Questions about lift and tires.....

I'm going to install a TOYTEC 3" Ultimate lift on my 2010 FJ. What is the biggest size tire I can run without any rubbing? I will have black steelies with a possible 285/70/17 rim. Any suggestions will be awesome. Thanks,

Vinnie

I believe once you start getting above 34" tires you start to get a little rubbing on the front and back of the wheel well and just have to do a little cutting of the plastic there to open it up. So a 285/70/17 should fit fine.

Thanks !

You might have to do a BMC for that tire, but other than that you should be ok.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a BMC?

Body Mount Chop.... basically chopping off the pieces of the body where the tires rub.

Im running 285/70/17 with no lift and BARELY have any rub. Only time it does is on really sharp turns. 3" lift would definitely clear 33" tires for sure.

Ok, cool. I thought that is what it meant. I will definitely look into it, thanks.

Vinnie

So, I too have a question about lifts.....

Going with a 3" lift, what do we have to worry about as far as issues with suspension? Specifically with CV joints?

Also, I plan to replace upper control arms (thinking Total Chaos) so that I can get factory specs with reference to alignment.

The cv joints shouldn't be an issue with a 3" lift. I am not a believer in the diff drop. UCAs are a good idea. You will probably be able to get it in alignment without them, but your upper ball joints can become the limiting factor in travel (they were in my case and they didn't like it) My truck was much happier with aftermarket UCAs. Which lift are you looking at?

All righty then, time to share some knowledge!
When I first started out I did some research on what wheels with what tire and lift what not.
I had personally lifted a customers FJ with a then Donahoe suspension system, with aftermarket wheels and 285s he rubbed all over the body mounts. You could see he was a little upset. Fast forward 6 months and we got are vodoo cruiser, 2 weeks in to owning it and alot of reading and talking later I did a BDS spacer lift which was 3" front and 2" rear springs. I decided on a 17x9 wheel with 4.5" Backspacing with 33x12.50 Mickey Thompson mtz's and ended up with NO rubbing of any sort. Now I cant find any pics of that state but, I do recall having a fair amount of bump steer and the uca being at a funky angle. I did not care for it period! I then purchased OME medium coils and new struts for the front and played around with this combo for around 6 months and plenty of off-roading. Take in mind I dont care so much for hauling butt over sand or such, my heart is in rock crawling. The OME's did perform better than the strut spacer but the bump steer was still prevalent, I had the OME's from 2.5" to 3" and it was the same. It all revolved around that upper ball joint being unhappy. So I bit the bullet and ordered a set of light racing uca's, why you might ask?
A. A sealed ball joint.
B. The adjustablity that they allow for alignment.
C. Cost!
The result, Bump steer gone and alignment has over +5 degrees caster in it to pull tires off of body mounts. Perfection! And these lasted for almost a year before the bushings tore, DRATS, Well to my happiness and suprise Light racing stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. They charged my $150.00 for a new set of arms with the updated bushings and NEW ball joints and 2 dayed them to me. All I had to do was box my old ones up and send them back. Once they recieved my old ones I got my $150.00. How easy was this!

Now once I put spacers on I currently run 1.5" but have run 1.25" also the tires do rub slightly. I did the bmc and have the caster maxed out. I am also running 305/70r17 tires. A 34" tire,not huge but big on a fj with 3" of lift. I latter then swapped to 2.5" walker evans coilovers which are what is on the truck now. THe performance is so much better onroad and off road. I am able to run sans sway bars as well.

I bring all this up because I have run all variety's of lifts to suspension systems. There is a big difference between the two.
A lift kit is designed to lift you from point A to point be however possible and not offer any true performance. Pros are price, cheaper up-front, ability to run plus size tires and looks. A suspension system well net you not only lift but improve the capabilities of the vehicle installed on. Either through ride quality, more travel, and adjust-ability.

Now not every truck needs coil overs and long travel what not. The owner needs to have a heart to heart with them selves about what they do with the truck and where they want to be. Also set a budget once you decide where you want to be. I have found Its best to do it in stages as this is easier on the bank and you get a new appreciation for how each component works together to give you the end state you want.
If you are a street queen and do no off roading nor plan to the Spacer lift is a fine budget conscious step. I would recommend one that pre loads the the strut not bolt on top. Now I would still look into aftermarket uca's for drivability you will not be sorry.

If you are happy going slower off road and want to put it on and forget it the OME or IronMan suspension Is for you. Both are a perfect reliable kit that gives you a better than stock feel and lets you pick spring rates to tune in your vehicle. On the beach they do well just not as responsive as there more expensive bretheren. But a middle road choice that most people honestly don't need more than. I would also recommend after market uca's of some sort.

Now for those that want the best of both worlds ride and adjusability. The coil over! Now honestly I recommend what ever you can find a deal on at the time your looking. They are all rebuildable and revalveable to tune in the dampning. Also there are a plethera of spring rates to play with. The mecca of perfectionest and wrench turners. Now if these are for you then I would not put these on with out some sort of uca. You will be limiting the heck out of the money out of the money you just spent on shiny goodness.

I do love the light racing uca's for reasons stated and more, I just cant say anything bad about them.

The Diff drop! I have ran with and without the diff drop, it is currently installed on the truck and my CV's are at a happy angle and love life. With out the diff drop, sway bars and with coilovers matched with uca's I can droop the front tires to where the cv is the limiting factor. Not good!! With the dif drop on there I have a little bit more room for a buffer zone, and I also installed limiting straps. I have busted 2 cv shafts in over 70,000 miles. The first one was right after I regeard with the ARB up front and got in to a full droop locked up situatution, and the second was after taking the diff drop out for the last 15,000 miles. Both times it was the outer joints.

Here is a little guidance and info for the ones that feel like reading. If you have any more questions please let me know! I am here to help any way that I can. good luck on your choices. Cliff

cnckart wrote:

The cv joints shouldn't be an issue with a 3" lift. I am not a believer in the diff drop. UCAs are a good idea. You will probably be able to get it in alignment without them, but your upper ball joints can become the limiting factor in travel (they were in my case and they didn't like it) My truck was much happier with aftermarket UCAs. Which lift are you looking at?

Hey Brad! I am looking at the Icon Stage 2 lift. What do you think?