[High Roller]

Hello,

I'm trying to deside how much to stretch my budget on a lift kit, looking at 2 to 2.5 inch suspension lift, and weather to go the cheap route with a spacer kit or a complete coilover kit. My question: I understand what coil Bucket contact is, but what damage does it or could it cause? Or is it just the loss of travel through the suspention prematurely bottoming out is the issue.

Thanks for your help.

2010 Frontier SE 4X4 CC short bed

 

[Zedbra]

if you spend a lot of time in your truck then just get the coils. you will appreciate the ride and yiou can adjust the contact and height.

as for damage - not sure how to answer that...the noise will bug ya and then you'll get coils. :lol:

 

[Jordo]

I have 3 inch spacer up front. This is the dreaded spacer that causes all the contact. And it's true it does. So I removed my upper control arm off, ground down a small section where the contact occurs and poof! Contact gone.

There won't be any damage if you do nothing, it will just drive you nuts!

 

[LoopOut]

Jordo: I've heard a few times of guys just grinding/cutting the UCA's or coilbucket a little, to lessen or eliminate contact. Will this pose any problems down the road, longevity wise.

 

[domoMKIV]

If you really want to stretch your budget, do a 2" body lift instead of the suspension lift.

Jordo: I've heard a few times of guys just grinding/cutting the UCA's or coilbucket a little, to lessen or eliminate contact. Will this pose any problems down the road, longevity wise.

If you don't want to hear it, just put on a bumpstop.

 

[nismo5]

If you don't want to hear it, just put on a bumpstop.

down travel is bad enough with 3" spacers with the bumpstop you basically have none if you want a good ride save your time and get coilovers

i wouldnt go any bigger than 2" spacers if you wanna keep some suspension travel and avoid coilbucket contact not to mention keeping good cv angles

 

[LoopOut]

Domo: I have coilovers ordered. But I didn't get UCA's for the time being. Thats why I asked about cutting and grinding. I have no intentions of ever running a spacer lift.
And I don't wanna put in a 1" or 2" bumpstop and take away virtually any extra down travel I gain from the coilovers, this was by advice of Greg at PRG.

 

[frontire]

If you look in loothe DIY section under stickies, you'll find the thread about the UCA bumpstop (the one I wrote back when I went by frontpagenews). I am sure there are some low profile bumpstops that are 3/16 of an inch thick. I used the 3/8, but I switched to the 11/16 - no reason for the switch. Check your local auto parts store...they are easy to find and don't cost much...plus they are much less than the 1 or 2 inch bumpstop you mentioned

 

[Jordo]

Jordo: I've heard a few times of guys just grinding/cutting the UCA's or coilbucket a little, to lessen or eliminate contact. Will this pose any problems down the road, longevity wise.

No. None that I can think of and none that I have ever heard about. The UCA (upper control arm) has a very easy job. There is very little stress on that part. All of the weight and stress is on the coil bucket and the LCA (lower control arm). I ground mine down about 8 months ago and 10,000 miles ago.

Not one issue.

down travel is bad enough with 3" spacers with the bumpstop you basically have none if you want a good ride save your time and get coilovers

i wouldnt go any bigger than 2" spacers if you wanna keep some suspension travel and avoid coilbucket contact not to mention keeping good cv angles

Your right, a aftermarket coil over is better then a spacer......
But if you DONT wanna spend $1000 on just the coil overs, the spacer option is a good one.

Also, the small loss in suspension travel is no - issue, if you dont do any hard core off roading. I have my truck the way it is now.... (with spacers) for the look. And when I do go off road..... I'm not trying to go through a boulder feild, I'm on a dirt road or in a grass feild parking lot, so I dont need the high $$$ suspension, so Coil spacers was my best bet.

Its all about what you plan on doing.

You dont need a machine gun to kill a ant hill. Would it be cool? Hell yeah! Necasary? No.

