upper arm uniball joint

[Adryan]

Hello

other than BTF fabrication for the upper arm uniball joint, is there any other company that can make those customised arms?
second of all im planning to upgrade my tires to 32" (255/70R18) with a 3"x2" suspension lift, does anyone have picture of his truck rigged this ways? can you share some pictures and specify what size and reference in tires you have chosen?

thanks in advance for all your advice.

PS: I have a ford explorer 2008 4x4 V8 limited.

 

[PUR PONY]

Im sure there are other companys that COULD make upper control arms, but the truth is, there is VERY little money it in. The number of us buying these aftermarket arms is tiny. Thankfully Brendon stepped up to the plate and invested time and money into making these for us!!!

I run a 3" lift with BTF arms on my 08 Limited V8 with a 275x70x17 tire. 8.5" wide wheel with 0 offset. Have about 7000 miles on the setup so far.

 

[Adryan]

Im sure there are other companys that COULD make upper control arms, but the truth is, there is VERY little money it in. The number of us buying these aftermarket arms is tiny. Thankfully Brendon stepped up to the plate and invested time and money into making these for us!!!

I run a 3" lift with BTF arms on my 08 Limited V8 with a 275x70x17 tire. 8.5" wide wheel with 0 offset. Have about 7000 miles on the setup so far.

Thanks for that feedback...
I like that setup of yours.. but with 275 don’t you have any rubbing?

do you think I could go for 265/70R18? Or should I better stick to the 17” wheels? I’m a bit septic about that

 

[PUR PONY]

With my current setup i have ZERO rubbing. A lot of fitment has to do with wheel offset and width of the tire.

Are you looking to keep the factory 18" wheels? If so you will more then likely need a wheel spacer to move the wheel out for the wider tire to clear the a-arm/ spring. Or are you looking for an aftermarket wheel?

My current wheel is a Zero offset. Factory is -44mm offset.

A 265x70x17 tires and 265x65x18 tire are almost the same size. As well as a 275x7017 and 275x65x18.

 

[Adryan]

With my current setup i have ZERO rubbing. A lot of fitment has to do with wheel offset and width of the tire.

Are you looking to keep the factory 18" wheels? If so you will more then likely need a wheel spacer to move the wheel out for the wider tire to clear the a-arm/ spring. Or are you looking for an aftermarket wheel?

My current wheel is a Zero offset. Factory is -44mm offset.

A 265x70x17 tires and 265x65x18 tire are almost the same size. As well as a 275x7017 and 275x65x18.

That is actually nice without any rubbing...
I’m planning on getting aftermarket wheel, but I want to keep the same size 18”.

i actually preparing my replacement parts bit by bit and already got them 255x7018 but now I’m not sure if they will actually fit without rubbing + someone told me the will be too tall for my vehicule. Do you think that size tire would actually fit? Or should I already start backing off and have a change?

my next step is to order from BTF them arms and struts spacers 3x2 and a couple of rubbers joints plus new complete front and rear struts with coil springs (from moog) and mount it all at one time.

 

[PUR PONY]

a 255x70x18 should fit fine with the 3" BTF lift. Looking at the specs on that size, they are just about the same height as mine, however they are slightly narrower.

a 255x70x18 has a Section width of 10.2" and tread of 8.4" and a height of 32.1

my 275x70x17 has a Section width of 10.9", tread of 8.9", and height of 32.2

I would try and find a wheel 8 to 8.5" with a -12mm or 0 offset.

I did trim just a tad on my inner fenders just to prevent my tire from catching if i was turning and the suspension compressed. I can post pics for you.

Also, do you have running boards? That is one thing you may have to take into consideration. I have powder boards and i did trim them 1.25" shorter and re-centered them, so basically i took 5/8" off the front and back. Again just in case.

 

[Adryan]

a 255x70x18 should fit fine with the 3" BTF lift. Looking at the specs on that size, they are just about the same height as mine, however they are slightly narrower.

a 255x70x18 has a Section width of 10.2" and tread of 8.4" and a height of 32.1

my 275x70x17 has a Section width of 10.9", tread of 8.9", and height of 32.2

I would try and find a wheel 8 to 8.5" with a -12mm or 0 offset.

I did trim just a tad on my inner fenders just to prevent my tire from catching if i was turning and the suspension compressed. I can post pics for you.

Also, do you have running boards? That is one thing you may have to take into consideration. I have powder boards and i did trim them 1.25" shorter and re-centered them, so basically i took 5/8" off the front and back. Again just in case.

thanks for that “would try and find a wheel 8 to 8.5" with a -12mm or 0 offset.” Really appreciate your support.


I do have them stocks running boards on, what is your advice on that ?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I’m a bit septic about that

don't be getting septic on us.... that can get real deadly

 

[michael66]

i put a 3inch front and rear with 18x9 inch rims and 265 65 18 toyo open country tires rubed when turning sharp but i pulled inner fender out a little and works great put bully bar on front with 20 inch light bar tires and lift worked great rides good and handles great. mine is 2010 limted

 

[Adryan]

i put a 3inch front and rear with 18x9 inch rims and 265 65 18 toyo open country tires rubed when turning sharp but i pulled inner fender out a little and works great put bully bar on front with 20 inch light bar tires and lift worked great rides good and handles great. mine is 2010 limted

View attachment 322156

So that let me believe that the 255/70R18 will just fit perfectly!!! Because I was thinking of getting a smaller wheel and increase the the width!!!???

by the way what is the offset of your wheels?

 

[michael66]

So that let me believe that the 255/70R18 will just fit perfectly!!! Because I was thinking of getting a smaller wheel and increase the the width!!!???

by the way what is the offset of your wheels? rims are mayhem chaos 18x9 with 10mm offset

 

[michael66]

18x 9 mayhem chaos with +10 mm offset they just rub on inner plastic wheel well i used heavy duty zip ties and drilled two small holes and pulled them back works great

 

[Adryan]

18x 9 mayhem chaos with +10 mm offset they just rub on inner plastic wheel well i used heavy duty zip ties and drilled two small holes and pulled them back works great

Thanks all your precious advices.
I have finally ordered today, the upper uniball joint and the leveleling kit 3x2.5 from BTF + complete set of struts from carid.com.
Awaiting on those parts to start upgrading my rig.

Regarding the wheels and tires I will see what is available locally first and then I will decide from there.

 

[michael66]

let me know how it goes, and what is the advantage to going with the upper uniball joint i used heavy duty ball joints from 4x4 off road and i have about 3000 miles on and no problem yet. Thanks

 

[Adryan]

let me know how it goes, and what is the advantage to going with the upper uniball joint i used heavy duty ball joints from 4x4 off road and i have about 3000 miles on and no problem yet. Thanks

Sure I will keep you posted once I receive the parts and start the upgrade.

 

[Adryan]

One question?
Will I need to re-align the wheels once I install leveling kit and the BTF upper arms?

 

[michael66]

yes

 

[Adryan]

yes

and how do I do that?

knowing that I do not have any special tools like seen on internet, is there other ways to proceed?

 

[michael66]

put all ur parts on and just set ur toe in with measuring tape and then you can take it in to be aligned. Measure across the back side of tires and then the front of tires and adjust the tie rod to make them the same and you will be good enough to drive in to get it aligned

 

[michael66]

the bore rides on the lips on the rotor if to small wont fit and to big it wont center it self on the rim some try it but i would check with rim company and see what they say