MrMarty51
Well-Known Member
Be nice if I was closer, I’d give You a hand wit that roof.
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Upper control arms.
- Thread starter Stoney
- Start date
dbrannon79
I'm getting there!
mee too. it's nice of you to help them. give them your info so they can spread the word and possibly get you into business on your own! word of mouth goes a long ways in a small community!
@dbrannon79 that's a fact. I was flagged down by a guy that knows them, thank me for helping them out.. evidently he owns a couple buildings in town. One used to be a bar, which is converting into a pizza shop / ice cream parlor.. hooray we will actually have five businesses in our town it's a miracle 
.. but he also owns a garage around the corner from that building. That he plans on storing all his classic cars in. As well as all the stuff from the bar. But the garage does not have any roof on it at all right now.. so he asked me if I wanted to work with the guy that he's got planned to put a roof on it..sure thing.. not sure when that starts though..real nice guy... A friend of mine that helped me do the old couples roof, who is in the same line of work, keeps hinting that we outages put all of our equipment together and go in business for ourselves again... I honestly don't think it's a bad idea but we all know it takes a while for a small business to get profitable...
.. but he also owns a garage around the corner from that building. That he plans on storing all his classic cars in. As well as all the stuff from the bar. But the garage does not have any roof on it at all right now.. so he asked me if I wanted to work with the guy that he's got planned to put a roof on it..sure thing.. not sure when that starts though..real nice guy... A friend of mine that helped me do the old couples roof, who is in the same line of work, keeps hinting that we outages put all of our equipment together and go in business for ourselves again... I honestly don't think it's a bad idea but we all know it takes a while for a small business to get profitable...
dbrannon79
I'm getting there!
as long as the venture pays the bills your in the right direction.
Ok now that I'm back to this thread.
After changing the camber bolts and remove the knock outs , I took the truck back to shop for alignment...
Well, it's closer than it was...and I have them adjusted all the way out..but still tilted in almost a inch.. we got looking around under the truck trying to figure out what is wrong.. he doesn't think the arm is bent. But I'm going to"borrow" one from a junk truck to compare... However he did notice something. With it on the lift he measured the frame on both sides. The driver's side sits over a inch lower than the passenger side. And that's without anyone in the truck.. so also trying to figure out why it sits lower. He thinks it's possible that may be the reason the passenger side is off so much... If driver's side was up where it belongs it would push the passenger side out ..just a thought.
After changing the camber bolts and remove the knock outs , I took the truck back to shop for alignment...
Well, it's closer than it was...and I have them adjusted all the way out..but still tilted in almost a inch.. we got looking around under the truck trying to figure out what is wrong.. he doesn't think the arm is bent. But I'm going to"borrow" one from a junk truck to compare... However he did notice something. With it on the lift he measured the frame on both sides. The driver's side sits over a inch lower than the passenger side. And that's without anyone in the truck.. so also trying to figure out why it sits lower. He thinks it's possible that may be the reason the passenger side is off so much... If driver's side was up where it belongs it would push the passenger side out ..just a thought.
dbrannon79
I'm getting there!
if the frame is tweaked, that can explain it possibly, but if it's just one spring is sagging slightly that wouldn't make much difference. idk how much force it would take to do this but maybe if at one point in the trucks live it landing on the frame in a culverdsack or concrete ledge might do the trick.
how are the body lines across the front fenders, doors, and the bed? if the frame is off over an inch, the body lines will be way off more so in the front fenders, so much so that body shims wouldn't fix it without major modifications on cab and front support to frame bushings.
disclaimer: below is not advised over having the frame adjusted in a specialty shop because I know what others will say, this was just an idea I had but didn't peruse it!
