Help with alighnment issuses

[PlastiKTuneR]

1998 Chevy suburban, 4x4 325,***. Recently installed a zone offroad 2" lift kit. It consisted of keys and blocks. A couple days.after installed I go in to get an alighnment, after waiting a half hour the mechanic comes out, and says he can't do it.

He explains that my off angled front wheels ( they are dipped in at the top, the inside will wear faster ) can't be fixed unless my ball joints, steering box and somthing else was fixed.. I know cranking is.bad, but when I measure, the amount of lift gained was just under 2" all around..

Is this guy full of ****?

Also, does anyone know where I can purchase high angle ball joints so this isn't a future issue.

 

[Swims350]

they don't make such things as high angled ball joints to the best of my knowledge.

For one the guy is most likely wrong, but he could be very right.

If you have worn things like steering parts they do need fixed or you are gonna get hurt or hurt somebody else.

Now the thing is, they make bigger cam bolt kits, most likely you need them, and then they must open the holes up and install your new bigger cam bolt kits. Those kits run you about $20 a side, and honestly they should have had them at the shop I'd think.

Lastly that lift was a waste, only thing you bought was rear lift blocks, the front keys do nothing, stock keys will lift the front end all the way til the droop stops if your bars are not sagging, if they are then no key in the world is gonna help them.

If you're ball joint angles are that bad I'd guess alot of other things are as well, like cv's and tie rods. You need to either drop it down some, or at least get some diff. drops to bring the cv angles down, and then either ball joint flip or new upper control arms like the rough country ones.

 

[PlastiKTuneR]

I know what you mean about the keys, but I will be buying a HD bumper soon and winch. My ball joint angles aren't horrible, but I don't like it.

Can you explain what a ball joint flip is?

Also can you.provide a link to the UCAs you mentioned?

Thanks a lot.

 

[dirtridinz71]

The ball joint flip is when you mount the upper balljoint to the underside of the control arm vs. the top side when it is factory. This will not work with the stock 16" alloys and I doubt it will work with any 15" rims.

Like Swims said there are 'knockouts' in the frame to get more camber adjustment. I would think any decent allignment shop would know about this and be able to get within spec, unless you are just cranked too much and that is the reason the shop could not allign it. If that is the case then decrank and an allignment would only be part of your worries. Chances are if the reindexxed keys are cranked any amount then your front end is maxxed out.

 

[PlastiKTuneR]

The reindexed keys are sitting exactly where the old ones were, there has been no cranking to be clear. Just installing new keys. My wheels are aftermarket 16s and wider than stock. I'll take my truck to a fifteenth alighnment shop to get some anwsers.

The balljoint flip is a good idea, is it safe? I wheel the truck every other weekend.

Thanks again, any more tips or ideas are appreciated, I'm new to trucks.

 

[badazzbulldog]

the knockouts need to be removed to adjust it

 

[Swims350]

what he means if the key has the hex indexed or rotated differently then stock, so what that means if if you had half inch of bolt left on the stock setup and the truck was nose down an inch in the front, new keys same 1/2 inch bolt left, the front should in fact be higher IF the bars aint sagging, because it'd raise the front end up with more bolt left to over crank. The same thing would be your new keys in place and say an inch of threads left yet the truck is still an inch down in the front.

Before cranked or maxxed was either the control arm on it's stop(part under the upper control arm, it's metal and won't let the control arm fall down anymore) or when you have the bolt bottomed out whichever is first. Now cranked or maxxed is when you got some bolt left but it's still on the stop.

 

[dirtridinz71]

The reindexed keys are sitting exactly where the old ones were, there has been no cranking to be clear. Just installing new keys. My wheels are aftermarket 16s and wider than stock. I'll take my truck to a fifteenth alighnment shop to get some anwsers.

The balljoint flip is a good idea, is it safe? I wheel the truck every other weekend.

Thanks again, any more tips or ideas are appreciated, I'm new to trucks.

Even though your new keys may not be cranked any more then the OE ones your front end is still like it is cranked. IMO if your angles are steep enough to have to do a balljoint flip then your front end is to cranked. You will notice alot of extra wear on the front end parts, steep CV axles and offroad dont mix, also a rough ride. Now without seeing your truck and angles it may just be a simple allignment issue.

If oyu have some mechanical knowhow its not hard to do the knockouts yourself. The upper controls arms need to be removed from the frame, normally not a problem to do unless camber bolts are seized in the bushing then its a PITA. Once UCA out you should be able to see the outlines around the hole on each side, Just use a punch and hammer to remove them.

 

[PlastiKTuneR]

I know what you mean. The bolt is in the same spot but lift has been achieved by turning the torsion bars, because the keys are reindexed. I knew that when I did the lift.

I dont believe anything was on its stop before the lift, and isn't now, like I said, I only gained just under 2".

Also I meant different alighnment shop, my phone autocorrected.**

So is my best bet to do the balljoint flip, and the get an alighnment? Do I need to mention the knockouts to the shop, I could do the job myself, but I would rather have a shop do it.

 

[sewlow]

Snap-on makes a specific tool to remove the knockouts. Any alignment guy that knows his stuff probably has one or made his own. These trucks are not exactly new. Most, by now, have had an alignment done at one time or another, so if you have to school your alignment tech about the knockouts, or if he doesn't check to see if they are still in place, then I'd be taking the truck somewhere else. He obviously doesn't know what he's doing.