Front alignment 71 K20

[3quartertime]

Hey all,

The front alignment on my 71 K20 is off pretty bad. The toe-in/out is fine, I beleive it is the camber that is off. The outer edge of the tires are badly worn. Did a few searches with no help, but it seems I remember a post or two in the past that talks about shims to fix camber. Problem is using the pics in my sevice manual I can't see where the shims could go. The only adjusting point seems to be an upper ball stud adjusting sleeve. Is this the adjusting point for camber? The manual never explains it ( or I haven't found it).

Thanks for any help!

[roger0080]

Yes there are shims. You have to disassemble the whole front wheel down to the spindle. Unbolt the spindle, knock it off the housing.

The shim(s) would sit behind the spindle and between the knuckle housing it mounts on to.

You must have newer ball joints installed if you know that you can adjust it. Normally there is nothing to adjust.

I have a shim in mine also.

[3quartertime]

Thanks for the input!

I haven't had things apart yet. Only saw the adjustable sleeve in the service manual.

Anyone have any pics of this area?

Do you make the shims out of shim-stock or can you buy them?

I can't seem to find the procedure in my factory manual. Is it spelled out somewhere else?

Thanks again for any help.

[roger0080]

You really want to go to an alignment shop and see how out of wack the front end is. They can tell you that it needs a 1,2,3, or more degree shim. You can't make them yourself. They are tapered in order to "shim" the spindle up or down. It is a lot of work to take it apart and put it together whilst guessing at the degree of shim you need.

[special-K]

These rarely are out of camber.You need to determine if the axle housing is bent,first.Also,I assume you`ve checked your wheel bearings and all is fine.It`s pretty simple getting down to the steering knuckles,but I`d still get a top notch truck alignment shop to do the adjustment.I`ve never had a truck need a camber adjustment in over 30 yearsand half that many trucks.Good luck.

[ckhd]

That "adjustment sleeve" isn't for alignment. It's adjustable in order to get both balljoints to set right because of variations in the distance between the upper and lower balljoints.

I just barely replaced the balljoints in my '72 K10 'burb, and the sleeves have nothing to do with alignment, don't mess with them unless you are changing balljoints.

[Blazer1970]

Originally Posted by ckhd

That "adjustment sleeve" isn't for alignment. It's adjustable in order to get both balljoints to set right because of variations in the distance between the upper and lower balljoints.

I just barely replaced the balljoints in my '72 K10 'burb, and the sleeves have nothing to do with alignment, don't mess with them unless you are changing balljoints.

There are aftermarket ball joint adjuster sleeves that are eccentric so that the caster and camber can be adjusted slightly. The problem with these is that you can not set the caster/camber and still get the ball joint preload adjusted correctly. I would not use them. The shims that go behind the spindles are a better idea, but if your caster or camber is off the axle housing or the inner "C"s are bent.