Upper Control Arms Hitting stops After Lift

[Justinj360]

About a month ago I had a 3" key and 2" spacer kit installed on my 2004 Yukon. All was great until this week when college started up again and I had to go back to the campus's awful parking lot transitions and that's where I heard (and felt) clanking when going over the huge bumps.

When I got home tonight I briefly looked at the suspension and saw what I hoped I wouldn't see. The upper control arms are nearly resting on the front stops under them. I can't fit my index finger under the front of the top arm but I can get a finger under the back one. There's also a small mark on the top of the stop from the control arm...

So... (I'm fairly new to suspensions) would it be possible to trim part of the stop off for more travel or would a better idea be to uncrank the torsion bars? (if so would about a half inch be enough?) I thought there wouldn't be any modification needed with a small lift...

Also what is the deal with torsion bars? I've tried to mess with them on this vehicle (before the lift) and on another vehicle and could only get a 1/4 inch of travel out of them. Was I doing something wrong? I watched several videos on them and did exactly what they did and still had trouble. This is part of the reason why I'm hesitant about this.

Thanks guys

 

[01Konvict]

Your keys are cranked up so it is a result of the 3" lift. Most are safe getting 2" lift. What are your front and rear fender measurements?

Options are 1. decrank front end and 2. buy new upper control arms that correct the ball joint and travel stop area.

 

[Justinj360]

Your keys are cranked up so it is a result of the 3" lift. Most are safe getting 2" lift. What are your front and rear fender measurements?

Options are 1. decrank front end and 2. buy new upper control arms that correct the ball joint and travel stop area.

Front: 38.75"
Rear: 38.25"
(I have fender flares so that subtracts a little)

I think I'll just have the keys uncranked a bit...

 

[fiatdale]

Could be like Rough Country - They have you cut off the droop stops...

 

[Justinj360]

Could be like Rough Country - They have you cut off the droop stops...

Is there a tutorial somewhere? My kit is Rough Country but didn't come with instructions. Is that a good idea to cut them off? What are they there to prevent?

 

[01Konvict]

They prevent down travel on front suspension. I never like cutting them off so that the shock stops down travel. I prefer new UCAs that correct the ball joint angle and avoid hitting the bump stops. I will try to find a manual that shows how to cut them off but you use a sawzall or grinder cut off wheel to cut the droop stop off in-between the a-arm mounts

 

[yates ™]

Please do not trim off the droop stops. The suspension is way over cranked, if you want more than like 2" you should start looking into suspension lifts or body lifts.

 

[fiatdale]

^ Exactly what Yates said.

 

[Justinj360]

Okay, so I suppose I'll be having the bars uncranked a bit by my mechanic as soon as possible. I don't think I mentioned I had the kit installed professionally but he chose to have his idiot assistant install it and now he can fix it under his warranty. And cuz I don't like suspensions... Transmissions, wiring, no problem. But suspensions... I can't explain it.

 

[Donnie Yukonie]

Please do not trim off the droop stops. The suspension is way over cranked, if you want more than like 2" you should start looking into suspension lifts or body lifts.

This