Lift or lower and balljoint to tire relationship question

[IPT]

So, am I understanding this correct. if I lower my truck (1-2 inches) the balljoint angle will change, but the space between the tire and the balljoint will remain the same? fitting 265/50 20's seems to be common place even though they are 30.5 inches tall.

I know if I go much lower I need to get the modded UCA but that's for the ball joint angle right, not the tire vs / balljoint spacing?

 

[Daniel644]

the base of the upper ball joint comes up thru the top of the spindle which is always in a fixed relative position to the wheel and tire.

if you look at this picture

the area below the rubber boot is fixed relative to the wheel, the boot allows some movement when raising and lowering, the modified upper arms are to get the ball joint pointing straight up and down instead of being pulled to an extreme angle like you see when you jack the truck up to take the wheels off and the suspension is fully extended, is DOES NOT change the distance between the ball joint and the tire.

EDIT: if the tire clears when the truck is jacked up to change the wheels then you're good, that angle is the furthest outward the outside edge of the upper control arm sticks.

 

[IPT]

Thank you Dan. My truck is in storage since I got the camaro on the road for summer driving . The pic and your description were perfect. I get it now . The top of the spindle is where the ball joint sits so that will always be the same distance relative to the the disc/studs that are mounted to it.

So basically when you lower the truck the UCA moves the top of balljoint (out?).so the modified one just pulls the top back in as required to keep a more vertical alignment?

PS: hows your ride doing? Got my TBSS replica wheels and I just waiting for the drop kit from Tony..

 

[Daniel644]

So basically when you lower the truck the UCA moves the top of balljoint (out?).so the modified one just pulls the top back in as required to keep a more vertical alignment?

PS: hows your ride doing? Got my TBSS replica wheels and I just waiting for the drop kit from Tony..

when you lower the top of the ball joint gets pulled in toward the frame, when you raise it gets pushed outward, you can see the outward push in the picture. The modified arms have a steeper angle on the outside edge so that when you lower you end up with the edge closer to vertical (exactly how close depends on the drop).

as for mine, still waiting for someone to buy my firebird before I get the wheels, but in the mean time I'm just about finished with the extent of LED lighting I'm adding to the TB, the self adhesive on the LED strip isn't wanting to stick to the plastic under the drivers side dash so I have to use some better 3M tape for that and then I need to solder the connection to the stock courtesy wiring. I've got some other general maintenance stuff to deal with but I'm moving this week so everything will have to wait till things settle down.