Shims behind the upper control arms???

[COBALT]

So I got the lower control arms off, and the springs out, and I'm about to bang out the upper ball joint, and pull the upper control arms. I noticed on one side I've got these thin wierd shaped pieces of metal behind one of the upper control arm assemblies. They look like shims. What gives? If I'm replacing everything do I really need to worry about those shims? I'm going to clean them, and keep them in the right order in case I need to reinstall them, but I have no idea why you'd need them there unless your spindle didn't line up correctly, or an incorrect part was used and this was a solution to making it fit....

Any ideas?

[72chevyLWB]

Are you talking about the alignment shims? You will need them.

[minibike]

I rebuilt my front end, and put the shims back in the same places. It will have to be aligned and adjusted, but having the shims in will most likely save the guy aligning it some time. He may add or subtract some, but it should be close. These are used for caster/camber adjustments.

[72gmcshorty]

If you are rebuilding the front end, just leave the shims off. Take your truck to get alligned immediately after and they will put new shims where needed. I rebuilt my front end and my shims were crusty and rusted. I think they fell apart when I tooke apart front end.

[COBALT]

Ok, so they loosen up the upper control arm and slide these in? Hmm...I might leave them out and let the alignment shop worry about it.

Thanks...upward and onward.

[minibike]

Okay, fellas. All I am saying is that each frame is different. Yes, you can leave them out and spend a little more time in the waiting room of the alignment shop reading "Time" magazine. The alignment shop will shim it out to the required distance. No big deal. Dang...you would think I said something about your mother...

[Zkast]

Do yourself and the alignment shop a favor... Tag or ziptie the shims and mark which side they came from. Keep them as an assembly (RF, RR, LF , LR) per control arm.

You'll be saving the poor guy that gets to align your truck about 1 hour of pis'n and moan'n. There's nothing I hate worse than a vehicle that comes in for an alignment that someone else has "Hung" parts on. It takes twice as long to bring everything back into spec.

[red71cheyenne]

Last time I took the cheyenne in for an alignment, the guy couldn't get it do align. Says the center link is bent or something. He got it good enough to stop eating the tires off, but its not exactly right. Do you think one from a bone yard would work? Thanks, Jeff.

[COBALT]

Ok, guys...I think either leaving them in or out would probably be ok in the long run.

I got them out and they're pretty rusty and grimy, so I soaked them. I'll decide if I want to put them in when I start putting everything back together....

[flaco]

I have always marked them and put them back in untill I got the alignment done. In fact, I changed the upper control arms on a 68 pontiac 2 years ago and it still hasn't gone in for an alignment and it handles fine with no tire wear. If you don't put them in chances are it's gonna drive like crap on the way to the shop. It's not that much more work to put them back in. A few minutes work for a piece of mind is cheap.