2007 Silverado 3500 Classic 4WD, 4 Door, 8' Bed (RPO - HVY, Z85, SRW) - Front suspension rebuild - Replacement spindles are too small.

[jeffjackson]

I have a 2007 Silverado 3500 Classic 4WD, Gas 6.0, 4 Door, 8' Bed. 108,000 miles (RPO Codes - HVY, Z85, SRW). I am rebuilding the front end, to include (upper and lower control arms, etc...), but the spindles on everything I have tried are too small. When I tighten the spindle nut (by hand) the nut passes the cotter key hole by approx an inch. Any idea what I should be looking for, specs, model, vendor, etc... Thank you in advance for any comments / suggestions.

[newdude]

1 hour ago, jeffjackson said:

I have a 2007 Silverado 3500 Classic 4WD, Gas 6.0, 4 Door, 8' Bed. 108,000 miles (RPO Codes - HVY, Z85, SRW). I am rebuilding the front end, to include (upper and lower control arms, etc...), but the spindles on everything I have tried are too small. When I tighten the spindle nut (by hand) the nut passes the cotter key hole by approx an inch. Any idea what I should be looking for, specs, model, vendor, etc... Thank you in advance for any comments / suggestions.

 

 

When you say "spindles" are you talking the ball joint studs?  What brand control arms did you get?  Or better yet, do you have all the part numbers of what parts you've bought and can you post them here?  

[jeffjackson]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the ball joint & tie rod end studs. I bought a kit from Amazon a few years back (for a 3500) and am just now trying to install it. The ball joints were preinstalled on the control arms (no part number on them). I have the tie rod end part # ES3609, and they are too small also. I haven't tried the steering parts yet to know if they fit or not. 

 

[davester]

were they name brand parts?  go through your amazon account records and see what the part numbers were in the kit.

[jeffjackson]

No, they were not name brand parts, and I can't find info about the kit that I bought - I may have purchased the kit as guest. I am rethinking my choice and will buy name brand replacement parts going forward. As stated in my post, I am looking for recommendations for name brand vendors for these parts. I reached out to Moog, but the sales rep said they don't have manufacturer specs to recommend what parts I need. I will examine and measure the original parts to see if I can provide additional info on those parts to help in determining what I need. 

I realize that my 2007 Silverado 3500 is an oddball in that it is a Classic, it is a 3500 with SRW, and has the RPO Codes - HVY (IDENTIFICATION 2-INCH BODY RAISE, H.D. MODEL), C4M (GVW RATING 9,900 LBS) and LQ4 (ENGINE, GAS, 8 CYL, 6.0L, MFI, IRON, GM).

 

Back to work - I will try to get the torsion bars loose today so I can separate the lower control arm to replace the bushings and lower ball joints, and to replace the torsion keys. I am currently running LT315/75/16 KO2 with very minor modifications (cut the lower corner of the front bumper so they don't rub).

 

Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

Edited June 3, 2025 by jeffjackson

[jeffjackson]

well... I measured the tapper and length of the old and new upper control arm ball joint studs with a caliper, and they are the same. I should have done this before posting (duh). 

 

I think that I also misunderstood the purpose / location of the cotter pin and hole on the new control arm ball joint stud. The original ball joint stud did not have a cotter pin or hole, it was just torqued to spec. so I am surmising that the cotter pin on the new ball joint stud is merely a safety keeper in case the nut were to come loose and back off some.

Does that make sense?

 

I will continue with the project and post the results, if there are any new issues, or brain farts  

 

Thank all of you who responded to my post...

[davester]

Well, the cotter pin should go through the slots in the castle nut, to directly prevent it from turning more than a little bit.

 

At the very least, you need to make sure the tapers in the ball joint actually are seated in the control arms, and not floating in the holes.

 

If you aren't sure, I would throw the parts away and buy new moog problem solver/k series or mevotech ttx bits from rockauto.