Took the truck to get the alignment done today. Castor and camber on the driver side was perfect. But on the passenger side the top of the tire is towed in towards the engine badly.. the shop was going to adjust it and set the caster camber on that side, but quickly found out it was already adjusted all the way out. Couldn't go any further. WTF. Is it possible to the wrong control arm is on the truck? I changed that upper control arm a handful of years ago. I do not remember where I bought it or any of the details.. I just remember that we did replace it. The guy at the shop who's actually a really good friend of my boss and very trustworthy said to change it and then bring it back to finish the alignment/caster Camber adjustment.. looking on RockAuto, it appears that there are two different measurements between the left side and right side. As in one is a little bit longer than the other approximately half an inch. I'm a little confused on how I ended up with one that's too short. Has anybody ever done a side-by-side comparison of the left side upper one and a right side upper one?
-
Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.
Your truck knowledge is missing!
- Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
- We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
- Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
- NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
Problems registering? Click here to contact us!
Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!
Upper control arms.
- Thread starter Stoney
- Start date
dbrannon79
I'm getting there!
the uppers for left and right are totally different from each other so you couldn't have gotten them swapped. I had the same issue on my drivers side where the shop had to adjust the caster / camber all the way out just so the tire was "within spec" but it bothered me. I ended up having to get a set of upper arm bushings there were offset so that it could be adjusted properly.
the shop that did my alignment said the frame could be slightly bent causing this. and noted that it doesn't take much to straighten and pull it out some. I didn't have the extra funds at the time to get that done, but I would like to.
something to note, as time has gone by since that day they told me the frame might be bent, I had done more work on my front end where I had to pull the grille / bumper guard off to get to the grille and condenser. while having that apart I noticed that the drivers side of my front bumper was bent inward closer to the truck than the passenger side, the plastic guard price that attaches behind the bumper and fills the open gap where the bottom part of the grille attaches was also crushed on the same side. seeing this made me recall the day of the alignment and what he said about the frame. I think my truck was hit in this corner at some point in it's life causing the frame to be tweaked ever so slightly. I ended up parking my truck with that corner by a tree and used a come-a-long to pull out the bumper and straighten things as best I could. the grille / bumper guard was a real PIA to remove, it had been in a lot of stress from the tweaked area.
the story here: take a good look at your front end, bumper, fender, and grille alignment, it's possible the frame is tweaked slightly.
the shop that did my alignment said the frame could be slightly bent causing this. and noted that it doesn't take much to straighten and pull it out some. I didn't have the extra funds at the time to get that done, but I would like to.
something to note, as time has gone by since that day they told me the frame might be bent, I had done more work on my front end where I had to pull the grille / bumper guard off to get to the grille and condenser. while having that apart I noticed that the drivers side of my front bumper was bent inward closer to the truck than the passenger side, the plastic guard price that attaches behind the bumper and fills the open gap where the bottom part of the grille attaches was also crushed on the same side. seeing this made me recall the day of the alignment and what he said about the frame. I think my truck was hit in this corner at some point in it's life causing the frame to be tweaked ever so slightly. I ended up parking my truck with that corner by a tree and used a come-a-long to pull out the bumper and straighten things as best I could. the grille / bumper guard was a real PIA to remove, it had been in a lot of stress from the tweaked area.
the story here: take a good look at your front end, bumper, fender, and grille alignment, it's possible the frame is tweaked slightly.
Big T
Well-Known Member
Yours are C model trucks. I have K model and don't understand.
@dbrannon79 . If I understand what you're saying correct and if I recall correct, if you put the two of them side by side aren't they shaped differently like completely different?? I ask because from what I can tell both of mine look the same.. of course that's looking at them with the tires still on.. I was wondering if maybe one off of a c1500 got put on it.. if I remember right they are a different size than the ones for a c3500. But I could be wrong... It'd be kind of hard to judge the bumper against the fender because the fenders are pretty banged up but I will try
dbrannon79
I'm getting there!
idk about C1500 ,2500 and 3500's but from left to right they are different. Here is a couple of pics to notate the bends on each. on each side of the truck, the 45deg bend almost at the bushing will be towards the rear. I did look on RA by application for a 97 model 1500, 2500 and 3500 and for "forged" uppers they list the same ones for all three trucks. the ball joints are different depending on GVW
Hope this helps answer your question. now as for the left fitting on the right side and vice versa and still being able to align. I would doubt it, I'm sure something would stick out like a sore thumb.
Left side....
Right side....
Hope this helps answer your question. now as for the left fitting on the right side and vice versa and still being able to align. I would doubt it, I'm sure something would stick out like a sore thumb.
Left side....
Right side....
Big T
Well-Known Member
They are the same, they just flip the ball joint mount so it’s pointed downward with the 45 degree bend at the rear. Also, those are forged.
