Found alignment problem!

[68xxx]

Hi Guys,

I finaly found out why I can't get my camber set right.

It appears that I have one incorrect lower control arm and it is about 1/2 an inch shorter than the other one thus the reason I cant get enough adjustment out of the shim setting and thus why the wheel is too far inward at the bottom of the wheel.

The one that I am having problems with is the passenger side and it is different in several ways. There is more steel overhang at the shaft end, the "lip" is different and the bumpstop area is also different. The main difference is of course the length.

I used the shaft zerk fitting and the inside edge of the tire for reference.

Have a look at the pics and see if you can tell me what this control arm is from.

I intend on replacing the control arm but would like your comments.

Thanks, Mark.

[FirstGen]

One is off a 3/4 quarter ton truck and one is a half ton. The longer is the 3/4 ton lower a-arm.

Take care.

[cowboy33713]

Howdy;
I'm not sure- my 1/2 ton 67 has the long style on both sides. Just finished up a front end rebuild of my own. Had to replace the badly damaged passenger side lower arm, and the fella a bought from sent me another one of the same . \
Oh well. It works!
cowboy33713

[68xxx]

Thanks guys,

I would need to replace the passenger side with a longer arm in order to give me the needed amount of adjustment.

I'm a bit worried as I have to order the parts in from the USA and freight will kill me so I want to make sure that I am ordering the correct one and as I believe that the ball joints are different for the 1/2 and 3/4 arms I will have to get it as well.

So looking at my pics do you both agree that the passenger side (left side looking from front of truck) is currently a short 1/2 ton arm.

Thanks for your help, Mark.

[FirstGen]

That's what it looks like to me. Give Ed at MotherTruckers a call, he is a board sponser and he will have either 3/4 ton or 1/2 lower a-arms used to sell you. He could probably also confirm that what I think is correct since he does that stuff more often. Post up what you found out.
Later.

[68xxx]

I emailed muther truckers but as yet have not received a reply. I looked at a C20 yesterday and it had the longer arms so I'm sure that they are what I need. I will pursue a supplier for one of those. I'll repost once I have this sorted.

Thanks for the help.

Mark.

[Joe67]

Damn, glad you spotted that

[69 longhorn]

Im not sure what the problem is.....? I will say for sure that you can not mix 1/2 & 3/4 ton lower arms tho! The balljoints are different in the OD that presses into the arm......I swapped my 3/4 to 1/2 ton suspension. the 3/4 top arms will bolt the 1/2 ton balljoint......but the lower arms had to be swapped, to get the 1/2ton balljoints to fit I wonder if somebody replaced 1 of the arms with a van arm at 1 time......? 69L

[68xxx]

Originally Posted by 69 longhorn

Im not sure what the problem is.....? I will say for sure that you can not mix 1/2 & 3/4 ton lower arms tho! The balljoints are different in the OD that presses into the arm......I swapped my 3/4 to 1/2 ton suspension. the 3/4 top arms will bolt the 1/2 ton balljoint......but the lower arms had to be swapped, to get the 1/2ton balljoints to fit I wonder if somebody replaced 1 of the arms with a van arm at 1 time......? 69L

So is there another spanner in the works?

Are the Van arms different from the truck arms?

So far it seems that there are the 2 different lower arms for the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks but is there more possibilities???

I have to have an arm shipped to the other side of the planet so I want to get it right!!!!!

Mark.

[69 longhorn]

Originally Posted by 68xxx

So is there another spanner in the works?

Are the Van arms different from the truck arms?

So far it seems that there are the 2 different lower arms for the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks but is there more possibilities???

I have to have an arm shipped to the other side of the planet so I want to get it right!!!!!

Mark.

Just thinkin outloud there.... I dont know what the prob is, but there is NO WAY IN HE!! that you can mix balljoints in 1/2 & 3/4 truck lower a arms.....unless somebody made a press ring , to resize the hole in the arm for the balljoint. The hole for the balljoint is smaller in the 1/2ton arm Is the truck a 1/2, or 3/4 ton? 69L

[FirstGen]

nope 3/4 or 1/2 ton that's it. Call MotherTruckers and he will hook you up...

[FirstGen]

correct, but you can use the correct ball joints in the same spindle...

[69 longhorn]

Originally Posted by FirstGen

correct, but you can use the correct ball joints in the same spindle...

The spindles also take different balljoints going from 1/2 to 3/4 ton.....the parts flat dont mix without some mods(re machining the ball joint holes in the spindles, or welding rings in the hole in the a arm). Unless I am missing something on the yrs of the parts.......71-72 absolutely have different spindles, lower a arms, & balljoint assys when swapping from 1/2 to 3/4ton. The 67-70 arms will also work, by swapping the balljoint & tierod assys(for the disc brakes). The 73- 87 spindles will also work the early arms......but once again , you need to use the proper balljoints, spindles & lower arms to make the swap. 1/2 ton balljoints do not fit 3/4 ton lower arms, & vice versa.........crazyL

[FirstGen]

I guess your right. I was thinking that you could use either on the drum brake spindles... I know for sure that I used the 1990 lower ball joints on the 3/4 spindles...
No telling.

[69 longhorn]

FirstGen, it obvious that that the pass side arm doesnt belong on that truck......I cant say for sure what it belongs on tho! On the early (67-72) 1/2tons, they had the steel bushings in the arms. 73-87 1/2 ton trucks went rubber on the bushings, where the 3/4 ton trucks still had the steel bushings. Im guessing(for lack of other info) that is a '68 1/2 ton truck pictured? I have 1/2 ton bottom arms(71 pcs) on my 69 longhorn , & they dont have that extra steel past the ends of the bushings......the orig 3/4 ton arms didnt either tho! On a stamped steel pc, the extra material doesnt mean much.......but I do see that there is a diff in measure from cenetr to center 68XXX......can you put in some more info on the truck? what yr, 1/2 or 3/4 ton,what swap spindles, ect? 69L, still confussed.....but its just a way of life

[FirstGen]

haha, we may never know!

[68xxx]

Wow at least we are getting some interesting disscussion here!

OK, my truck is a 68 short wheel base fleetside so I'm presuming that it is a half ton truck. (see pic).

It is fitted with Early Classic dropped spindles and disc brakes (believed to be stock later model).

I bought the truck this way so don't have much more info.

The unusual thing that has been identified by earlier posts is that my truck has very few adjusting shims and earlier replies indicate that aparently when lowering a truck there is usualy a large number of shims needed to get the camber right.

So does this make anything clearer????

Mark.

[69 longhorn]

I think you just need another rh lower a arm to fit your 68 chevy 1/2 ton. you have a couple different options on the lower balljoint(depending on the spindle used). 71-72, & 73-87 with the thick rotor(1.250) take the same lower ball joint. There is a dropped spindle available to fit the 67-70 trucks, that accepts the original balljoints & tierod ends. if you can ID the spindle, it will help with balljoint selection. Best of luck......69L Nice truck!