04:46 PM

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.

This ad is not displayed to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on Yotatech!

slyang1012 · 05-05-2005, 04:50 PM

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 · 05-05-2005, 04:53 PM

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

AznSky · 05-05-2005, 05:13 PM

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

4Hummer · 05-05-2005, 06:17 PM

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

Ive seen them loosen up on people

AznSky · 05-05-2005, 06:32 PM

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

RaceTaco · 05-05-2005, 08:49 PM

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 · 05-05-2005, 11:08 PM

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

r0cky · 05-06-2005, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobT2k

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

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 · 05-06-2005, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

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 · 05-06-2005, 01:47 AM

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 · 05-06-2005, 03:43 AM

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 · 05-06-2005, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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:

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 · 05-06-2005, 07:04 AM

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 · 05-09-2005, 07:43 PM

how are those spacers working for you?

AznSky · 05-10-2005, 04:01 AM

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 · 05-11-2005, 03:37 PM

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 · 05-11-2005, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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 · 09-09-2005, 10:32 PM

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

punkbek3886 · 10-11-2005, 05:57 PM

do you still have those wheel spacers?

BruceTS · 10-11-2005, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by francr

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

The simple answer is YES

jacksonpt · 10-12-2005, 05:32 AM

Not to sidetrack from the spacers thing... but I have a couple of questions about the initial a-arm issue.

You said you were concerned when you aired down... that doesn't really change things, does it... as the buldge form airing down is at the bottom, where all the pressure/weight is, right?

Also... the first pic looks troublesome... the second pic looks fine. Back when I had my stock a-arms and 32/11.5-15s, I could juuuuust barely squeeze 1 finger between the a-arm and the tire. I ran/wheeled those tires for almost 50k miles with no problems. When the suspension travels, the a-arm moves with the tire, so the distance between the tire and the a-arm should never change, right?

Am I missing something here?

AznSky · 10-12-2005, 10:32 AM

punkbek - Sorry I don't have the spacers, sold them a long time ago

jackson - I started thinking about that recently as well. From what I gathered talking to a few tire engineers, the conclusion is that when you do air down, you are actually safer. Reason being is that when you air down, the bulge will be more at the bottom, and the top section width will barely increase by 1 mm if that. This is because the inflation pressure is not great enough to keep the cords stretched and round, and normally the top half of the tire is in more tension than the bottom, so the lesser tension at the bottom of the tire will allow it to bulge out more so you start getting material compression at the bottom. And the top half doesn't bulge out more because the cords are still in higher tension.

As for the a-arm issue, in our case, the a-arm actually moves inward when you droop the tire, this I noticed when they were installing my 285's. At full droop the tire was rubbing against the a-arm, but once we set the vehicle down it didn't touch (but was VERY close). I'm still trying to understand completely why, I started thinking about the upper and lower a-arm acting as a 4-link with the vehicle but then it shouldn't go inward if it moves in any direction from horizontal.

Either way, that's what I noticed about the a-arm. I'll look into it more.

btw first pic and second pic are the same side. Just from different angles.

BruceTS · 10-15-2005, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacksonpt

When the suspension travels, the a-arm moves with the tire, so the distance between the tire and the a-arm should never change, right?

Am I missing something here?

With the stock balljoint, the upper a-Arm moves closer to the tire the further it droops, because of where the pivot point is located, unlike the Uniball design that stays virtually the same distance from the tire all the time.

ZUK · 10-16-2005, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AznSky

punkbek - Sorry I don't have the spacers, sold them a long time ago

jackson - I started thinking about that recently as well. From what I gathered talking to a few tire engineers, the conclusion is that when you do air down, you are actually safer. Reason being is that when you air down, the bulge will be more at the bottom, and the top section width will barely increase by 1 mm if that. This is because the inflation pressure is not great enough to keep the cords stretched and round, and normally the top half of the tire is in more tension than the bottom, so the lesser tension at the bottom of the tire will allow it to bulge out more so you start getting material compression at the bottom. And the top half doesn't bulge out more because the cords are still in higher tension.

As for the a-arm issue, in our case, the a-arm actually moves inward when you droop the tire, this I noticed when they were installing my 285's. At full droop the tire was rubbing against the a-arm, but once we set the vehicle down it didn't touch (but was VERY close). I'm still trying to understand completely why, I started thinking about the upper and lower a-arm acting as a 4-link with the vehicle but then it shouldn't go inward if it moves in any direction from horizontal.

Either way, that's what I noticed about the a-arm. I'll look into it more.

btw first pic and second pic are the same side. Just from different angles.

Rob---the rubbing issue goes away with narrower tires....don't know what size you have (33x12.50? ) but my 33x10.50's have plenty of gap and no wheel-wellrubbing on the turning scrub radius. I have the factory cool aluminum 7" wide rims on my 87 Runner. By not using wheel spacers, the lower BJ will live a long time too.

