locking alignment cams for Chevy

[booster]

I know that in the past at least one person has installed these, I think Jojobanfanci and maybe others.


My question is how you can be able to set them in a Chevy (2003 and up) once the spring is in place?


I just got a set of these as I am in the process of modifying the lower control arm mounting location to get more + caster and can't see how I would be able to get to and adjust the rear upper control mount cam. I have a loose pin so I figured I would try to prevent that in the future by replacing them with the tighter version.



The bolt goes from inside the spring tower and is very close to the spring.


The factory cams have a flat on the bolt and on the cams so both cams turn with the bolt so you can just turn that bolt.


The adjustable cams don't have the flat and you have to lift the cam off the pin and then turn it, with it all right up against the spring, with the wheel on while on the alignment turntables.



It looks like would be very close to impossible to do easily and consistently and get the same change on each of the cams when they all move independently.


Did your alignment guy have any complaints on this?

[jojobafanzi]

I'm not sure of the setup on your specific year and model but on my 2016 express 2500, the upper control arm bolts do not have the flat spot on them (concentric). My alignment was constantly going out so I installed the locking cams to prevent that. The nut on the control arm has to be loosened up a lot and the cam has to be taken off the pin to move the alignment to the next position. Since the cams are independent, the alignment tech would have to move both individually and tighten the nut again. Upon install of my locking cams it was discovered the reason of my alignment issue. The threads on one of the concentric bolts were damaged which prevented the nut and bolt to be tightened properly. The nut would get tight when it reached the bad threads but there was no preload so the alignment would move. There is plenty of room on my vehicle to make the necessary adjustments. Is your vehicle different? Joe

[booster]

Originally Posted by jojobafanzi

I'm not sure of the setup on your specific year and model but on my 2016 express 2500, the upper control arm bolts do not have the flat spot on them (concentric). My alignment was constantly going out so I installed the locking cams to prevent that. The nut on the control arm has to be loosened up a lot and the cam has to be taken off the pin to move the alignment to the next position. Since the cams are independent, the alignment tech would have to move both individually and tighten the nut again. Upon install of my locking cams it was discovered the reason of my alignment issue. The threads on one of the concentric bolts were damaged which prevented the nut and bolt to be tightened properly. The nut would get tight when it reached the bad threads but there was no preload so the alignment would move. There is plenty of room on my vehicle to make the necessary adjustments. Is your vehicle different? Joe

The bolt head and cam for the rear of the upper arm are inside the spring tower on our 2007 so hard to get to and especially if you have to get it loose enough to move a cam to a new hole. The flat on the bolt makes it so the cam turns with the bolt so much easier to do, but you still have to reach up inside the tower along side the spring to hold turn the bolt head. I have replacement cams coming that have the hex hole in them also for an allen wrench if needed, but I doubt I will need to use the allen wrench.


I will try to get a pic of the side I don't have all apart.

[booster]

You comment about no flats on the bolt and matching flat in the cam bolt hole doesn't make a lot of sense, especially if you don't have the hex hole for allen wrench to turn the cam. There would basically be almost no way to turn the cam as it is very hard to get all the load off it to turn it with your fingers, especially the inside the tower one.


I looked at Rock Auto and a 2017 takes the same parts as our 2017 does for cams and bolts, including the GM kit they sell per the pix they show. Makes me wonder how your van would get round holes in everything plus a bad bolt.


Here are pix of where the front bolt and cam are (not rear) without and with the spring in place.

[jojobafanzi]

My guess is that your year Chevy front suspension is very different that my 2016. When I ordered the cams, I saw that some manufacturers had the extra hole in their cams for adjusting. I chose a brand that had no extra holes because there was confusion as whether or not they were compatible with my van. Turns out those cams fit way more vehicles than are listed in the ad. I was out of state at my vacation home and my return date was approaching fast. I was at the early stage of finding the gremlins that were making the vehicle miserable to drive so I chose a company that would ship the cams to me quickly. It was a good move as I found the reason the alignment was going out so that was out of the way. Here are my cams as installed. Not sure how the shop moved them when adjusting. The extra hole would have been more desirable.

[booster]

Your second pic looks to be the rear on the left side of the van and it appears that the bolt head for the cams is inside the spring tower. That is just like ours is.


The extra hole probably wouldn't have done them much good as the cams have to be able to move out to get over the pins. I would guess the one in the spring housing would be tough to do, but kudos that they were able to do it.


If you had the stock springs in it then, I think that would help in comparison to our aftermarket ones that have more coils in them as the stockers probably have coil spacing big enough to let the bolt head move out further by going between the coils. I don't know if we would have enough room for that.

[jojobafanzi]

My front springs are located between the upper control arm bushings. All four cams on each side are outside the springs. I guess there was a design change on the later models. BTW, yesterday I installed a Roadmaster front sway bar. The ride is getting better. I'm still trying to tame the beast. The sway is being reduced with each modification. I will probably install the Hellwig rear sway bar in the future.

[booster]

Originally Posted by jojobafanzi

My front springs are located between the upper control arm bushings. All four cams on each side are outside the springs. I guess there was a design change on the later models. BTW, yesterday I installed a Roadmaster front sway bar. The ride is getting better. I'm still trying to tame the beast. The sway is being reduced with each modification. I will probably install the Hellwig rear sway bar in the future.

But is the second one in you second pic inside of the spring "tower"? I can only see one cam in that pic, so I am assuming it is inside, and that is the issue because as you loosen the bolt or try to replace it, you limited by space between the spring and the tower side with little room for a wrench.

[jojobafanzi]

Next time I am under the vehicle, I will get a better look and some pictures

[booster]

I did some checking and all the parts are the same between 2003 and 2023 based on what I found.


I did find this Utube of how to change the bushings that shows the whole thing coming apart and is listed as for 2002-2023 vans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=espGm_k92es

Here are a couple of screen prints of the bolt head location and with a wrench tucked in to get on it. It is identical to ours except their's is pretty rusty.

[jojobafanzi]

Ok. I guess I didn’t see clearly on mine. It is the same. That one can looks like a pain to get to

[booster]

Originally Posted by jojobafanzi

Ok. I guess I didn’t see clearly on mine. It is the same. That one can looks like a pain to get to

Yes, it is. The shop did a good job in being able to use the cams without flats to turn that cam and get it locking cam up and onto the right hole as there just isn't much room there.