Coil rubbing issue

[rppoit]

I had a upper ball joint shear off a couple weeks ago. After replacing it I noticed when jacked up and at full extension that the arm sits against the coil spring. This has never happened before. So I took it to Belle tire to get it aligned thinking this could be the cause but they told me that they thought something might be bent and recommended taking it to a mechanic to get checked out before doing the alignment. I've looked and looked but can't seem to find anything that could be related to this. FYI I have marks 2 1/2" suspension up front. Does anyone know what could possibly be causing this?

 

[Sparky]

If the upper joint sheared you might consider doing the UCA flip to alleviate the stresses on the joint.

Now to the case at hand, The first thing that comes to mind is the UCA being bent inward, drawing the spindle towards the spring. Did you hit (or get hit by) anything? Or when the ball joint sheared, what happened right after that happened? Where you driving and the wheel fell inwards/outwards/etc? Check the lower ball joint to be sure it didn't get bent when that happened?

 

[The_Roadie]

Tell us more about the ball joint problem. Was it after you installed the lift?

As Sparky says, most folks flip the UCAs when they put in a lift spacer over 1" to relieve the ball joint shaft stress at full extension.

Were you using the truck hard up/down when it broke? Or did it take a side hit? If a side hit, then the LCA might have been pushed inwards and that takes out the coil spring safety clearance.

Those also look like OEM black shocks. Are they? 99 out of 100 people upgrade their shocks when they install spacers - you don't want to have to go in there again if you don't have to.

How many miles?

 

[djthumper]

Looks like there is other damage that is actually causing it to be against the coil spring. Which side is this photo of? You may want to take a look at the other side for reference.

Please consider filling out your vehicle profile so people have a reference of the vehicle they are talking about.

 

[rppoit]

yes. The uca flip was next on my to do list. I was going to do it while installing Marks 3" body lift sitting at home. I wasnt hit and did not hit anything when the ball joint failed. I turned onto a straight road and noticed some looseness in the steering so I immediately slowed down and began to merge lanes to pull off the road, when I did this the wheel began flopping everywhere slamming back and forth as I pulled off the road. Luckily I was only going between 30-40mph and was somewhere where I was able to pull off into a empty lot. When I got out the wheel was sitting with the top inwards and forward against the wheel well. I have about 130,000 miles and I installed the suspension lift about two years ago and I replaced the coil springs and shocks when I installed the lift. The pic is of the drivers side and I still have plenty of clearance on the passenger side.

 

[rppoit]

OK so I've replaced both ball joints, swapped the UCA's, replaced the CV axle and I'm still rubbing at full extension. Unsure of what it can be at this point. LCA or the strut dog leg maybe? Oh and I also noticed I've got some squeaking from the upper strut mount so I'm guessing my bushings need to be replaced also

 

[jsomething]

Had the same issue when i lifted my truck. Turns out i put something together in the strut 180 degrees out. Had to pull the strut again, rotate the dogleg 180 and remount the strut. Fixed the problem. It looks symetrical and like it wouldnt matter. But it does matter.

 

[The_Roadie]

At this point, assuming your upper strut mount is not skewed, which a new one would fix, I'm guessing your coil is bowed or the LCA is too far inward. You can measure the distance inside the coil from the shock to the inside of the coil and see if it's symmetrical. Or if the LCA is too far inwards, your camber will be too far positive and an alignment should detect and cure that. Or your upper strut bucket or the UCA mounting positions are bent out of position by some impact, like the one that possibly damaged the upper ball joint that you assume didn't happen.

 

[jsomething]

On a side note. Yay your the first one i helped on this forum!
I can say that cause im sure thats your problem.
Would be awkward if im wrong...

 

[The_Roadie]

Would be awkward if im wrong...

Ahhhh, do what I do. Answer 100 questions. People remember the 92% you get right. The rest are rounding errors.

 

[BlazingTrails]

It seems to me the shock is bent, it may be the angle but it looks bent too me