Where to start? Lots of new parts including new front coil springs. Horrible job to do, got the pass side done and on to the driver side. I opted to not use the OTC spring compressor as it took way too much effort to get it out on the passenger side. 2 ratchet straps, 1 come along and 4 hydraulic jacks to get it in place. I did gain almost 1 1/2 inch lift measured from ground through middle of tire to wheel well with the new Moog springs 81012.
There is a sweet spot getting the lower control arm back in, the arm needs to be almost parallel with the ground and go straight in. This cannot be done with the steering knuckle in place.
I do not have the strength to torque the lower control arm bolts but pre loalded them as best I could and will have the alignment place torque them for me.
Found a highly recommended alignment shop and headed over for my 7th alignment in 3 years. $40 to torque the nuts and $179 for an alignment. Head for the highway and van handles poorly %^$##. What do I do now?
Find a big truck shop and they tell me they are not interested, I tell them I do not care what it costs and they tell me to bring the van in. No big fancy rack 2 round things on the floor, 4 things they hang on the wheels and a computer screen. Tech is friendly but speaks almost no English, no one in the shop speaks English! Works on the RT for almost 2 hours and cannot get it into spec. I am sitting in the work bay watching and he is struggling. He takes another 20 minutes or so and does the best job he can to show me what is wrong. When he attempts to adjust the castor on the pass side when he gets the upper control arm front adjuster to max outward position the castor is still negative. This is my interpation of him pointing at screen and moving things around, so may not be 100% accurate. He could not communicate with me how to fix other than the upper control arm needs to be 1/4" longer,so not sure where to go from here. He refused to charge me anything because he could not fix it! I gave him $40 for lunch!
This is very hard to understand, 7 alignments before someone explained to me what the problem is!!!!
Headed for the highway and this is the best it has handled in a long time. still not right but better.
At the moment I am mulling over wheel spacers, adjustable ball joints, frame inspection and control arm bracket modification. Of course I know nothing about any of these and will be looking on the net and another shop for a 2nd opinion.