SlimPickins
Escapee
Yep, me again back with an issue. I'm starting to feel like a forum problem child. This front end refresh is my first and has been a bit taxing but I have enjoyed learning my way through it, thanks to many of you. So. To back up some, 1998 Monty with 155k miles that I purchased a year and a half ago. I got through the timing belt, pulleys, tensioner, water pump/thermostat, hoses, front and rear cam seals, new crank bolt, plugs/wires, fluids. Needs valve guide seals. Been running great, loving the truck and inspired by all of the incredible builds here. Most of the front end looked original and she creaked, squeaked, popped and dove plenty so I did a refresh on the front end. All AC Delco parts from Rock Auto except for bushings which I went with OEM.
-Upper and lower control arms
The right side lower arm came with a torn ball joint boot so I replaced it with a unit from Moog. Fit right in.
Made sure upper arm shafts were correctly positioned as there is an 'in' and 'out' side.
Left side had one shim on the upper, right side had two shims on upper upon disassembly so I put 'em back in as I found them.
Torqued all to spec with wheels on the ground, unladen per manual.
-New tie rods
Again, AC Delco from RockAuto. One was made in Taiwan, the other in Eastern Europe if I recall correctly. They look different but seem to have same measurements. I got them pretty close to the measurements of the old tie rods before installing.
-New wheel bearings and seals
I somehow managed to mangle the outer bearing on the right after a quick 4 mile drive. Had to get a new hub and knuckle on the right (OEM hub and knuckle, Timken bearings).
All went together well, per preload specs in manual.
-New shocks
KYB MonoMax front and rear
-New rotors and pads (aftermarket)
-New swaybar connects and bushings, front and rear.
-New idler and pitman arm, AC Delco
Scoring on pitman arm aligned to scoring on gearbox shaft.
When doing the left upper control arm, I did turn the steering shaft manually to get to the bolts holding the control arm to frame if I recall correctly.
-Greased torsion bars and cranked them up a bit to get the front end raised to about level. This left the adjusting bolt sitting proud of spec per manual. Manual says that the bolt length above the nut should be 3.15 inches or less if I recall correctly.
Finished up, all bolts/nuts cleaned, torqued to spec, hopped in for a drive. Smoooth and quiet! My steering wheel was a full 90 degrees off... Removed and rechecked pitman arm and shaft alignment marks which were fine. Steering wheel was still off by 90 degrees.
Took it to a reputable alignment shop in Santa Monica. They told me that the camber on the right side was off by 2 degrees and that they would have to remove the shims at a minimum but that removing them would not likely be enough to solve the issue. They also said the torsion bars would need to be in spec to get a good alignment. I took the truck home and loosened my torsion bars so that the adjustment bolt was sitting above the nut by 2.8 inches which is below the "3.15 inches or less" stated in the manual. This really lowered the front end compared to the rear and gives the truck a decent amount of rake which doesn't look quite right (torsion re-index?). I measured both sides from the fender well to the center of the hub, both even at 25.5 inches if I remember correctly, took it back to the shop and they did the alignment. They had to remove the pitman arm and misalign it to the shaft by one or two teeth to get the steering wheel straight. I lost a bit of turning radius on right hand turns. They said the alignment wasn't perfectly to spec and that the only way to really get it there would be to lower the front end even more by further loosening torsion bars.. Even they agreed that this would make the truck look really funky and raked far too forward. He said if I were to tighten the torsion bars to level the truck, this would throw the alignment too far off and that they wouldn't be able to correct it. The shop owner wasn't really sure why things were off. He said the install looked fine but went on to say that a couple of times over the years he'd seen even OEM parts made incorrectly causing strange fits/numbers. My money is on noob error somewhere but neither of us could sort out where. He didn't see anything that cued him off to a wreck in the truck's history but the CarFax mentions an accident in California in 2004, no further details. I'm thinking that if it were a bad accident, it'd have a salvage title..
So I'm sitting on a brand new, mostly aligned front end, a misaligned pitman arm, a mostly aligned steering wheel with a slight but noticeable decrease in right handed turning radius and a stance that has the front end noticeably lower than the front.
I realize this is damn winded but I know that a diagnosis requires detail... Any ideas?
-Upper and lower control arms
The right side lower arm came with a torn ball joint boot so I replaced it with a unit from Moog. Fit right in.
Made sure upper arm shafts were correctly positioned as there is an 'in' and 'out' side.
Left side had one shim on the upper, right side had two shims on upper upon disassembly so I put 'em back in as I found them.
Torqued all to spec with wheels on the ground, unladen per manual.
-New tie rods
Again, AC Delco from RockAuto. One was made in Taiwan, the other in Eastern Europe if I recall correctly. They look different but seem to have same measurements. I got them pretty close to the measurements of the old tie rods before installing.
-New wheel bearings and seals
I somehow managed to mangle the outer bearing on the right after a quick 4 mile drive. Had to get a new hub and knuckle on the right (OEM hub and knuckle, Timken bearings).
All went together well, per preload specs in manual.
-New shocks
KYB MonoMax front and rear
-New rotors and pads (aftermarket)
-New swaybar connects and bushings, front and rear.
-New idler and pitman arm, AC Delco
Scoring on pitman arm aligned to scoring on gearbox shaft.
When doing the left upper control arm, I did turn the steering shaft manually to get to the bolts holding the control arm to frame if I recall correctly.
-Greased torsion bars and cranked them up a bit to get the front end raised to about level. This left the adjusting bolt sitting proud of spec per manual. Manual says that the bolt length above the nut should be 3.15 inches or less if I recall correctly.
Finished up, all bolts/nuts cleaned, torqued to spec, hopped in for a drive. Smoooth and quiet! My steering wheel was a full 90 degrees off... Removed and rechecked pitman arm and shaft alignment marks which were fine. Steering wheel was still off by 90 degrees.
Took it to a reputable alignment shop in Santa Monica. They told me that the camber on the right side was off by 2 degrees and that they would have to remove the shims at a minimum but that removing them would not likely be enough to solve the issue. They also said the torsion bars would need to be in spec to get a good alignment. I took the truck home and loosened my torsion bars so that the adjustment bolt was sitting above the nut by 2.8 inches which is below the "3.15 inches or less" stated in the manual. This really lowered the front end compared to the rear and gives the truck a decent amount of rake which doesn't look quite right (torsion re-index?). I measured both sides from the fender well to the center of the hub, both even at 25.5 inches if I remember correctly, took it back to the shop and they did the alignment. They had to remove the pitman arm and misalign it to the shaft by one or two teeth to get the steering wheel straight. I lost a bit of turning radius on right hand turns. They said the alignment wasn't perfectly to spec and that the only way to really get it there would be to lower the front end even more by further loosening torsion bars.. Even they agreed that this would make the truck look really funky and raked far too forward. He said if I were to tighten the torsion bars to level the truck, this would throw the alignment too far off and that they wouldn't be able to correct it. The shop owner wasn't really sure why things were off. He said the install looked fine but went on to say that a couple of times over the years he'd seen even OEM parts made incorrectly causing strange fits/numbers. My money is on noob error somewhere but neither of us could sort out where. He didn't see anything that cued him off to a wreck in the truck's history but the CarFax mentions an accident in California in 2004, no further details. I'm thinking that if it were a bad accident, it'd have a salvage title..
So I'm sitting on a brand new, mostly aligned front end, a misaligned pitman arm, a mostly aligned steering wheel with a slight but noticeable decrease in right handed turning radius and a stance that has the front end noticeably lower than the front.
I realize this is damn winded but I know that a diagnosis requires detail... Any ideas?