they don't fit.
please help, internet.

 

I've been thinking about that exact issue lately. My initial thoughts are to reinforce the upper A arm and cut out the center for clearance and rebuild the upper mount from scratch since a chopped mount such as you have isn't going to be strong enough to support the truck.

Another option is to swap in some tubular A arms since they'd clear perfectly with minimal effort. The lower mount will have to be changed and reinforced since it's just sheet metal with 8mm bolts holding the shock.

 

x2 on everything WT said. Especially the upper shock mount part. If coilovers were as simple as just bolting on, lots more people would have done it.

 

well i'm here to change that. i come to you with questions regarding parts available. i've been searching for tubular upper control arms and it seems the fabtech FTS41301 has been re-worked for a ball joint on a 3" lift. if flipped upside down, could this benefit a dropped ball joint? do i have other options from other vendors? also the upper shock tab...yeah about that...

would removing material behind it be an option?

 

The guy that bought can-do specialties is a member here and they still make the arms.

 

i'm hoping he chimes in and could maybe assist me in my build! thank you for your input. i'm running belltech rear drop leafs right now and i have a ford ranger 3.73 8.8 rear not installed yet. currently going through the machining process on a '59 283 small block chevy, have all the parts im just putting this thing all together now. i'll probably be back on here a bunch.

 

here is the truck by the way

 

I would not go the fabtech route, not when you can get the KBS arms. Running the fabtechs upside down probably wouldn't work too well with the balljoint mounting plate being angled wrong. This is the guy who owns the shop that makes the arms dtkstout I'd shoot him a PM about some uppers.
For upper shock mounts, I'd look into the off road scene at something like this Shock Hoops & Mounts : TMR Customs, Custom Fabrication Components for Offroad Vehicles or 12" Shock Tower, 2" Deep - Pair - RuffStuff Specialties. Those would have to be modified to fit with the UCA mounts but it show the idea. With your coilovers being so short, I think a tubular shock hoop would be a pain in the ass to fit and just way overkill.
To mount the coilover on the lower arm, I would fill in the hole with a small plate where the stock shock was and then weld on 2 short tabs like these Mounting Tabs | QA1 Shock Mounting Tabs | Drag Racing, Street Peformance & Street Rod Suspension Then I would also do some kind of inner bracing and box the lower in.
Just my .2 cents though.

 

So what i shouldve done was get longer shocks and sprjngs. Welp, they look cute so whatever. Ill buy some of those shock towers and shorten them...and pray this guy responds about the uppers. Huge help thank you. You just gave me hope for my build again.

 

I will have to move the shocks to the top of the lca's too. I feel like it will be more structurally reliable that way.

 

I'm actually in the beginning stages of doing the same swap. I was gonna get a set of tubular uppers UCA from KBS Fabrication which is dtkstouts shop like Robert M said. Which QA1 coilovers did you get? I've been looking into just having a full custom set of coilovers built, haven't decided on the company yet tho, like I said still in the beginning design stage.

 

I wouldn't necessarily buy the ones I linked to. Look around online and see if there are more options out there. Those ones were quick google searches for coilover mounts. There are tons of shops who make parts for other vehicles that might work better.

Yes, but they also need to be boxed in and braced. Those arms were not designed to take the forces of a coilover and the weight of the truck in that section.

 

it looks like ford f250 shock towers are essentially the same thing for a fraction of the price...and probably a fraction of the strength but i'm not going off jumps in the thing. i could shorten those...they bolt to the outside of the frame but i would use my welder. i see what you mean by strengthening the lca. i was wondering that myself. the load transfer is being relocated from the torsion bar to the lca. at that point i might as well just drop the dough on some lowers too. i don't know...originally the plan was to save money but after i bought some pistons and rods for the 283 i guess my idea of a budget kind of just dissolved into "well if i'm going to build a race truck i might as well make it nice"

 

looks like the kbs uppers are a few bucks over my limit...if i can't find anything for like 200 bucks i'm probably just going to go to a local guy to have it all made. at that point its worth it to get the geometry perfect. unfortunately i bought the basic qa1 coilovers. they're basically just some high quality shocks probably monroe or something with a coilover sleeve and spanner rings. i meant to buy the ones with adjustable valving, but ended up with these and a mysterious extra 150 bucks in my account. these should fare well with the 550lb 7" summit springs i threw on there. (i got cheap springs to experiment with rates) i also ordered tapered top hats which is the piece you see on top of the spring.
one important feature is the bottom mounting. make sure its the pin style. these are for a 69 camaro.

qa1 is the best bang for your buck. i've been researching it for a few months now before i bought anything.

 

^I second the sentiment about QA1, they make such a large variety of shocks, that's part of the reason I've gone with their parts for my build. AND you can see most of the specs on all of it if you browse summitracing. I haven't posted my build yet, but def sub'd. Moar pics!

 

lol Its call the snowball effect and it happens on almost every build I've ever seen, including mine.

550lb springs might be a little heavy. I'm running 400lbs on the front of my truck and I think its a little too much spring. Granted, our setups are way different but I think 350lb would be perfect for me.

 

picked up these cause theyre the only ones speedway has with 5" spacing on the mounting holes. theyre supposed to be here friday...but i measured on the truck 4.5". kinda freaking out a little. think theyll line up?

Speedway Mustang II Tubular Upper Control Arms, Stock Width, Pair - Speedway Motors, America's Oldest Speed Shop

 

They might work but most likely wont be correct. The arms might be too short or long which will screw up the geometry of the suspension or the balljoint might not be the right size or taper so it doesn't seat in the hole and then can come loose.
Why wouldn't you buy the arms that were already discussed and are made for these trucks and in doing so help support a fellow toyota shop owner who is on this forum?

 

I have taper bits to enlarge the knuckle if the ball joint doesnt fit
I measured over and over and over
Speedway gives you every little detail and spec
These are like way nicer for way less
If theyre too long i add washers, too short and im stuck with a few more degrees of negative camber
Im more concerned with the inside mounting holes being off by a half inch.

 

Any updates?