C20 Steering & Suspension Rebuild

[LTZ C20]

The rebuild just started.



Driver side wheel well height. 34 1/4


Passenger side wheel well height. 34 1/8

[philo_beddoe]

Frame must be bent. Lol

[LTZ C20]

That tape measure has 1 leg shorter than the other.

[philo_beddoe]

Lol, yup!

I'd like to measure my tire height, but i dont have a perfectly flat surface. Which is what you must have.

[LTZ C20]

Nope. Driveway as a slight slope to it, just enough for water to run. I just did that from the same spot on either side just to have a reference to how it used to be. I finished it yesterday, looks great, sits higher. I'm gonna need some time tonight to write the post and put up all the pictures.

[philo_beddoe]

Good, i'd like to see it.

[LTZ C20]

Here we are folks, a brand new front end on the C20. Took me 3 days to do, but I slept in Saturday and Sunday, didn't even make it out to start work untill around 11 or 12 those days and I had a few things to, clean and paint. So to start this off, we have the tear down.

Tires/wheels need to go, they are in the way.




Next was the sway bar and steering linkage. The linkage was terrible looking.







Next, out with the springs and lower arms.








Of course it's much easier to remove the arm with no spindles attached.






Upper arms hit the concrete after that.




And finally those little brackets that the lower arm shafts bolt to with U bolts. Note: these little brackets are riveted on, so a cut off wheel in a die grinder and on air hammer removed those. Then it was stripped down to be pressure washed.




The area got pressure washed along with the spindles which were scraped clean off the gunk and grime for the most part and washed also. The spindles however did not receive and new paint as I just didn't feel like taking them apart. The sway bar, relay rod and idler arm to frame bracket also got pressure washed. These 3 items did receive 2 coats of self etching primer and 3 coats of VHT Chassis and Roll Bar paint, just the same fashion as all those new parts I painted.

[LTZ C20]

Next up, all the new stuff. I do apologize tho, these pictures are in more of an assembled manor, I kinda of forgot to take a few more step by step pics. And by "kind of" I mean I just plain forgot to take pics at times. You should still be able to see everything.

So to start, the upper shock mount frame braces. The did not have the right angle of bend to mount on, it really wasn't close enough to even call decent. So with some minor eye ball measurements and some carefully placed bends and tweaks in the vise, they fit alot better. Luckily tho, all of the supplied hardware was good quality and fit nicely. The brackets themselves actually had a nice powder coat finish to them, we will see but it appears to have held up well threw my minor adjustments and the installation.


Followed by the upper and lower arms, springs and spindles. A word about the lower arms. Those little brackets riveted on the bottom of the K-member I spoke of earlier, the front two had large rivet heads on the bottom, they were locating pegs for the alignment dimples on the lower arm shafts. Some new bolts, washers, lock washers and nuts replaced the rivets and served as a great replacement for the bottom, making new locating pegs for the shaft dimples.

Honestly tho, if anyone does this, if these brackets aren't damaged, missing, rusted or have loose rivets, then don't even bother with new ones. Just leave them be. Probably wasn't a huge deal but I didn't know until after I got it apart that they were riveted on and I already had new ones so I swapped them out.

Anyway, arms, springs and spindles.








Now the steering linkage with freshly painted relay rod.




Next, steering stabilizer shock kit. This kit was a universal, fits 8 different types of vehicles kind of kits. I had a number of left over parts, including a small bracket I had painted but was actually for a different vehicle application. The instructions weren't that great either so I figured it out on my own.

Frame mount from top.


Relay rod mount from top.


Frame mount from bottom.


Relay rod mount from bottom.


I found I was out of grease, so upon visiting the store for grease, I came home with a new grease gun.




Now everything is finished up, I also put on new bolts, washers, lock washers and nuts for the sway bar mounts as well. Grease fittings greased, caps on, all is done.



Soon as I dropped it on the ground it was obviously higher.
Left. 36 3/4 inches.


Right. 37 inches.


A nice road test in a 5 mile square helped settle things in, mainly seating the springs. We measured after the first drive and it dropped and inch on the right and 3/4 on the left. So both sides are now at 36 inches. I'll have to measure again in a few days or a week and see how it is. I racked it at work when we were slow in the last hour of the day, checked everything over, all it good so far.

I'm having it aligned Thursday, it's pretty close but the alignment guy at work will be able to set her dead straight.

That just about covers it for the front portion of this article. I'm liking the new height alot, but I know it will settle more, it squats in the rear now. I have to gather the supplies for the rear to be done next, get a nice rake again and actually be able to support heavy loads without a sagging rear end! I'll try and snap a pic tomorrow of it from the side so you can see the lean towards the rear.

Stay tuned.

[cvbear]

Thanks for the detailed report, I find this sort of posts very helpful, particularly with pictures.  Where did you get the shock braces?

[LTZ C20]

The shock braces came from a vendor who shall remain nameless but Summit Racing and few other places offer them as well.

[philo_beddoe]

As long as both sides are even in height, all that matters.

[Irish_Alley]

wonder how close they are in a new truck?

[LTZ C20]

wonder how close they are in a new truck?

They are the same. The ride height, weight control and suspension/steering capabilities are more refined. They can do more with less.

[LTZ C20]

As long as both sides are even in height, all that matters.

That's the OCD talking. Or do you have CDO, it's the same as OCD but the letters are in alphabetical order like they should be.

[LTZ C20]

I got the truck aligned today. He said there were quite a bit of shims in the front to help it be straight to compensate for the old worn out stuff and sagging springs.

He had a handful of old shims when he was done, probably at least 8-10 of various thicknesses. He also said he set the caster a little heavy so that when I get the rear back up to a good height everything will be good. He did a great job, truck runs straight down the road, I'm happy with it.

He also said he liked what I did and that I did a good job, pretty good for my first time rebuilding and entire front end. It's always good to hear you did good work from a professional.

Now I get to figure out where I want the rear to be. I'm hoping for a nice rake, just enough to look good, not excessive but still be level with heavy weight. Possibly just opposite of the rake it has now. It's got a squatting rear, it needs to go up lol.