How-To: 2014+ Silverado McGaughys Lowering Spindle Install.

DirtyMarcus · March 5, 2015

Tools need:

5mm and 6mm allen head sockets

T-30 torx

10mm, 15mm shallow, 18 and 19 mm deep sockets

13/16 and 15/16 deep sockets

1/2 breaker bar

1/4, 3/8,1/2 ratchets

3/8 and 1/2 torque wrenches

10mm wrench

15mm crows foot

3lb sledge or tie rod/ball joint separator

Lok-tite

jack, jack stands, wheel chock

Obviously start by placing a wheel chock behind the rear wheels to prevent rolling. Break the wheel nuts free prior to lifting the truck. Jack up one side of the truck and place a jack stand under the frame, blah blah you know the routine (i hope). Now finish removing the wheel nuts and remove the wheel.

First I removed the caliper bracket and tied the caliper up so it wasnt hanging by the brake hose. You will need a big breaker bar to bust these bolts free. I also recommend an impact socket or you might crack a regular socket in half. Remove the black bolts circled, not the silver ones. The silver ones only hold on the caliper. Sorry for the bad pic.

Next remove the rotor. All you need to do it remove the torx bolt thats holding on the rotor and it pulls right off.

With the rotor off you can now access the ABS sensor easier. Remove the bracket from the top of the spindle with a 10mm socket, then remove the bolt with a 5mm allen head and carefully pull it out of the hub and tie up and out of the way.

Next is to break free the tie rod and spindle from the control arms. Do not completely remove the nuts. Get them all the way off and then rethread them so they are fully back on the studs. This will prevent the spindle from falling off later and landing on your foot. The upper and lower ball joints are pressed in the spindles good so the spindle wont come off without some persuading.

Upper ball joint

Lower ball joint

Tie Rod

Now go ahead and remove the nut off the tie rod and using the separator split it off the spindle. Alternatively you can use the sledge and give the tie rod bolt a good hit and it will come loose. Thats not really recommended though.

With the tie rod loose you can now swing the spindle to the side and access the hub bolts. Using a 15mm socket and breaker bar, bust them loose. There are three bolts holding the hub on.

With the hub free the dust shield will come off too. Pull them off and set them aside leaving the spindle exposed. You can now use the separator to remove the ball joints from the spindle. Alternatively you can give the spindle a few good smacks where the abs sensor was mounted to break it free from the ball joints. Again, sorry for the bad pics.

Mcgaughy does supply instructions and torque specs with the spindles but I'll post them here too. Start out with the new spindles and the stud. Add some lok tite to the stud and torque it down with a 6mm allen head socket to 25ft lbs i believe. Place the dust shield on and trim it up as shown in the supplied instructions.

The shield is pretty thick so you need a good pair of tin snips, I ended up using my dremel tool. You need to cut enough off to clear the caliper. Once you have the spindles you can clearly see the line you need to follow for the cut. My pic is pre cutting. I also place the hub bolts on the spindle to keep the shield from moving around as I cut it,

Once the shield is cut place the hub back on. Make sure you have the hole for the ABS sensor facing the correct direction. It should be facing the hole in the shield. Using the supplied nut, screw the hub down snugly, again I added lok tite. Also snug down the factory hub bolts. Dont bother torquing them yet.

Install the new spindle on the control arms. Mcgaughys supplies new nuts for the upper and lower ball joints. Hand tighten these to hold the spindle in place. With the spindle held in place use you jack and jack up the spindle just a little. This puts slight pressure on the ball joint to keep it from spinning while you torque it down. Once its torqued to 92ft lbs lower the jack and jack up the entire lower control arm to place tension on the upper ball joint to keep it from spinning while torquing it down. Spec on that one should be 44ft lbs i believe. Sorry no pics but its just the reverse of removal.

Once the ball joints are done, you can turn the spindle and torque down the hub to the spindle to 133ft lbs. We waited earlier because you can get better leverage with the spindle on the truck. Once the hub is torqued down reinstall the tie rod. You may need to use a wrench to initially tighten the tie rod so the stud doesnt spin. Use a 10mm wrench to hold the tie rod stud and an 18mm wrench to tighten the nut. You can see in the pic below that the tie rod stud is shaped to accept a wrench.

Now reinstall the ABS sensor and mounting bracket. Then reinstall the rotor and caliper/caliper bracket. I didnt have torque specs for the caliper bracket. I just used my breaker bar and got them as tight as possible. I could barely break those bolts loose with my breaker bar so I kind of used that to judge how much i needed to tighten them.......they wont be coming loose im positive haha.

When you're done reinstall the wheels and do the other side. It should take a few hours to complete, maybe half a day if you work slow. Once I was done my truck drove like crap and the toe and camber was all out of whack. So much the front felt like it was going to wobble off. So take it straight to the nearest alignment shop.

Ill get some better after pics later. But my 2/3 drop is now complete.

Before

After

POS VETT · March 5, 2015

Questions. What method did you use to lower the rear? Two-inch drop shackles and lift block removal? Did you install shock extenders?

Thanks.

DirtyMarcus · March 5, 2015

Questions. What method did you use to lower the rear? Two-inch drop shackles and lift block removal? Did you install shock extenders?

Thanks.

Yea shackles and removed the block. Im still using the stock shocks with no issues.

Danny_Sierra · March 5, 2015

No disrespect man but it doesn't look any different

DirtyMarcus · March 6, 2015

No disrespect man but it doesn't look any different

LOL I said the same thing at first. I guess 2" isnt much difference to see in a pic. Although my alignment was off by 6 degrees, wheels were all out of whack in the after pic. Once I got it realigned its more noticeable or maybe it was the way my truck sits in this picture that throws it off. I'll post a better after pic once I wash her.

Danny_Sierra · March 6, 2015

LOL I said the same thing at first. I guess 2" isnt much difference to see in a pic. Although my alignment was off by 6 degrees, wheels were all out of whack in the after pic. Once I got it realigned its more noticeable or maybe it was the way my truck sits in this picture that throws it off. I'll post a better after pic once I wash her.

yeah lol. Mine was lowered 4/6 and saw a HUGE DIFFERENCE. My alignment was all out of line too,steering wheel turned at 45°. where they able to align it perfectly like you had it before?

DirtyMarcus · March 6, 2015

yeah lol. Mine was lowered 4/6 and saw a HUGE DIFFERENCE. My alignment was all out of line too,steering wheel turned at 45°. where they able to align it perfectly like you had it before?

Yea they got it perfect. I had so much positive camber I was running on the shoulder of the tire and when I turned there was a loud squeal. Sounded like my belt was squealing and was loud. My steering wouldnt respond, then suddenly I'd catch and my truck would want to whip around.

Danny_Sierra · March 6, 2015

Yea they got it perfect. I had so much positive camber I was running on the shoulder of the tire and when I turned there was a loud squeal. Sounded like my belt was squealing and was loud. My steering wouldnt respond, then suddenly I'd catch and my truck would want to whip around.

they got mine as close as possible to perfect