 

[nismo5]

i just dont know why anyone would buy a brand new truck and have it ride like a big pile o dog$hit with 3" spacers even greg from prg says there not a good idea and im sure its better with grinding the uca to avoid contact but theres no small loss in suspension travel you basically loose all of it i would park in a flat parking lot and my uca's would be 1/8th" from the coilbucket and any travel you gain back by grinding is just more stress on your cv's that will cause premature failure

 

[Jordo]

i just dont know why anyone would buy a brand new truck and have it ride like a big pile o dog$hit with 3" spacers even greg from prg says there not a good idea and im sure its better with grinding the uca to avoid contact but theres no small loss in suspension travel you basically loose all of it i would park in a flat parking lot and my uca's would be 1/8th" from the coilbucket and any travel you gain back by grinding is just more stress on your cv's that will cause premature failure

No man, just because the UCA's are close to the coil bucket doesnt mean that you have no more travel. It just means that you are at the top of the travel.

It can still compress the same amount it always did. Its just on rebound, Or what you guys call droop, it rebounds a little to far, and kisses the coil bucket. I have seen 1/4 inch thick coil bucket pads that keep it from making noise.

And lastly, I agree that the spacers dont make it ride as nice, but to say it rides like dog shlt is a HUGE over stament, IMO. And for $100 compared to $1,000 The spacer is golden..... if you dont do extream off road.

 

[mike]

Its just on rebound, Or what you guys call droop,

Rebound and drop are not the same thing.

 

[Jordo]

Rebound and drop are not the same thing.

I'm listening.....

 

[mike]

rebound is when the suspension springs back. Drop travel is when the suspension is fully extended.

 

[hyperx2002]

I have the PRG 3" spacers and TC UCAs and I love it....do a ton of major off-roading also. Never get coil-bucket contact. Nice truck Jordo.

 

[nismo5]

I have the PRG 3" spacers and TC UCAs and I love it....do a ton of major off-roading also. Never get coil-bucket contact. Nice truck Jordo.

can we get some pics of your cv angles at full droop and at ride height ??

and coilbucket contact wont be as noisy cause aftermarket uca's have the droop stops but with stock uca's and 3" spacers it sucks big time

 

[Jordo]

Done. I'll take pics of my cv first thing in the morning. (it's dark here) I bet you'll be surprised on how strait they are.

And for the record, the no coil bucket contact with aftermarket coilovers is dur to inturnel set up of the shock. The shock "tops out" inturnaly before your control arms would have hit. You don't hear it because it's all hydraulics, it is silent.

I was told this by "Greg" at PRG two weeks ago.

That's why I'm betting that are cv angles are gonna be the same.
you take pics of yours, I'll take pics of mine. Post them up!

 

[Passprotection]

Wouldn't a 2" spacer and Bilstein 5100 give the same 3" + lift? That's what Iv'e been looking into doing if it will work.

 

[ThugNasty]

I have the PRG 3" spacers and I definitely wished I'd saved my money and went with the coilovers. My CV angles are horrible and I'm soon gonna have to order the $600 UCAs from PRG before they fail. and plus the noise makes your truck sound like a hunk of junk every time you hit even a small rock or dimple in the road.

Never do things the cheap way.

 

[nismo5]

Done. I'll take pics of my cv first thing in the morning. (it's dark here) I bet you'll be surprised on how strait they are.

And for the record, the no coil bucket contact with aftermarket coilovers is dur to inturnel set up of the shock. The shock "tops out" inturnaly before your control arms would have hit. You don't hear it because it's all hydraulics, it is silent.

I was told this by "Greg" at PRG two weeks ago.

That's why I'm betting that are cv angles are gonna be the same.
you take pics of yours, I'll take pics of mine. Post them up!

ummm the pics i requested were from the guy with 3" spacers and uca's ??whats that gotta do with aftermarket coilovers ?????

did you ask greg how awesome it is to run 3" spacers on a 4wd

and if you want pics of my cv angles ill take them but im gonna be busy partying for my buddys b'day this weekend ill take them next week