stuck

[Demontang]

So I have a 97 expedition with a old trailmaster 5" lift. problem is it has the spacers on the spindle instead of the 5" steering knuckle. My pass tire is hitting the upper control arm and the drivers side tire has a good 1/2" of clearance. I replace the ball joint and upper arm, I measured the distance of the top of the steering knuckle to the frame on both sides and they are with in 1/16", I measured from the ground to the lower and upper arms and they are the same. I cant figure out what is causing this tire to rub, There is no slack in the suspenshion any where after the new ball joints and the only thing I can think is that the steering knuckle is bent or the hub is bad??

 

[Expeditionary]

spacers on the spindle?
Can you elaborate?

 

[Demontang]

Its on top of the steering knuckle sorry about that. It's a 5" spacer that bolts to the ballpoint and then to the knuckle. They have trailmaster on them and a part number as well. If memory serves me right it was there budget lift instead of the new knuckles.

 

[Expeditionary]

interesting... never heard of that before, I'm guessing you bought the truck lifted?
im thinking there may just be a rubbing issue that is because of the tire/rim choice you have.
if thermo chimes in he can help, he is the king of fixing rubbing issues

 

[panda24619]

show pics of what you mean. and i also agree its most likely a tire/wheel combo. a simple wheel spacer will solve your issue. maybe a 1 1/2" spacer. nothing too big. show pics of your wheels and tires and your back spacing of the rim.
dont know what it is? measure it. dont know how? find a piece of anything that is long enough to stretch from one end of the rim to the other. dont have it touching tire, but it also has to be flat/level. then take a tape measure/ruler and put it on the back of where you have your lug holes then measure gap from that to the what ever you used. that will tell you your back spacing.

 

[Thermo]

Demontang, not to ask a silly question, but have you taken the truck out 4x4ing? The kit that you have is not meant to be 4x4'ed in. It is a "street queen" lift. Odds are, what you will find is the block that is your spacer has been bent and is now causing your tire to lean in slightly, leading to the rubbing issue. A fix that you may want to look into is talking to Trailmaster and seeing if you can get a set of new spindles. Trailmaster has made a 1 piece spindle setup. That would get rid of the weakness in your kit.

 

[Demontang]

I got the rig this way and I haven't wheeled it at all but I can't speak for the previous owner. I'm running 02fx4 rims with 315 70 17 BFG at tires. I'm thinking thermo is right

 

[Demontang]

So swapped rims problem is gone but the rims are 16-10 welds with 285 75 16 toyo's. The pass side tire is still closer to the upper control arm but I've got 2" of clearance on it. I measured the fx4's with the BFF and the weld with the toyo's and the fx4 stick in 1.25" more toward the control arm

 

[Expeditionary]

there's thermo, i knew he'd be around lol

 

[ViperXC]

I just took this style lift kit out of one expy and put it in another. Not fond of the spindle spacer or the huge replacement center link. My question is, Can I use any manufacturers lift knuckles or will I have to find Trailmaster knuckles? I plan to call TM tomorrow but I know that the company recently changed hands and it may be tough to find parts. Thanks!