[cobra 1]

so installed the "2" inch coil spacers toay, it ended up being 3.5 inches of lift, holy ****, my question to yall is : is this going to destroy my upper ball joints and should i go ahead and get some upper control arms that are suited for a lift? ill post pics when its day light out.

[ChrisR1S]

yea, spacers that lift 2" are actually only like 1.5-1.75". Unless you get different spacers i think you are gonna have to change something suspension wize. Your camber right now is probably horrible...

[lifted97ranger]

what is the year of your truck and is it 2wd or 4wd?

a good rule of thumb is anything over 2" of lift and you will need to start lowering things to achieve proper alignment.....

[ChrisR1S]

his truck is a 2000 b2500, 2wd

[cobra 1]

the toe hasnt changed at all and the camber is maybe negative by a few degrees, but it drives strait down the road, and dosent pull, i ended up not putting the shocks back on because i did it on my lunch break, and they were worn out any way so i didnt see the point, i did it with out a spring compressor, but i had a 11000 pound scissor jack that i use to lift 18 wheelers and then a floor jack under the control arm to fight it back in.
i was wondering if i could just modify the outside of the spring bucket at the top where the spindle might contact the frame at full droop? you know like either notch it or just heat it up and bend it in. eventually ill get the longer upper arms, but of corse its all about money.

[5speedin2.3]

[cobra 1]

[cobra 1]

so now that i have pics, im thinking of notching it where the spring buckets contact the spindle, and what about devising some sort of limiting strap/chain?

[5speedin2.3]

wow that upper balljoint is at a horrible angle :\

[HighRollerII]

dern no joke..

now how do you fix that?

[5speedin2.3]

aftermarket uppers, i think fabtech makes em or something.

[ChrisR1S]

time for more parts or loose the spacers....

[nbro3232]

You definitely need new arms, it looks like the balljoint is at its limit right now just sitting there. It could possibly break off with that much stress.

[seminaryranger]

I hate to say this, but coil spacers have never turned out well for me or my friends. The most recent case was a buddy having the upper control arms smacking the frame because of them. He was never able to fix it so he ditched the spacers and got some sppindles.

The truck looks good, don't get me wrong. I'm just worried that your upper ball joints will repeatedly die early deaths because of the angle they're riding at. Allignments may be difficult, too.

Let us know what happens. Not many guys have put coil spacers on 98+ 2wd trucks.

[Lord Of War]

Your truck might steer straight now but give it a week or two for the tires so start to wear and it will become more noticable.

[cobra 1]

i put the old shocks on to serve as a stop, so it dosent bottom out on the frame now since it has something limit the travel of the control arm. doing that also pulled it down an inch or so , so the control arms are at a better angle.

[cobra 1]

ok and now im going to pose a theoretical question, and before i get a ton of why not to do this : its not safe or it has to be .....

what about getting a set of stock upper control arms, and modifying them so that they retain the stock camber angle, but have the ball joint at a more horizontal angle? like cutting the section at the round part or the arm right before it bends back into the "U" shape towards the frame, then rotating it to where it would be parallel to the ground and then welding it back on?

also does any one actually own a set of upper arms like fabtech or an equivalent that is designed for more wheel travel, that couls take pictures, of them (other than the pics on the websites) so i could see how they are designed?