That leaves me to wonder if maybe it got bent one of the times the ball joint broke... tomorrow I'll get a better look and see if I'm correct in them not looking the same.. could just be the angle I was looking from... shop guy said the one side was definitely shorter, but a bend in it could cause that. . He was going on the distance from the top spring seat out. And there was about a inch in difference between the two sides.
Big T
Well-Known Member
And inch difference is a lot. If it were bent, it would be the front arm bent to the rear. Should be readily visible.
dbrannon79
I'm getting there!
I'm glad BigT pointed that out. I wasn't aware that both were the same other than the ball joint being flipped. I am curious what else would cause a 1 inch difference.
once you get it up on stands and the tires off. make three points on each to measure from. use the grease zerk on the back side of the ball joint as your center to measure from. take a short straight edge and place it behind the a-arm where the bushings are at both front and rear bushings. and use the stud on the top of the shock as the third point. measure the distance between the ball joint and all three point writing each down. then move to the other side of the truck and do the same. you should be within a 1/4" on each point measurement left to right I would think. maybe even less. it will be hard to be really precise with the a-arms installed, but will tell you if one is actually shorter.
pay close attention to the curvature of both front and back on both sides of the truck eyeballing and you should be able to tell if one is bent from damage too.
btw. if you do see a difference on all three points measuring left and right, move your measuring point from the ball joint out to the end of the a-arm and do it again. that will rule out if the a-arm is different or the ball joint was made from a bad batch and has bolt holes in different places!
once you get it up on stands and the tires off. make three points on each to measure from. use the grease zerk on the back side of the ball joint as your center to measure from. take a short straight edge and place it behind the a-arm where the bushings are at both front and rear bushings. and use the stud on the top of the shock as the third point. measure the distance between the ball joint and all three point writing each down. then move to the other side of the truck and do the same. you should be within a 1/4" on each point measurement left to right I would think. maybe even less. it will be hard to be really precise with the a-arms installed, but will tell you if one is actually shorter.
pay close attention to the curvature of both front and back on both sides of the truck eyeballing and you should be able to tell if one is bent from damage too.
btw. if you do see a difference on all three points measuring left and right, move your measuring point from the ball joint out to the end of the a-arm and do it again. that will rule out if the a-arm is different or the ball joint was made from a bad batch and has bolt holes in different places!
Ok so need opinions.. mevotech or Moog.. I need to order the upper control arm from RockAuto.. there's only a $10 price difference, between the two brands however Moog offers two different ones one is listed under daily driver and for some reason is actually more expensive then their other one.. just trying to figure out which brand to buy and which one of them
jrsavoie
Recruit
Is there any place you can order from for the same price as rockauto? Amazon?
Search the part number and see what you get for results?
I can usually beat or match Rockauto's total prices plus shipping.
I also avoid Moog anymore.
I had 2 bad experiences with rock. One of which involved Moog.
Search the part number and see what you get for results?
I can usually beat or match Rockauto's total prices plus shipping.
I also avoid Moog anymore.
I had 2 bad experiences with rock. One of which involved Moog.
dieselolds
Well-Known Member
You need to watch out for the skp brand as well.Sometimes that doesn’t work out either.Skp control arms might be okay but I’ve never used them.
I’ve had slight problems with a idler pulley on my Pontiac Montana van as it wouldnt fit properly unless I came up with a plan to make it fit as intended.One other issue was on a 3.6 pentastar engine with a idler sprocket issue in the kit when I did a timing chain job on a 2011 caravan.
I’ve had slight problems with a idler pulley on my Pontiac Montana van as it wouldnt fit properly unless I came up with a plan to make it fit as intended.One other issue was on a 3.6 pentastar engine with a idler sprocket issue in the kit when I did a timing chain job on a 2011 caravan.
dbrannon79
I'm getting there!
Everyone has been saying a good deal about Mevotech. for the cost why not go though a place like Summit. they will honor an warranty and their customer service is on par. you can actually call and talk to a real person!
ak diesel driver
6.5 driver
to be clear it's only the mevotech TTX line that's better quality.
Big T
Well-Known Member
I just replaced my fuel tank on the ‘99 K2500 Suburban. I went with a Dorman tank. RockAuto was basically the same price as Amazon, but then adds huge shipping cost vs free with Amazon Prime. The feeder line I went with SKP off RockAuto as it was less than half the price of Genuine GM. RockAuto did not have SKP for return line, so I went with Genuine GM off of Amazon.
Just replaced rear brakes and drums. Went with Napa fleet for both and they were the same price as RockAuto without their exorbitant shipping.
@ak diesel driver I'm not sure if any of the ones on RockAuto are the TTX they don't say anything about it... Is that just a better quality ball joint in the control arm or is the whole control arm made by TTX?? Or is TTX just a brand of mevotek?