ZUK

05-05-2005, 04:53 PM	#3 (permalink)
Crux Registered User Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Castle Rock, CO Posts: 849	What is the size and backspacing on the wheels you are running right now? __________________ 97 4Runner SR5 Blue - 135k miles, E-Locker, Armorology front/rear bumpers & sliders, BudBuilt skidplate+belly, MTR 285/75/16s, 2" Tundra/OME Lift, 1" 4Crawler Bodylift, 1" diff drop, Black Aluminum Wheels, Cobra CB 04 Land Cruiser Grey - 90k miles, OME Lift, Slee Sliders, 35" Toyo Muds

05-05-2005, 05:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
AznSky Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 2,796	they're the stock 16x7 alloys. So it's whatever they are lol. Like 4. somethin? __________________ Rob

05-05-2005, 06:17 PM	#5 (permalink)
4Hummer Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 1,975	carefull with those.. re-check the bolts often. Ive seen them loosen up on people __________________ Michael 1991 4Runner 22RE. CHOP www.obsessiveoffroadclub.com

05-05-2005, 06:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
AznSky Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 2,796	yea my friend's helping me put them on, using a torque wrench and loc-tite. __________________ Rob

05-05-2005, 08:49 PM	#7 (permalink)
RaceTaco Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Corona, Ca Posts: 14	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 __________________ Toyotas' rock ,Been building nothing but Toyota's since 1979, Been racing Toyota's since 1989. Last edited by RaceTaco; 05-05-2005 at 09:01 PM.

05-05-2005, 04:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
slyang1012 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Diamond Bar, CA Posts: 572	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!!

05-05-2005, 11:08 PM	#8 (permalink)
RobT2k Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: San Diego Posts: 926	It doesn't look like you shaved the A-arms very much. How did you do it? __________________ '99 3.4L Limited Trail pics

05-06-2005, 01:47 AM	#11 (permalink)
deathrunner Registered User Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: San Diego CA Posts: 2,971	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. __________________ IFS IS FOR LOSERS Decroded Piece of Crap

05-06-2005, 03:43 AM	#12 (permalink)
AznSky Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 2,796	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: __________________ Rob

05-06-2005, 07:04 AM	#14 (permalink)
AznSky Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 2,796	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. __________________ Rob

05-09-2005, 07:43 PM	#15 (permalink)
4unner4life Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Raleigh NC Posts: 554	how are those spacers working for you? __________________ -1998 4runner, Sonoran Steel #1 lift, 1" bl, 33x12.50 bfg a/t on black rims, custom dual exhaust with a vortex. -and a fast yz 125 -Daniel

05-10-2005, 04:01 AM	#16 (permalink)
AznSky Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 2,796	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. __________________ Rob

05-11-2005, 03:37 PM	#17 (permalink)
AznSky Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 2,796	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. __________________ Rob

09-09-2005, 10:32 PM	#19 (permalink)
francr Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 98	apologize for the hijack. WIth the uniball like camburg engineering upper arm installed, can you still align the front end to stock limits?

10-11-2005, 05:57 PM	#20 (permalink)
punkbek3886 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 89	do you still have those wheel spacers?

10-12-2005, 05:32 AM	#22 (permalink)
jacksonpt Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Binghamton, NY Posts: 2,753	Not to sidetrack from the spacers thing... but I have a couple of questions about the initial a-arm issue. You said you were concerned when you aired down... that doesn't really change things, does it... as the buldge form airing down is at the bottom, where all the pressure/weight is, right? Also... the first pic looks troublesome... the second pic looks fine. Back when I had my stock a-arms and 32/11.5-15s, I could juuuuust barely squeeze 1 finger between the a-arm and the tire. I ran/wheeled those tires for almost 50k miles with no problems. When the suspension travels, the a-arm moves with the tire, so the distance between the tire and the a-arm should never change, right? Am I missing something here? __________________ Jackson - My Site 96 SR5 4x4 - 33" MTs, open diffs, and 3.90s - LET'S ROCK! My runner has bee traded in sniff on an 06 SR5 long bed d-cab Tacoma. The tacoma is nice, but... sniff ... I'll update my site when I'm done grieving.

10-12-2005, 10:32 AM	#23 (permalink)
AznSky Registered User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 2,796	punkbek - Sorry I don't have the spacers, sold them a long time ago jackson - I started thinking about that recently as well. From what I gathered talking to a few tire engineers, the conclusion is that when you do air down, you are actually safer. Reason being is that when you air down, the bulge will be more at the bottom, and the top section width will barely increase by 1 mm if that. This is because the inflation pressure is not great enough to keep the cords stretched and round, and normally the top half of the tire is in more tension than the bottom, so the lesser tension at the bottom of the tire will allow it to bulge out more so you start getting material compression at the bottom. And the top half doesn't bulge out more because the cords are still in higher tension. As for the a-arm issue, in our case, the a-arm actually moves inward when you droop the tire, this I noticed when they were installing my 285's. At full droop the tire was rubbing against the a-arm, but once we set the vehicle down it didn't touch (but was VERY close). I'm still trying to understand completely why, I started thinking about the upper and lower a-arm acting as a 4-link with the vehicle but then it shouldn't go inward if it moves in any direction from horizontal. Either way, that's what I noticed about the a-arm. I'll look into it more. btw first pic and second pic are the same side. Just from different angles. __________________ Rob

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
cant get tires mounted, rubbing issues.	seanz0rz	95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners	41	12-09-2006 01:20 AM
86 4Runner Rubbing Issues	Toyopnoy	86-95 Trucks & 4Runners	7	06-06-2006 04:31 PM
82 Toyota 4x4 w/Tranny issues - what's the best solution?	82Yoda4x4	Maintenance & Repair Archives	4	08-28-2005 06:00 PM
Upper control arm rubbing on 285 MT/R	ASU4runner	Offroad Tech	30	10-22-2004 10:54 AM
rubbing issues?	Churnd	95.5-2004 Tacomas & 96-2002 4Runners	3	01-30-2003 10:44 AM