UCA metal to metal contact

tamimi · June 14, 2012

I have a 6" BDS lifted 2010 6.2L GMC sierra with 33" tires and a front Iron bull bumper ( extremely heavy ). A year ago - when I first got the truck - the ride/and handling on rod was a bit harsh so I thought it was as a consequence after the lift. However, after using the truck, Now I can see that the "harsh" feeling was from the Upper control Arm restriction. See the attached Picture.

Any recommendations? Some may say add a drop stop.... OK but that extra Piece of rubber will restrict the movement of UCA even more.

Is there any other recommendations, even if extreme ( changing tire size to 35" or maybe Changing the UCA )

ruggedlife · June 16, 2012

going to a 35 will achieve nothing other than you just having a larger tire. you can change out the upper control arm to either cognito, ready lift, or several other companies to achieve some more articulation. however several companies will tell you to cut off that stop for the added articulation. some will argue it can be dangerous as your suspension will cycle too much. you may want to add limit straps depending on how far it droops to prevent premature ball joint and cvshaft failure. i have a 6" bds on mine and i have no issues with it because i know getting rid of those stops would cause even more issues in the long run

tamimi · June 17, 2012

Thanks for your reply.

I have a question though; when you said: "....and i have no issues with it " did you mean yours doesn't hit that metal OR you learned to live with it?

blackout07 · June 17, 2012

You must be really hard on your truck. I have a 1" leveling kit on top of my 6" BDS kit and it's rare that I hit the stops. As mentioned, do not cut off your stops. Consider new arms.

Looking closer at your pic, that's plenty of clearance already.

ruggedlife · June 17, 2012

i very rarely have it hit, typically when driving way too fast over a speed bump of sorts.

blackout07 · June 17, 2012

i very rarely have it hit, typically when driving way too fast over a speed bump of sorts.

Was referring to op.

tamimi · June 18, 2012

Thank you all for your comments

First, Yes, from a quick research, aftermarket UCA will give me a little extra articulation.

Now I also know from the quick research there are two types of UCAs, balljoint and Uniball.

1- Uniball is more extreme choice. It will give better articulation ( about 30% more than stock configuration ). However, it needs more "maintenance" and it won't live as long as ball joints

2- Balljoint is cheaper, but will give less articulation ( about 20% more than stock ). On the other hand, it will last longer.

but to be honest I couldn't physically tell the difference

What would you guys recommend? balljoint or uniball?

Second, to the guys who have 6" BDS system. How do you rate your suspension in term of stiffness (from 0 - 10 being 0 very soft and 10 very stiff )?

mine is 8. now I understand that stiffer suspension will help if I'm doing a lot of towing or so, but that I almost never do. So I want to move it down to 5 or 6

just like my stock 4wd 2003 Avalanche. Any suggestion?

lbkthree · June 18, 2012

I just breezed through this so I may have missed something, but have you contacted BDS? They have bad ass customer support and a no BS warranty. I would at least give them a call.

ruggedlife · June 18, 2012

to me personally i rate mine at a 5. however i think the truck rides drives and feels 100000000000 times better than it did stock. i've also lifted/driven more types of lifted trucks, jeeps, suvs, than i ever care to count. part of the stiffness is probably coming from tires. you could try to find some bilstein shocks for the front instead if you want. or stock struts with a large lift spacer on top like the rough country and procomp lifts use

ruggedlife · June 18, 2012

also as far as you comparing it to a stock avy... apples and oranges... first off the avy has coil springs in the rear which will give a far softer ride than leafs especially since BDS uses an add a leaf which will stiffen it as well. second the front is torsion bar on the avy which rides on a bumpstop to soften the ride, also its 9 years old...

blackout07 · June 18, 2012

I would rate mine at a 5-6 and as far as I'm concerned it rides great for as big as it is. I would think that if anything, your ride would be soft/bouncy with the added weight of the front bumper. I still don't see how you're contacting the droops so much, unless you are hitting some rough terrain.

tamimi · June 19, 2012

The Weld Guy: indeed I contacted BDS. here is there response:

"I do see the contact on the upper control arm droop limiter. The problem would be there is no cushioned stop to lessen the noise and impact on the control arm and bracket. I would recommend you check the ride height by measuring from the center of the wheel to the fender lip, as a ride height set too high could cause excessive contact to the UCA droop limiter. a low profile urethane could be added to the droop limiter to cushion the blow and help decrease the noise. Please let me know if you need anything else."

I don't know why they want me to check the height when the only thing I used is their system.

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Ruggedlife:

yes I believe that tires have big impact on stiffness, and I also believe that some of the stiffness I'm feeling is from the tires but not ALL.

yes I considered a new shocks for the front end, but I'm having really a difficult time in what to get. I don't have the full understanding of shocks, I know how do they work and different technologies associated with them ( I'm an engineer) but when it comes to car shocks, I don't know the standards. In other words, I can see that my front struts have 3 pins at the top but when I go to Fox Racing or Kings I don't see that 3 pins. are those 3 pins on top are just a bracket that I can remove and attach to the replacement shock? Another question is what is the optimum Collapse/Extended dimensions* of the shock?

should I change the Springs with different ratings? I see some shocks called coilovers, were you have the springs and shocks on one assembly, but will they be a direct replacement?

what diameter to go with? ( 2.0, 3.0 , or 3.5 ) as I can tell that the space is limited.

* BDS replacment shocks size:

Extended length 23.75"

Compressed: 19.70"

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Blackout07:

The truck actually bounces ( or oscillates ) 1 to 2 extra time if I go over a speed bump ( on a normal speed )

tamimi · June 19, 2012

One more thing I forgot to mention is I do off roading during the weekends on a sand dunes environment. So, speed and momentum are crucial.

I haven't tried bilstein products before, but from what I have read, Fox and Kings will worth the extra $$$ paid. Correct me if I'm wrong.

blackout07 · June 19, 2012

I'm no expert but it seems that the struts aren't the problem. You're UCAs are contacting the droops because of excessive down travel ie. dropping a wheel in a large hole, "jumping" off dunes etc. It sounds like you may need to consider a long travel setup.