UofAZCats

Ever since having my girl lowered the front wheels shifted back in the wheel well and I have had rubbing on anything more than moderate turns. Since I enjoy the drive-thru lifestyle the rubbing has been annoying. My mechanic that aligns the truck said I would need new non-stock upper control arms to move the wheels forward any further. Based on Nasty's recommendation I bought a pair of Twisted Metal Workz Camber Correction Control Arms. Got them installed today and the rubbing is almost gone. Only have an issue just before full lock. It was too dark when I picked her up to get any pictures of the truck or the wheels tonight but I will take some in the next couple of days and post them. Drive-thrus beware! Twisted Metal Workz Camber Correction Control Arms: https://www.twistedmetalworkz.com/collections/control-arms/products/2008-2018-silverado-sierra-camber-correction-control-arms?variant=11703967285295

This weekend I cleaned, clayed, polished and then sealed my girl. Then woke up Monday morning to take her to the shop to get new upper control arms installed and this....

Got the Twisted Metal Workz upper control arms installed on my truck today. It was late and I didn't have time to snap any photographs but will try to do so in the next couple of days. The wheels moved forward as advertised. They only rub right before full lock now. Lot of money/time to move the wheel forward about a half inch but I am happy with it. Looking to get rid of the last bit of rubbing I can either go down a tire size or potentially step down from my 1.5" wheel spacers to a 1" spacer. I don't want smaller wheels as I like the look filling up the wheel well like they currently do. The spacer change I might do. I went with the 1.5" spacer as I understood that smaller spacers would require trimming the bolts and I wasn't sure I wanted to take that step. Now after talking with my installer he said it was no big deal, and that basically it is something they do regularly (my paraphrase). Any one here had that done? I do like the wheels sticking out but I have thought since ti first got done that I really would like them to come in that 1/2".

Looks good. Great color and the drop looks right on for the truck.

Looks like you are running the 20" rims with standard tire size, correct? I have 22's with 285/45 tires (stock tire size for these OEM rims).

Will the TMW UCAs fix that difference? My alignment tech said he couldn't move the wheel any farther forward because the stock UCAs didn't allow it. I ordered the TMW UCAs after seeing your endorsement of them because they are more adjustable.

That looks a little better than mine with only a 2 inch drop upfront. Your driver side looks better than the passenger side in the pictures. Is that what you see in person?

Its not. Picture isn't doing it justice. Rubbing is only along the rear of the wheel well and occurs with just over a turn and a half. Besides if it were stock then the IHC wheel movement was basically the same.

Well apparently I am the exception because my wheel is quite a bit back. The stock UCAs are adjusted as much as they can be and it is still back a lot. Is there a way that the spindle could be installed wrong to cause this situation? Not sure if the picture does it justice but this is post spindle.

My wheel shifted a lot with either their lower control arm only kit or a drop spindle. The spindle was less but not much.

I originally had the IHC with the lower control arms only for a 3"/5" drop but didn't want it quite that low partly because it was a touch lower than I wanted but mainly because it rubber a lot. I chose the kit because the front wheel was not supposed to shift backward, but in my case that was not what happened. IHC tried to make it right and even sent me a second set of arms to fix the problem. It didn't change the wheel position. So at that point I followed Nasty's advice and changed the arms back to stock and put in a drop spindle. The wheel position improved a small amount but not much. The turning radius/rubbing problem improved to a tolerable level. Since Nasty mentioned the TMW UCAs though I have been hopeful that they will improve the wheel position enough that I might get back a large amount of turning radius I lost. When I talked to the mechanic doing the alignment he said it was the stock UCAs that were limiting the wheel position.

I just got a pair of the Twisted Metal Workz UCA's delivered. Take the truck in next week to get them installed. I only have drop spindles but the wheels sit quite a bit back in the wheel well and my 22's rub and most turns. I can't wait to get rid of that problem. Part of the reason i was think about the struts and shocks was thinking about getting all of the work done at the same time. Thanks again.

I really appreciate your helping me. How is your ride? Would you say it was as smooth as stock or better/worse?

Got it. So the front are struts not shocks. That explains the confusion on my part. Does using adjustable struts to lower the front of the truck instead of a drop spindle provide for a better ride? I think I was confusing a strut with a coilover. Does replacing a strut without replacing the coilover impact the ride? In other words if I replace the stock struts with an adjustable strut should I also change out the coilover? Are stock struts with a drop spindle a bad combination? I was fine with the stock struts before I put in the drop spindle but after installing the drop spindle the ride seems to have become more harsh over time.

I'll try to be clearer. Speaking only about the front shocks, if I leave my stock front shocks and replace the stock struts with Belltech or McG struts, will my ride improve? Or do I need to replace both the struts and the front shocks?

Does using Belltech or McG struts lower the truck any further? Can those be used with the original stock shocks or do the shocks need to be upgraded to get the benefit of those struts? If I keep the stock struts does replacing the shocks matter? On the rear shocks it sounds like Belltech Nitro are a better option than what I have. I hear Viking are good as well and found the rear adjustable on the Twisted Metal Workz site for $360 which seems reasonable. Which would you say is the better choice? I appreciate your sharing your knowledge on these things.

Following up on this discussion so I am sure I understand. I used a drop spindle in the front for a 2" drop and have a 4.5" drop in the rear with a IHC kit shocks. I am looking to improve the ride as I think it used to be better. I don't know much about shocks, springs or struts other than what I have read on this thread. Replacing the rear shock sounds like it would help. The Nitro shocks you mentioned - where did you get them? I also see people mention Vikings adjustable shocks. Searching via Google gives way to many options with almost no explanations for these two spring types. Anyone with links on what they bought and are happy with for lowered shocks is appreciated. Does the using a drop spindle with the stock shocks/struts/springs impact the ride? In the rear using a shock for the lowered condition or a shock extender is a must otherwise the shock travel distance is already impacted and the ride suffers. Is that the case in the front when using a drop spindle? Obviously not much of a gear head but I am trying to learn and I haven't had much luck looking randomly through the internet. Any recommendations on how to improve the ride is appreciated.

Will it be possible to upgrade from HMI 2.0 to the 3.0? If so what would be needed for that conversion? It sounds possible but I figure it makes sense to ask.