Coil spring compressor.

[booster]

I replaced all the upper and lower control arm bushings on both sides with ACDelco gold. With no one able to get this into alignment I have to suspect something must be wrong and only thought I have at the moment is frame is out of wack.

Shop # 5 or 6 mentioned moving the holes in the lower control arms. At the time I did not understand what he was talking about. Tech #8 the one who did not speak English indicated that the upper control arm is not long enough.

Moving the holes for the lower arm are what I am doing on out 07 right now, delayed by my surgery but will get back on it in June. Ours has a factory error that moved the right front wheel nearly 3/4" to the rear so more caster without moving it forward would hit the wheelwell.

You may not need to move yours, and it is a big job do do well.

New upper arm bushings are what I am talking about, but not stock ones. Camber bushings have the hole offset to give the arm more adjustment.

You have lots of positive camber on it now, more than needed by lot at .3*.

It would be best to see what the caster comes out at is you use that .3* to get more caster, allowing the camber to go to zero degrees, straight up. My guess would be you could get a couple of degrees of more plus caster that way. Add camber bushings that give 1.5* and you could be decent on both settings.

All the older body on frame stuff settle, and back in the day they would pull them out, but it very hard to find someone to do it now unless the frame is out of the van which is a huge job. That is why camber bushings exist.

 

[jjrbus]

Never heard of offset bushings! Let me make sure I am reading this right, you are saying offset camber bushings will change the caster?

I was told off set ball joints might add enough caster but I cannot find them for the chevy express and not sure if they are a good idea.

 

[booster]

The so called camber bushings can be used to adjust camber and caster because you can put them in the upper arms at any rotation to move that end in our out.

 

[jjrbus]

The so called camber bushings can be used to adjust camber and caster because you can put them in the upper arms at any rotation to move that end in our out.

Thank you, I am doing a web search and can not find any offset control bushings for the 2001 Chevy Express 3500. Also I was not able to find adjustable ball joints for the 01 Chevy 3500.

 

[booster]

Thank you, I am doing a web search and can not find any offset control bushings for the 2001 Chevy Express 3500. Also I was not able to find adjustable ball joints for the 01 Chevy 3500.

You may not be able to find the offset bushings called out for your van, but it is highly likely that a similar year pickup truck would use the same dimensional bushings and they would have offset bushing for them. I have run into that often. For the most part, it they are same OD, ID, and close on length, they will work fine.

Rock auto spec often list the sizes so you can compare from those.

 

[jjrbus]

I have compared some part numbers 2001 vs 2003 Express and they do not match up. Will I have to find the actual measurements to compare?

 

[booster]

Yes you will. Rock Auto will likely have enough specs listed or you to find what stock dimensions are, and then you can look for the same dimensions in camber bushings.

 

[jjrbus]

Can't help but wonder, you are aware of these things. But professional alignment shops charging big bucks have never mentioned them!

 

[booster]

Can't help but wonder, you are aware of these things. But professional alignment shops charging big bucks have never mentioned them!

Shops go for high margin, easy stuff, unless you find someone who truly loves his work and likes to help people. Money talks, good will walks, unfortunately.

 

[wmgeorge]

There are shops around here that do just truck work and keep busy. When I was younger I would have taken on that spring job, now it would be in one of those shops.

 

[jjrbus]

There are shops around here that do just truck work and keep busy. When I was younger I would have taken on that spring job, now it would be in one of those shops.

In a shop with a lift, might not be so horrible a job. On the ground in the driveway is the wrong way to go!

 

[booster]

I had a bit of extra time so I looked into the camber bushings for you van.

The information for 2001 is weird at best.

It appears that the upper control arms were also used in multiple pickups, suburbans, etc in late 90s/early 2000s.

Rock Auto shows bushings of at least two different size ODs for your van. One size is identical to what our 07 is and the other size that listed actual dimensions was 1/4" smaller OD which makes camber bushings have range issues, I think.

I think you put new bushings in the upper arms? If so, we might be able to find out from the part number what size they are so we can try to find bushings. It may also be possible to find upper arms that have the larger size that is shown also. There must have been a mid year change or something. The vans were basically "parts bin" designs using as many standard gm parts as they could, so you just don't know.

