Chevrolet Repair: 89 K1500 Alignment ???, wheel bearings, little bulge

Question
Hey thanks alot for the help, I got it all back togeather with the new heavy duty idler arm, new lower & upper ball joints on drivers side, and welded washers off and new cam bolts kits on.
But I have one more ? for you. I was driving it to get aligned and the brakes went spongy less than 1/2 mile from the drive way.I went home and looked for leaks or anything nothing, took the drivers wheel off and every thing loked fine? Went back down this time about a mile and I heard a pop and the drivers wheel did a woble. I parked and pulled the wheel off and then the caliper and the wheel bearings/hub had blown out/apart? I have no Idea why. And it looked like the wheel bearing prob tweeked the way the rotor rested and wouldn't let the pads to close? Then to make it better, I bought a whole new hub and installed it but when I was tightening the wheel down, the wheel wouldn't move. SO I took it back apart and found that the rotor was rubbing against the steering knuckle in one spot where there is a little bulge up next to the upper caliper mount. I can't figuar it out? Its like the hub is 1/16" short? The only things I can think of is that the hub is the wrong one as in hub does not match box. There are 2 hubs I have found online some list it as 1 for Std cab and 1 for extended cab. others list it as heavy duty with f44 suspension and light duty/std duty. How do I tell if I have F44 as the truck is a std cab. Could some thing have really busted when the wheel bearings blew? I am at a loss. I probly am going to drive the 45min.s to a autozone that has both version in stock and see if there is a difference.  These things are expesnsive. 110-130 @ autozone. 165-175 Kragens, 164-170 napa, 300ish GM!?!?!?!
Please if you have any advice It would really help me out I have never seen anything like this?


Seth
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Followup To
Question -
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Followup To
Question -
Hi, I am working on a 89 Chevy K1500, I took it in to get a front end alignment and they said it needed a new lower ball join, which is no prob as I did the other side already.  But they said the truck needs a alignment kit because chevy just welded washers in the control arm area to set the alignment.  I ordered some Moog kits to put in that aren't here yet but where do they go. I have been trying to find pics, or instructions on how to put them in and all I can tell so far it that it looks like the kits take the place of the upper control arm bolts/whashers ect.? Is that correct, and also any tips to eyeball align it to get the truck to safely make it the 5-10 miles to the shop to get aligned?

Thanks, Seth
Answer -
Hi Seth,
Chevy had a campaign on those kits, which is like a recall, except they don't call you. I don't know if it expired yet, or if it ever does, but I got several done for free. I would recommend you at least give them a call.
Have the Vin #.
I don't know any tricks on them, since I didn't do any. But just get them in there and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it that far, no matter what extreme they are adjusted to.

One other thing to check before finishing the job is the idler arm bolted to the right frame rail. I have replaced all of mine, some several times on the off road trucks. I replace them with a heavy duty Moog, with lifetime warranty. The orriginals just are not heavy enough to handle those big wheels stuck way out there on the 4X4's.

Good luck,
Van

Hey I Checked into the idler arm. Will the heavy duty version work with a standard duty equiped truck. I'm not sure which I have but it looks to be STD. I already bought the heavy duty but haven't put it in. I did start on the washers and the drivers side went pretty easy, too bad the chevy dealer wouldn't do it for me for free.

Seth
Answer -
Hi Seth,
The idler arm is the same for a regular, and a 4X4.
They wear out on both.
To remove it, there are holes in the frame from the wheel well side. A socket and extension, but don't pull the socket off inside the frame...sometimes a pain to get out.

Van

Answer
Hi Seth,
Yes, they could have given you, or packaged the wrong hub.
Comparing the orriginal with the new one should work.
As for what front suspension you have, there is a little tag in the glove compartment with about 125 little three letter/digit codes. Those are the regular production options, or RPO codes, which tell everything that was actually installed on that vehicle.
Check the codes against a chart, like at this link.

www.nastyz28.com/rpomenu.html
or
www.angelfire.com/ny2/96transam/rpocodes.html

Good luck,
Van