Upper Control Arm Mounting Stud Convex Washer Removal

[pjmoreland]

I bought a set of convex/concave washers that are thinner than stock from Performance Online to decrease my camber. I went to remove the originals, but the convex washers seem to be pressed onto knurls on the studs. I tried hammering a wedge shaped chisel behind them, but they would not budge. I'd like to remove the originals without destroying them. Any suggestions?

https://www.performanceonline.com/19...-Control-Arms/

[SCOTI]

You could try heating them w/a torch. It's possible the expansion from heat will provide enough clearance to get them off.

[pjmoreland]

I'll give that a try. Thanks.

[pjmoreland]

Ok, well I failed at my original goal to remove them without wrecking them, but they are off. I think it would be possible to get them off without damage by pounding the studs out of the frame. I tried doing that, but the studs didn't want to budge at a level of hammering I was comfortable with. Instead, I welded one end of a wrist pin to the spacer and welded a nut to the other end of the wrist pin so I could use a slide hammer to remove the spacer. Not the most efficient process, but it worked, and it was clean. Another option would have been to cut the spacers with a Dremel, but I didn't want to risk damaging the crossmember or studs.

I used the original nut and some stacked up spacers to press the new spacer back onto each stud.

[pjmoreland]

I received a question about the alignment specs I was able to achieve with these thinner spacers. I haven't adjusted the alignment yet because I'm waiting until after I've replaced my steering gearbox. I do, however, have my alignment specs from before replacing the spacers. I had no shims on the front driver side stud, and I had one 1/16" shim on the other three studs to achieve the alignment shown below.

Now that I've got the thinner spacers installed, I've got an additional 3/16" worth of shims on every stud to work with. I'm hoping to achieve 6-8° caster and 0.5-1° negative camber on the next go-around, based on recommendations from this thread:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=419251

By the way, I've got 2-1/2" Western Chassis drop spindles and 1" drop springs. My control arms are stock.

[blacknwhitedog]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

I received a question about the alignment specs I was able to achieve with these thinner spacers. I haven't adjusted the alignment yet because I'm waiting until after I've replaced my steering gearbox. I do, however, have my alignment specs from before replacing the spacers. I had no shims on the front driver side stud, and I had one 1/16" shim on the other three studs to achieve the alignment shown below.

Now that I've got the thinner spacers installed, I've got an additional 3/16" worth of shims on every stud to work with. I'm hoping to achieve 6-8° caster and 0.5-1° negative camber on the next go-around, based on recommendations from this thread:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=419251

By the way, I've got 2-1/2" Western Chassis drop spindles and 1" drop springs. My control arms are stock.

Thanks for the update..I was thinking of going to PB lower arms but if I can eek out 5-6 degrees of caster and a little bit of negative camber using the thinner spacers and stock arms that would work for me.

[pjmoreland]

It's going to be a couple of months before I get around to replacing my steering gearbox. I will report back with my alignment results once I have them.