 

[jjrbus]

Thanks for looking! I am not feeling good again and have a plumbing issue at the house eating up my time. The ones I purchased are ACDelco Gold 45G8057. I also have the old bushing's.

This site is so much better now I was able to do a snip on Rock auto and paste it here!

 

[jjrbus]

No luck on finding concentric bushings or adjustable ball joints. Spent a couple hours with what seems like one of the better alignment guy's I have dealt with. He spent quite a bit of time with me and on the phone with different people in the aftermarket parts field, people that I would never get a chance to talk to. Also called a couple people he knows in the business for their opinions on what is going on.

He talked to people like the head engineer at SPC performance and confirmed there are no offset bushings, adjustable ball joints or adjustable control arms available for the 96 to 02 Chevy Express.

He is also talking with the company that makes his springs and seems to think the Moog springs are a part of the problem, I do not understand the springs being a problem at all! Also agrees that a frame inspection is in order. I have an frame inspection scheduled for next tue and will be looking for another shop for a 2nd opinion.

 

[booster]

Thanks for looking! I am not feeling good again and have a plumbing issue at the house eating up my time. The ones I purchased are ACDelco Gold 45G8057. I also have the old bushing's.

This site is so much better now I was able to do a snip on Rock auto and paste it here!

View attachment 1115037

 

[booster]

I found the same thing. The very small diameter of your bushings make them pretty much impossible to do.

I hope your new guy can help put with some ideas.

 

[jjrbus]

Just talked to Charlie the owner of Auto Body Dr's. Been around 35 years with sterling reputation. Collision shop with frame machine. Not one of the fancy laser machines old timer machine with tape measures. Charlie is baffled and finds nothing wrong with frame, called in one of his alignment friends and they are stumped as why this will not align. Recommend I check with front end shop in Punta Gorda FL. Would lazer machine show much different?

The other shop I am dealing with is checking springs, he seems to think I need to use custom springs, not going to happen. Or modifying lower control arm bracket.

 

[wmgeorge]

So is this a brand new unit, if not how did it run in the past, not driveable?.

 

[booster]

Just talked to Charlie the owner of Auto Body Dr's. Been around 35 years with sterling reputation. Collision shop with frame machine. Not one of the fancy laser machines old timer machine with tape measures. Charlie is baffled and finds nothing wrong with frame, called in one of his alignment friends and they are stumped as why this will not align. Recommend I check with front end shop in Punta Gorda FL. Would lazer machine show much different?

The other shop I am dealing with is checking springs, he seems to think I need to use custom springs, not going to happen. Or modifying lower control arm bracket.

Whether the laser would make any difference is determined by what they are measuring. All frame shops should have access to the factory "reference points on the frame to determine whether it is correct or not so they can straighten a frame to get it straight. For old school shops it would be plumb bobs and tape measures, but for newer stuff like unibodies I think they have much better equipment for it all. If it is just for the alignment, it highly unlikely it will tell much.

The thing with yours is that if moving the lower arm mounting holes will fix it, it is also very likely a frame pull on the frame at the upper arms will also, although it is more difficult to do. The frame pull is probably best, but the mount hole move is also OK if it done well and properly reinforced.

 

[jjrbus]

Whether the laser would make any difference is determined by what they are measuring. All frame shops should have access to the factory "reference points on the frame to determine whether it is correct or not so they can straighten a frame to get it straight. For old school shops it would be plumb bobs and tape measures, but for newer stuff like unibodies I think they have much better equipment for it all. If it is just for the alignment, it highly unlikely it will tell much.

The thing with yours is that if moving the lower arm mounting holes will fix it, it is also very likely a frame pull on the frame at the upper arms will also, although it is more difficult to do. The frame pull is probably best, but the mount hole move is also OK if it done well and properly reinforced.

Thanks for the response, Charlie told me to check with Mr front end so I stopped by there. Started to tell my tale of woe to the service writer and he stopped me and said you have been taking it to the wrong shops! Bring it in tue and we will take it for a test drive and figure out what the problem is. There were 2 RT and numerous other RV sitting in the parking lot.