Alignment....again?????

[hemipwrd]

So just had a zone 4/3 lift installed followed with the customary alignment. Well, over the past few days I have developed a front end noise, so I brought it back to where I got it installed. Now I have a bad upper ball joint. So I’m looking to replace both uppers with zone uca’s, will I be ok or do I need another alignment? I’m sure the alignment shop will tell me the truth but I’m looking for other opinions.


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[muddy12]

Upper arms are non adjustable, so in theory, you shouldn’t “need” an alignment if they are the only thing swapped out.
However, it won’t hurt anything to at least have it checked while they have it in the shop.

Just throwing this out there because I noticed it on my ‘12 while working on my front end; while you have the upper arms off, give the mounts on the frame a good inspection. I noticed the hole in one of the mounting tabs had become slightly oversized. It wasn’t bad enough to need immediate attention, but I’ll be addressing it(and upgrading arms) in the spring.


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[hemipwrd]

I was kinda thinking the same thing. Thanks for your response. I’ll definitely check out everything since it’ll be all torn apart....again!


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[Silver Goose]

I would think if the alignment was made with bad upper ball joints and now you are going to change them to me it would make sense to at least check the alignment.

Note when changing the ball joints, I suggest buying replacements that have grease Zerks.

Good luck

Larry

 

[joshuaeb09]

Anytime you swap front end components it's always a good idea to at least get it on the rack and check alignment. Even if everything looks and feels ok you could still be out of alignment enough that you might not notice, but your tires certainly will after enough mileage is on them.

 

[hemipwrd]

Well since I swapped the uppers with some zone control arms I went a head and had the alignment redone. Glad I did, toe was out of alignment. But now everything is within spec and good to go.


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[millrat]

you will almost always be out of alignment when replacing parts because not all parts have the exact same measurements/tolerances. Even parts from the same manufacturer will not be identical. This is the part almost everyone doesn't think about or realize. A very minor amount of difference at the frame mount can and does translate into a significant amount of difference at the wheel. Over 3 decades of doing alignments has shown this to me. Glad you had it checked and found it was out. The toe setting will be the most affected by these differences.