LCA won’t fully drop

Hi.
Trying to swap over to 5110’s doing the drop the LCA/decompress coil method.

Everything is going smooth, except the LCA only dropped a few inches and no farther.
Nothing in the coil/shock is under tension - I can wiggle it, but not enough to get the coil and shock free. It’s hanging up in the swaybar mostly ATM.

Front toe bolt and camber nut are loosened way up. So, thinking something seized I can’t see. (MN, sorry if the rust makes you want to vomit)

Thanks

 

Remove sway bar link, and did remove upper ball joint from spindle?

https://youtu.be/bbsTJgb6S_c

 

The LCAs are held firm by the bushings. If you need more room, you need to mark and loosen the cam bolts. But, you are gonna get pretty far out of alignment. Don't delay getting it checked afterward.

 

might need to remove sway bar..upper ball joint is untouched.

 

Oh yeah, alignment right away.

 

So you removed the two lower bolts holding the LBJ to the spindle, loosened both the cam bolts/nuts and removed the lower shock mounting bolt and the LCA still wont drop all the way down? If so, your cam bolt/sleeve is rusted in place and will need a lot of massaging to get them to move. Doing this method, you don't need to touch the upper ball joint or the sway bar link as the LCA should be vertical and the shock/spring should drop straight down.

 

Correct, that’s the process I was using until the LCA stopped dropping. Thanks, I was thinking they might be seized, but thought I’d ask. Any good tips, or just get ready for new hardware?

I’ll just get the swaybar out of my way for now to keep moving.

 

Hopefully all you will need is new hardware but don't be upset if you need new LCA's as well. They won't be able to align it until you can get those bolts/sleeves to move and the LCA to move freely. Keep working that LCA now while putting some type of penetrant between the bushing and the frame mount.

 

New LCA’s - I can accept that.

 

like said cam bolts are siezed or rather the inner sleeve is siezed onto the bushing sleeve. extremely common problem. basically a gaurentee on trucks over a couple years old where i live. my cams were nearly siezed in on my 23 when i got the truck brand new from the dealer (pic posted below). the best thing for getting them out if they will is an air hammer. worth a shot before you start spending money on stuff you may not need.

you can use a pry bar to twist the rubber bushings down more to get you shock in and out for now.