Bilstein 6112 with Zone UCAs

[Ulises1775]

2017 Ram 1500 Laramie, Crew Cab 4×4, 6'4" bed.

Had Bilstein 6112s installed at 2.8" along with Zone UCAs today. Afterwards took it in to Les Schwab Tire Center for an alignment. I go to pick up my truck once they're done; I ask them how the truck did and they tell me everything was good. Drive home look at the printout of the alignment and notice that the Caster is off front left by +0.6, front right by +0.1.

Was wondering what could possibly cause this? Do Zone UCAs have designated driver/passenger side?

 

[ram1500rsm]

Your caster is good bro and your alignment came out great. That's how much caster you can get with those UCA's you can get it even higher if you wanted/needed. I was running 37's with similar caster on my 2.75" lift, 4.8-5.2"

 

[JB1]

Do Zone UCAs have designated driver/passenger side?

Yes, the arms are side specific and will offset the ball joint to the rear of the vehicle. Also hopefully they did NOT tighten the upper control arms when the vehicle is hanging in the air, the bushings will bind and cause premature wear, the truck should be on the ground (not saying this effects caster).

 

[Ulises1775]

2017 Ram 1500 Laramie, Crew Cab 4×4, 6'4" bed.

Had Bilstein 6112s installed at 2.8" along with Zone UCAs today. Afterwards took it in to Les Schwab Tire Center for an alignment. I go to pick up my truck once they're done; I ask them how the truck did and they tell me everything was good. Drive home look at the printout of the alignment and notice that the Caster is off front left by +0.6, front right by +0.1.

Was wondering what could possibly cause this? Do Zone UCAs have designated driver/passenger side?

View attachment 214830

Is it good even though it's not in the specified range? Thank you for your reply

 

[Ulises1775]

Yes, the arms are side specific and will offset the ball joint to the rear of the vehicle. Also hopefully they did NOT tighten the upper control arms when the vehicle is hanging in the air, the bushings will bind and cause premature wear, the truck should be on the ground (not saying this effects caster).

Thank you for your reply, I'll have to ask the guy who installed them.

 

[ram1500rsm]

Is it good even though it's not in the specified range? Thank you for your reply

Correct. in your case while your caster is a little higher than factory it won't cause any issues. Caster won't wear your tires though too much will make your steering feel slower. in your case 4.5-5* is not near too much so you wont have any issues with that, plus you have the added benefit that your wheels are moving away from the pinch welds as caster goes a little more positive so you can accomodate bigger tires with less rubbing issues.

See the ilustration for a better idea of what caster is/does. As you lift your vehicle, your wheels pivot towards the back of the vehicle . The more lift you add the more they will angle towards the back of the vehicle and the less caster you'll see in your aligment sheet going towards the negative side.

Zone UCA's like some other aftermarket UCA's are designed to correct that pivot point when you add 2-3" of lift so your caster goes back to where it should or more positive caster, and your aligment dude can also play with your camber setting up a more neutral value (0*) or slightly negative camber for better cornering.

If you keep your factory UCA's or go Mevotech, your aligment dude has to decide to give you better camber or better caster because you can't have both (depending on how much lift, keep it at 2" and you should be ok, go to 2.8" and it's better to have something like Zone UCA's, they're an improvement without a doubt over stock when you add 2-3" lift). A littler higher caster with zero camber is more desirable for many reasons your vehicle tracks better after lift, feels more planted down the road, prob won't have many front diff issues, keep your big tires away from the seams etc, etc etc.

 

[Gary2]

That little bit of additional caster is kind of a bonus. Only negative I see is one of my little alignment pet peeves . You should have a hair more caster on the passenger side than you do on the drivers side no matter what the numbers are. It seems more and more I am seeing that over looked so I when I get mine aligned I make a point of reminding the shop and they always agree.

 

[ram1500rsm]

That little bit of additional caster is kind of a bonus. Only negative I see is one of my little alignment pet peeves . You should have a hair more caster on the passenger side than you do on the drivers side no matter what the numbers are. It seems more and more I am seeing that over looked so I when I get mine aligned I make a point of reminding the shop and they always agree.

Maybe they have the road crown towards the other side of the road
My guy also does a little more caster on the passenger side
Untitled by RAM RSM, on Flickr

 

[Ulises1775]

Correct. in your case while your caster is a little higher than factory it won't cause any issues. Caster won't wear your tires though too much will make your steering feel slower. in your case 4.5-5* is not near too much so you wont have any issues with that, plus you have the added benefit that your wheels are moving away from the pinch welds as caster goes a little more positive so you can accomodate bigger tires with less rubbing issues.

See the ilustration for a better idea of what caster is/does. As you lift your vehicle, your wheels pivot towards the back of the vehicle . The more lift you add the more they will angle towards the back of the vehicle and the less caster you'll see in your aligment sheet going towards the negative side.

Zone UCA's like some other aftermarket UCA's are designed to correct that pivot point when you add 2-3" of lift so your caster goes back to where it should or more positive caster, and your aligment dude can also play with your camber setting up a more neutral value (0*) or slightly negative camber for better cornering.

If you keep your factory UCA's or go Mevotech, your aligment dude has to decide to give you better camber or better caster because you can't have both (depending on how much lift, keep it at 2" and you should be ok, go to 2.8" and it's better to have something like Zone UCA's, they're an improvement without a doubt over stock when you add 2-3" lift). A littler higher caster with zero camber is more desirable for many reasons your vehicle tracks better after lift, feels more planted down the road, prob won't have many front diff issues, keep your big tires away from the seams etc, etc etc.
View attachment 214888

Dude, you're awesome! Thank you!

 

[Gary2]

Maybe they have the road crown towards the other side of the road
My guy also does a little more caster on the passenger side
Untitled by RAM RSM, on Flickr

yup, they may figure he's from over seas