MountainDont
Newbie
I bought a used C1500, and the steering seemed pretty fishy, even if the alignment seemed ok. Well, I bought a kit on Rock and replaced everything in the steering. But I have not touched ball joints or control arms.
Twice, we tried a quickie alignment with the wheels off and the truck jacked up. We eye-balled them, set it on the ground, and both wheels, noticeably the passenger, went toe out by a bunch.
Ok, so we did it by measurement a third time. Same thing, when it got weight back on the tires, it toed out. I figured that we should be close enough by doing it this way, using jack stands on the lower control arms where the coil springs attach.
So I took it in to get the alignment checked. Yep, it's out, duh. Especially on the right. I knew already. You can see it. Barely drivable on curvy roads.
But before I had them do the alignment, I said, wait. The manager came over and took weight off the truck and then set it back on the tires slowly, and we all watched the lower control arms squat down and the passenger tire toe out in real time. We both think it was the upper ball joint. Is there a good way to confirm this? I just re-packed the wheel bearings, and during that procedure, I checked and wiggled it ... there was almost no play there. I was pretty sure the ball joints look suspect but were still ok. Should I look for a bad control arm bushing instead, and if so, how?
Twice, we tried a quickie alignment with the wheels off and the truck jacked up. We eye-balled them, set it on the ground, and both wheels, noticeably the passenger, went toe out by a bunch.
Ok, so we did it by measurement a third time. Same thing, when it got weight back on the tires, it toed out. I figured that we should be close enough by doing it this way, using jack stands on the lower control arms where the coil springs attach.
So I took it in to get the alignment checked. Yep, it's out, duh. Especially on the right. I knew already. You can see it. Barely drivable on curvy roads.
But before I had them do the alignment, I said, wait. The manager came over and took weight off the truck and then set it back on the tires slowly, and we all watched the lower control arms squat down and the passenger tire toe out in real time. We both think it was the upper ball joint. Is there a good way to confirm this? I just re-packed the wheel bearings, and during that procedure, I checked and wiggled it ... there was almost no play there. I was pretty sure the ball joints look suspect but were still ok. Should I look for a bad control arm bushing instead, and if so, how?
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