Control arm bracket modification

[jjrbus]

Been posting here about my handling issues so will not go into detail. I have replaced everything and had everything checked multiple times, including having the frame checked and adding a Safe T plus. Still not satisfied with the way the 02 Roadtrek 200 handles.

My last and only option is to have the control arm bracket modified to bring the caster into spec. I do not like or want to do this but there are no other options. I am talking with the only shop in Florida I can find that will do this and should have an appointment next week. He claims 3 hours labor plus have to pay a welder to come in. 20 years ago I could have welded it myself, I do not want to weld anything critical anymore. If I do need something welded I tack it together and take it to a welder.

 

[Scottie409]

My alignment shop did the mod and no welder required. It is something most good shops are familiar with on Chevy chassis. Added an extra hour to the alignment cost.

 

[booster]

My alignment shop did the mod and no welder required. It is something most good shops are familiar with on Chevy chassis. Added an extra hour to the alignment cost.

What mod did they do? The OP is talking about cutting loose the upper control arm bracket and relocating it and that requires a welder to the reattach it.

I had to correct caster on our 07 Chevy and there was no way to do it with the upper arm because the tire would have hit the fenderwell rear. I moved the holes for the lower control arm to twist the lower control arm ball joint to the front. It fixed the low caster issue and centered the wheel in the wheelwell. To do that correctly you do need a welder for my mod also as you only move 1/2 hole diameter max and have to weld the other end closed so it isn't free to move around. I also added doublers for strength. Most shops that do this don't weld the holes, just slot them so you have to be very careful to watch for movement as a one ton truck puts some big loads on the arm and spring.

 

[jjrbus]

My alignment shop did the mod and no welder required. It is something most good shops are familiar with on Chevy chassis. Added an extra hour to the alignment cost.

Thanks for the response, we are not talking about the same thing. Mine is more like Booster posted.

 

[jojobafanzi]

Been posting here about my handling issues so will not go into detail. I have replaced everything and had everything checked multiple times, including having the frame checked and adding a Safe T plus. Still not satisfied with the way the 02 Roadtrek 200 handles.
Hello again: I have been on this handling issue for years now. I'm sure at this point, the awful feeling of driving my RT can be attributed to something moving that I don't want to move. Since the Poly bushings, shocks, sway bars upgrade, the tires are the most likely culprit. The van feels good with no wind on a very smooth road. Add wind, speed, passing vehicles and dips in the road and the vehicle starts doing things it shouldn't. I have good tires but they are on stock size 16" rims so there is a lot of sidewall flex. With my year van there are only a few rims on the market that will fit and that is due to the bolt pattern, offset and the large hub bore. I'm living with it for now but the next set of tires I am going to research getting wheel spacers and rims with an offset to compensate. There may be more wheels to choose from with a different offset. If so, I will try a larger rim to reduce the amount of sidewall. I'm just not sure what size rim would be good without making the ride harsh. Research is necessary and I'm busy doing other things. There are also 2" wheel spacers and adapters on the market that can allow use of another brand wheel such as Ford or Dodge which would give me more buying options and put me into a more positive offset range since the Chevy wheels compatibility on our RT's are limited. Joe

 

[booster]

My alignment shop did the mod and no welder required. It is something most good shops are familiar with on Chevy chassis. Added an extra hour to the alignment cost.

What year Chevy do you have? If it is 2003 or newer, I would guess all they did was put "camber bushings" into the upper control arms. That would be about an hour of labor for both sides in and experienced shop. The bushings are very common way to fix issues in several brands of twin A frame front end vehicles, but wouldn't work for me because of the wheel position in the wheelwell.

 

[jjrbus]

If everything is correct, a Safe T Plus might be an option. I added one and it helped, everything has helped but the alignment settings are maxed out. One noticeable difference was replacing the aftermarket aluminum wheels with OE steel.

 

[booster]

jojobafanzi​

Hello again: I have been on this handling issue for years now. I'm sure at this point, the awful feeling of driving my RT can be attributed to something moving that I don't want to move. Since the Poly bushings, shocks, sway bars upgrade, the tires are the most likely culprit. The van feels good with no wind on a very smooth road. Add wind, speed, passing vehicles and dips in the road and the vehicle starts doing things it shouldn't. I have good tires but they are on stock size 16" rims so there is a lot of sidewall flex. With my year van there are only a few rims on the market that will fit and that is due to the bolt pattern, offset and the large hub bore. I'm living with it for now but the next set of tires I am going to research getting wheel spacers and rims with an offset to compensate. There may be more wheels to choose from with a different offset. If so, I will try a larger rim to reduce the amount of sidewall. I'm just not sure what size rim would be good without making the ride harsh. Research is necessary and I'm busy doing other things. There are also 2" wheel spacers and adapters on the market that can allow use of another brand wheel such as Ford or Dodge which would give me more buying options and put me into a more positive offset range since the Chevy wheels compatibility on our RT's are limited. Joe

I am sure I have said this before, but wheel spacers and the like are generally not a good solution with the possible exception of using a higher positive offset wheel and using the spacer to bring the offset to correct.

I have no idea if you would like them or not but there are two different wheels available that would probably have the maximum amount of things you want to do.

The have the correct offset at +28mm, they have the correct hub diameter so are hub centric, they are 7.5" wide, They are not marked with load rating but are GM factory wheels that were used on pickups that had higher rear axle load ratings than our vans so plenty strong. 17" diameter so shorter sidewalls, which will be stiffer, depending on the tires used. You would use 70 series tires and have very close to stock diameters.

I am sure you have seen my writeups on these wheels, one of which is a Chevy wheel and one is a GMC wheel and is what we have on our 190 with oversized tires, 265-70-17" which would shift your speedo about 2%.
They are painted aluminum so could be made any color you want. They use factory center caps that are different than the 16" wheels and you can get them in silver or chrome.

Your 170 is on a shorter wheelbase but also weighs less and both of those can change handling from a 190.

 

[jjrbus]

Suspecting my tires were the issue I found a set of used OE steel rims and tires. Long story but the aftermarket rims turned out to be the problem or part of the problem. I replaced the rims with used OE steel and was a noticeable improvement.