KRYPTONITE 1999-2018 GM 1500 Truck Upper Control Arm Kit Instruction Manual
- June 3, 2024
- KRYPTONITE
Table of Contents
1999-2018 GM 1500 Truck Upper Control Arm Kit
Instruction Manual
1999-2018 GM 1500 Truck Upper Control Arm Kit
1999-2018 GM 1500 TRUCK UPPER CONTROL ARM KIT
IMPORTANT! READ THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE INSTALLATION!
A professional front-end alignment will be required after installation is
complete! It is important to read all instructions from start to finish
beginning of the installation. If these instructions are not properly followed
suspension and tire damage can result. Vehicles with oversized tires should
check ball joints, pitman, and idler arms every 2500 to 5000 miles for
excessive wear, and replace them as needed. We offer a wide range of heavy-
duty lifetime warrantied steering and suspension parts at
kryptoniteproducts.com.
The parts in this kit are pre-greased at shipment, do not over-grease!
Damage to boots may occur. Damage resulting from improper installation will
not be covered under warranty!
Parts Included;
- Kryptonite Upper Arms (Pair)
- Kryptonite Ball Joint X2
- Control Arm Bushing Set “KRBUCA10”
- Hardware Pack “KRUCA10H”
Tools Required
- Floor Jack and Jack Stands
- Torque Wrench
- Large Hammer
- 22mm Deep Socket
- 1/2” Open end wrench and Socket
- 5/16” Open end wrench
- 9/16” Socket
This upper control arm kit will fit on a stock truck with stock wheels and
tires from 99-06.
OEM wheels will NOT work on 07-18 Trucks (Wheels with a maximum backspacing of
4.5” are required)
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Place wheel chocks, and put the truck into the park with the parking brake engaged. Jack the front of the truck off the ground and support properly with jack stands. NEVER WORK ON AN UNSUPPORTED VEHICLE
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The Kryptonite Upper Control Arm Kit is a direct replacement for the factory. If you have purchased and are replacing the coil-over shocks along with a Kryptonite Leveling Kit, Remove the shocks now, and replace them with new coil-overs.
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Remove the factory’s upper control arms by supporting the lower control arms with a floor jack. Loosen the ball joint nut of the upper control arm enough until you can spin the nut by hand, do not remove it completely. Now either uses a pickle fork or tap the side of the spindle next to the ball joint stud with a hammer. When the tapered seat of the ball joint breaks loose, you may then remove the ball joint stud and separate the factory control arm from the spindle.
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Remove the factory bolts and cam plates that hold the control arm to the frame. The plastic inserts will need to be removed and discarded from the cam plates. Keep hardware unless upgrading to Kryptonite Heavy Duty Cam Bolt Kit “KR0026”.
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Mount Kryptonite upper ball joints using supplied 5/16″ bolts, flat washers, and locknuts. Mount the ball joint to the bottom of the control arm if your truck is adjusted above stock height. Mount the ball joint down through the top of the control arm if your truck is stock height. Torque ball joint hardware to 22 ft/lbs.
Continued on back -
Now insert polyurethane bushings, sleeves, and grease fittings into the ends of the upper arms. If required grease may be used to aid in the installation of the sleeves into the bushings. Pushing the bushings into the arms first. DO NOT Grease the bushing before pressing them into the arms. DO NOT over-tighten grease fittings, tighten until snug.
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The control arms are side specific. The “Kryptonite” Logo plate should always be towards the front of the truck. Install your new arms into the frame pockets. It may be necessary to flare open the frame pockets slightly during installation. Either reinstall factory bolts and cam plates, or now is the time to install your new Kryptonite Cam Bolt Kit. Torque Cam bolts to 90 ft/lbs.
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Mount the ball joint to the spindle with the supplied hardware. Use the large silver 9/16″ flat washers supplied in the hardware bag if the ball joint castle nut needs to be spaced in order for the cotter pin to engage, and tighten to 50 ft/lbs. Insert and bend the cotter pin around the nut to secure it. You may need to chase the ball joint opening in your spindle with a 9/16″ drill bit to allow the threaded portion of your new ball joint to fit properly.
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Our ball joints come pre-greased and only need a minimal amount of grease during service intervals to ensure a long life. Install the provided grease fitting into the top of the ball joint. Do not over-tighten. At this time you may add a small amount of grease to the control arm pivot bushings.
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The ABS and brake line must be rerouted to avoid binding and contact with any moving parts. Use a zip tie to secure the ABS and Brake line to the mounting tab on the back side of your new control arm. It may be necessary to bend, modify, or remove the factory brake line mounting bracket for a clean and secure fit under the control arm.
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Be sure to double-check the clearance of both the brake lines and the ABS lines after the installation with wheels installed and at full droop, through a complete steering cycle. Be sure there is no rubbing or lose cables anywhere. Install front wheels and torque to the manufacturer’s specifications.
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Have your truck professionally aligned using the below specifications!
The Kryptonite Upper Control Arm has an additional positive caster built into
them to increase drivability and performance. So it is important to be sure
the control arms are installed on the correct side of the truck. It’s also
important to make your alignment technician aware that if the caster is high,
that is how the control arms have been designed.
Cross caster is important in making your vehicle track straight down the road.
Most roads have crowns in them, high in the middle for water runoff. The Crown
will make your vehicle want to pull to the right. Vehicles with stock tires
have a narrow contact patch on the road and are not as affected as a truck
with a larger wider tire. With larger wider tires it’s important to have cross
caster proper in order for the truck to track straight on these roads. Deals
have more tires on the ground and require more cross-caster. The length of the
wheelbase will also affect the caster needed.
Generally, crew cab short and long bed trucks perform best at .8 degrees of
cross caster. Your area might have roads that are crowned more or less than
average so these numbers may change and your alignment tech should understand
this. If your alignment technician is stating they can’t align your truck,
that usually means they are unable to get the truck within factory spec, and
that’s fine because your truck is no longer factory. A good tech will
understand this and let the caster run slightly out of factory spec. (Caster
should always be above 2 degrees positive) while maintaining the cross-caster
needed for the vehicle and roads. Enjoy your truck and new Kryptonite Upper
Control Arms!
(Kryptonite No Fine Print Lifetime warranty)-Kryptonite steering and
suspension components are warrantied for life to their original purchaser.
This warranty is against any manufacturer defects, premature wear or breakage.
Race it, jump it, off-road it, sled pull it, wreck it, lift it, level it,
lower it, I think you get it? We don’t care. If you can break it we will
replace it. Kryptonite products must be purchased from an authorized dealer.
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