alingment

[Seventy4Blazer]

i have a 96 k3500 that i noticed my front right is a bit out of wack. i wondered whats the most some of you have paid for an alingmenet on an IFS rig.

im guessing it is a ball joint as its just the right side and its the outter edge of the tire. truck has 118k miles on it
Grant

 

[4xcrazy]

Yeah, every vehicle i have owned anyways where the outside edge of the tire wears out fast was always due to a bad ball joint.
Shops will not align it if there is a bad ball joint, that will need to be repaired first, but i have never paid more than $45 for an alignment, some places charge more, i would just shop around, average i would say shops are charging anywhere between $40-$75.

 

[HarryH3]

One thing to be aware of is that the IFS trucks ship with VERY little adjustment capability for the upper A-arms. The bolt hole is just big enough for the bolt, but there's a knockout in each bracket that can be knocked out to make the hole oblong. Most shops will charge 1 hour of labor for each side of the truck to remove them. /forums/images/graemlins/yikes.gif It only has to be done once, then the alignment can be adjusted easily from then on.

I removed mine in my driveway, then too the truck to the alignment shop. The bill was $42 instead of $200. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[Seventy4Blazer]

ok, thanks for the replys. Harry, im not sure what you are talking about to be honest. i guess ill just go buy the upper ball joints and replace them both. maybe even the lowers.
im kind of slacking on things i need to do with my dually. i dont really have a place to work on it that i trust and if it ends up taking more than a day for whatever reason im out a ride to work.
Grant

 

[ntaj*ep]

The piviots for the upper a-arms have knock outs, the metal has weakened areas to make the holes oval for adjusting the camber. From the factory they are set so only the bolt will go through. So the first alignment would be the most expencive as the shop would have to knock them out to correctly set camber/caster. If your going to do the balljoints take the upper arms off and if need be buy the tool or just use a drift and hammer and knock them out. There are even adjustment cams there for adjustability.
GM had to do this because Dodge has patent on that front end design. So to get around that they made the upper piviots non adjustable...

 

[Seventy4Blazer]

ok, i got ya now.
thanks for the tip. now once i get my taxes, i can upgrade my brakes, do my u-joints, another tune up and the balljoints.
Grant

 

[ntaj*ep]

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