Suspension partial rebuild in the future

[AzTruckGuy]

So I am looking at my vehicle and I am seeing that the following need to be replaced.
1. Upper Control Arm bushings
2. Shocks
3. Springs

The stabilizer links look fine, upper and lower joints look fine, lower control arms look fine, steering rack looks fine, wheel hubs look fine.

So I am going with the Belltech 9510 shock set up for adjusting the height for the 1.5 lowering springs I have, and found the Moog K200269 Control Arm Bushing for a good price.

What parts determine how the Trailblazer stays in alignment? I am going to be replacing the tires soon and there is some wear patterns that are not equal, they seem to be more worn from the inside more than the outside.

 

[Sparky]

LCA bracket adjusts the LCA, which affects camber and caster. If your tires are more worn on the inside then that's too much negative camber, which could be simply caused by a misalignment or it can be caused by bad LCA bushings or bad ball joints.

In my opinion, replacing the whole upper control arm is probably a better idea than just the bushings (same for lower, by the way). The cost isn't bad at all for the UCA, and it saves you from having to fight with a press to get the old worn bushings out and new ones in. Makes the job much quicker and easier.

 

[AzTruckGuy]

LCA bracket adjusts the LCA, which affects camber and caster. If your tires are more worn on the inside then that's too much negative camber, which could be simply caused by a misalignment or it can be caused by bad LCA bushings or bad ball joints.

In my opinion, replacing the whole upper control arm is probably a better idea than just the bushings (same for lower, by the way). The cost isn't bad at all for the UCA, and it saves you from having to fight with a press to get the old worn bushings out and new ones in. Makes the job much quicker and easier.

I was reading up on that so which is better now dorman or moog for upper? and the lower control bracket with new bushing would be fine for lower instead of getting the whole new lower control arm?

 

[Sparky]

I used Dorman on mine. Their electronics suck, but I've never had an issue with Dorman's bushings, arms, and stuff like that. Since there is no ball joint in the upper arm (that's part of the spindle) there isn't any worries about a sub-par quality part there.

If you just need lower bushings, then the bracket makes sense. If you needed a lower ball joint also then a whole arm would make sense.

 

[Mooseman]

I agree. I did the bushings on mine and I'll never do that again. A real PITA to get them out. My uppers I had to torch out.

 

[MAY03LT]

I outweighed saving $25/side by just doing the bushings vs the hassle of doing said bushings and it's worth the extra cost to just get the complete arms.

The last time I did lower ball joints on a TB it was $50 for each joint, now you can get the entire lower arm with joint and bracket for around $110 (per side).