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Passenger side wheel angles out after ball joint replacement. (Solved, post 29)

colbystephens

colbystephens

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What's up with that? The top of the tire points outward, the bottom points inward. It's pulling to the passenger side as I drive, and after going through some dirt roads and back onto pavement, I can see that more dust is left on the inner side of the tire tread than the outside, and the pattern is different from the drivers side tire. The driver's side tire has even wear pattern.

What could I have done wrong on my ball joint replacement that would make the wheel angle like that? It doesn't make any noises or have any other problems. I just notice the right-side pull and the angled look of the wheel. :doah:
 
if its got the castle nut thingy on the top ball joint for adjustment(goes inside the upper ball joint socket) if you still have the stock axle.if you replaced it and didnt adjust the angle,i believe it can change the angle of the ball joint.the guy that helped me do mine told me that.so hopfully you can just fix that to the right angle if thats all it needs.thats all i can think of if thats all tht you changed.that or the spindle isnt seated all the way.but that would of thrown off everything else and you probably would of seen that.would have been hard to get the caliper back on correct also.
 
Alignment shops commonly install offset balljoints to correct camber like you're experiencing. This is generally to make up for a bent housing, it's possible your old joints were offset and your new ones aren't.
 
38377k5 said:
Alignment shops commonly install offset balljoints to correct camber like you're experiencing. This is generally to make up for a bent housing, it's possible your old joints were offset and your new ones aren't.
Click to expand...

No such thing as an offset ball joint, however there are offset upper ball joint preload sleeves. It is unlikely though that one has been used as those were commonly a Ford item.

I suspect that the wheel bearing adjustment either came loose or was never correct after the ball joints were replaced.
 
dirtygoat said:
Something might be bent...:eek1:

Everything felt tight when it went back together???
Click to expand...

Everything felt real good.

4X4HIGH said:
No such thing as an offset ball joint, however there are offset upper ball joint preload sleeves. It is unlikely though that one has been used as those were commonly a Ford item.

I suspect that the wheel bearing adjustment either came loose or was never correct after the ball joints were replaced.
Click to expand...

Ok, guess I'll check my wheel bearing. If anything, I suspect it's over-tight, which seems like it wouldn't cause this problem. I hope I'm wrong.
 
Scott, if K5s don't use the camber adjust sleeves like my old Ford did, how do you set the camber on one?
Shim the spindle?

It sure sounds like he has an adjust sleeve and it moved when he was replacing the joint.
My old truck had one from the factory, that was preset at one angle. After I increased tire size, my buddy put in one that was adjustable by turning it. That sounds like what he has and it slipped.

J.
 
For what it's worth, I installed the previous set of joints and don't believe to have ever purchased a set of joints with offset sleeves or whatever. To my knowledge, it's all been the same as stock. The upper ball joint on the passenger was the same part number as the one on the driver's side, which appears fine. I'll check that bearing tomorrow.
 
The joint would not have an offset sleeve. You buy them seperately.
The sleeve would be on the axle already.
Like Scott said, they are used mostly on Fords, but I suppose you could have one.

Look at the nut on the upper ball joint. A adjustment sleeve would appear as a separate piece of metal between the nut and the axle. It would look like a thick washer.
It may or may not have a notch or notches in it.

Unlikely, but quicker and easier to check than the wheel bearings, just grab a light and look.

Found a picture of one. If you have one, it will probably look different, but this gives you an idea of how they work.
The rim with the dimples is all you would see when you look under.
Most of the ones I saw were smooth with no dimples.

J.

2007531143640_FORD TWO WD CAMBER SLEEVE SET.jpg
 
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Ok, I had another thought. I'm sure my alignment is off because my tie rod is bent pretty bad. When wheels turn, they tend to roll onto the edge of the tire. Perhaps my alignment is just out far enough to where I can actually see it. I'll look into that too.

If my theory is correct, it would lend itself to putting the tire on it's outer shoulder. The truck pulls to the right, so that wheel would be slightly angled out which would put the wheel on it's outer shoulder. I'm feeling pretty good about this idea.
 
You would not see the whole thing like that, they tend to stay in the axle housing. In fact, they make a special puller to get them out because they usually are rusted into place. All you would see would be the rim.

But, if you don't have one, you didn't bend the axle tube tightening the nut<G>, or put them in upside down or something, I guess its something simple.....Like your wheel is about to fall off.:eek1:

Got me stumped at this point until you find some more info.

Let us know what it is.

J.
 
Fordum said:
The joint would not have an offset sleeve. You buy them seperately.
The sleeve would be on the axle already.
Like Scott said, they are used mostly on Fords, but I suppose you could have one.

Look at the nut on the upper ball joint. A adjustment sleeve would appear as a separate piece of metal between the nut and the axle. It would look like a thick washer.
It may or may not have a notch or notches in it.

Unlikely, but quicker and easier to check than the wheel bearings, just grab a light and look.

Found a picture of one. If you have one, it will probably look different, but this gives you an idea of how they work.
The rim with the dimples is all you would see when you look under.
Most of the ones I saw were smooth with no dimples.

J.
Click to expand...

On GM its the castle sleeve that you torque prior to putting the nut on. It threads down in the spindle and is tappered and pre loads the ball joint. They make offset sleeves for adjustment, but I should have came standard unless they messed up in the ball joint package. Here's a bad pic but you can kinda see them.
Ball_018sm.jpg
 
Fordum said:
Scott, if K5s don't use the camber adjust sleeves like my old Ford did, how do you set the camber on one?
Shim the spindle?

It sure sounds like he has an adjust sleeve and it moved when he was replacing the joint.
My old truck had one from the factory, that was preset at one angle. After I increased tire size, my buddy put in one that was adjustable by turning it. That sounds like what he has and it slipped.

J.
Click to expand...

Camber adjustment (if needed) is done with a tapered shim between the knuckle and spindle.

The preload sleeve in GM vehicles are threaded and DO NOT have an eccentric to them (from the factory) for correcting camber. There are aftermarket eccentric sleeves for correcting camber but i've never seen one yet in the many trucks i've worked on (doesn't mean his didn't have one but very unlikely).
 
I figured if it didn't use a ball joint offset, it must use a shim. I figure the way you guys beat on your trucks you would need to do a camber adjustment more often then most just to compensate for minor bending<G>.

J.
 
Fordum said:
I figured if it didn't use a ball joint offset, it must use a shim. I figure the way you guys beat on your trucks you would need to do a camber adjustment more often then most just to compensate for minor bending<G>.

J.
Click to expand...


Chevy's don't bend like those fords :D
 
4X4HIGH said:
Camber adjustment (if needed) is done with a tapered shim between the knuckle and spindle.
Click to expand...

x2 on this. I took one of these out when I put ball joints in my 71. Put it all back together without the shim and the tire look horrible. Ripped it back apart, put the tapered shim in and the tire lean was fixed.

Better get a straight tie rod before setting the toe in.
 
I had a friend at school. He was a ford lover and didn't liked chevys. I asked him why and he said cause you always see old beatup chevys driving around. I told him its cause fords don't hold up to any abuse and are dead off the road before they get ugly.
 
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