2002 Silverado - Sagging Front Springs - Camber?

[joseph10]

Hello,

I was hoping someone could help me. I have a 2002 Silverado - 180K miles. For awhile, I have noticed a vibration noise in the front end - I have been able to recently feel it in the steering wheel.

 

I inspected the front tires today, and I noticed the passenger side is wearing heavily on the inside edge - appears to be negative camber. The driver's side is fine.

 

I started doing some reading and thinking, and the front end of the truck looks like it has some coil spring sag. I am thinking that this is the cause of the negative camber problem (the truck has never and does not pull in any direction). The truck has never been wrecked.

 

I figured it would be dumb to go align it to the new "sag" spring condition. I thought it would be best to replace the coil springs and then get it aligned.

 

Does that make the most sense? Or, just go get an alignment done and be done with it.

 

The one thing that is bothering me is that, if it was sag, I would think the tire wear would show up on both sides.

 

Does anyone know what the stock ride height is for this model? I cannot find anything on the internet.

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Joseph

[Jsdirt]

I'd jack it up by the lower control arm & use a large prybar @ 6 o'clock to check your upper/ lower ball joints & wheel bearing .... and wouldn't hurt to check inner/outer tie rods, pitman/idler arms as well.

 

After all that checks out, then I'd worry about the springs.

[govtech]

2wd or 4wd?

[joseph10]

All,

Thanks for the replies. I jacked the truck up (it is 2WD, BTW), and did all the linkage checks etc. All the ball joints and everything looked very good (this truck has really only seen highway miles, and I have been religious with greasing it).

 

I found the problem to my noise. I had first suspected negative camber, causing the tire to ride on the inside edge. However, I think the tire wear was just due to not rotating frequently enough. As I was doing my inspection, I found that both hubs were making quite a bit of bearing noise (the passenger side was much worse than the driver side).

 

I replaced the passenger side hub yesterday, and the truck is now silent. However, since I heard the noise spinning the tire on the driver's side too, I am going to replace that one next weekend. I am going to go ahead and put new shocks up front too (already did the passenger side yesterday).

 

I do have one question, the bolts holding the brake caliper on were *very* hard to get out because of the factory thread lock. I really dread having to work on the other side because of this.

 

Does anyone have a tip to getting those bolts out (besides spraying WD40 on each end and waiting)?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Joseph

[Jsdirt]

Impact gun - worth the money. Can't tell you how much aggravation it's saved me over the past decade. Worth it's weight in gold.

 

Just don't use it for installation until you get used to using it.

[joseph10]

Thanks. I may be buying an impact gun for the driver's side work. I figure I have probably saved enough by doing the work myself to pay for it.

 

Joseph

[ChevyTech77]

The only way that GM has to measure the front ride height is by taking a measurement from under the vehicle with the weight of the vehicle on the tires. Difficult to do on the ground but your local alignment shop should be able to measure it for you prior to performing the wheel alignment. Take it in and make mention of it.