back when I found out my drivers side had to be fully adjusted outward just to get the wheel straight giving no adjustment for "both" caster and camber. I spent some time trying to figure out how I could "safely" modify the upper control arm just to gain an extra 1/2" or more. the only conclusion I came up with was taking the upper ball joint where it mounts to the uca and slotting the bolt holes. ether in the ball joint or the uca, or both and use grade 8 bolts with nord locks. I never tried doing this but it's something you can look at on a uca from the junk yard. even for added safety having the ball joint welded in an area where it can be ground off when needed replacement on top of slotting and bolting. just be careful not to slot them too much that the meat on the ends make a weak point.
another thought I just had, something that might be a little safer than modding the control arm would be looking at the lower control arm mount point. since they both only have a bolt hole and are not slotted in the frame like the uppers are. maybe looking to see if there is enough room in the mount and looking at it's strength too, slot those holes inward so the lowers can move in a slight amount. my old 4runner had adjustments on both uppers and lowers iirc. you can also get eccentric upper and lower bushing that achieve basically the same thing. only draw back is 1. you have to stick with that style bushing and 2. there are not poly bushing made this way.
I once had an old ford full size van that had to have eccentric inserts installed on the knuckles there the stud of the ball joints goes which provided additional caster and camber adjustments on top of the factory adjustment. there is not enough meat in our knuckles / spindles for this unfortunately.
how are the body lines across the front fenders, doors, and the bed? if the frame is off over an inch, the body lines will be way off more so in the front fenders, so much so that body shims wouldn't fix it without major modifications on cab and front support to frame bushings.
disclaimer: below is not advised over having the frame adjusted in a specialty shop because I know what others will say, this was just an idea I had but didn't peruse it!
back when I found out my drivers side had to be fully adjusted outward just to get the wheel straight giving no adjustment for "both" caster and camber. I spent some time trying to figure out how I could "safely" modify the upper control arm just to gain an extra 1/2" or more. the only conclusion I came up with was taking the upper ball joint where it mounts to the uca and slotting the bolt holes. ether in the ball joint or the uca, or both and use grade 8 bolts with nord locks. I never tried doing this but it's something you can look at on a uca from the junk yard. even for added safety having the ball joint welded in an area where it can be ground off when needed replacement on top of slotting and bolting. just be careful not to slot them too much that the meat on the ends make a weak point.
another thought I just had, something that might be a little safer than modding the control arm would be looking at the lower control arm mount point. since they both only have a bolt hole and are not slotted in the frame like the uppers are. maybe looking to see if there is enough room in the mount and looking at it's strength too, slot those holes inward so the lowers can move in a slight amount. my old 4runner had adjustments on both uppers and lowers iirc. you can also get eccentric upper and lower bushing that achieve basically the same thing. only draw back is 1. you have to stick with that style bushing and 2. there are not poly bushing made this way.
I once had an old ford full size van that had to have eccentric inserts installed on the knuckles there the stud of the ball joints goes which provided additional caster and camber adjustments on top of the factory adjustment. there is not enough meat in our knuckles / spindles for this unfortunately.
MrMarty51
Well-Known Member
Eventually I will get the proper size tires on My truck, it then will go into the shop for alignment.
Right now the way it is aligned is with a slight RH pull, constant pull to the right. The alignment shop said that due to the larger size of tires it could be aligned with a RH pull or it could be aligned so it would unevenly wear the tires. I left it with the RH pull.
After the proper size tires is installed, and an alignment is oerformed, if I then am told that it can not be properly aligned, then I’m taking it to the frame shop down the street and have them do a thorough frame check. See if something is tweaked out of dimension. If so then have them pull or push it back into shape.
If that can not be accomplished then I might be looking for a frame that has seen no damage.
Right now the way it is aligned is with a slight RH pull, constant pull to the right. The alignment shop said that due to the larger size of tires it could be aligned with a RH pull or it could be aligned so it would unevenly wear the tires. I left it with the RH pull.
After the proper size tires is installed, and an alignment is oerformed, if I then am told that it can not be properly aligned, then I’m taking it to the frame shop down the street and have them do a thorough frame check. See if something is tweaked out of dimension. If so then have them pull or push it back into shape.
If that can not be accomplished then I might be looking for a frame that has seen no damage.