Last year I replaced the lower and upper control arms on my wifes 05 1500. She had the leveling keys in there for years and the truck drove great. When I took apart the keys, bars, and lower control arms, it came apart easy no problem. When I went to put the new lower control arms on it seemed like the new lower control arms keyway(hex shaped opening) was in the wrong position. i eventually managed to get it put back together. But the torsion key bolts were only about a third of the way inside the key nuts. The bolts were so tight if I went any further I thought I would shear the heads of the bolts. It was not like this before when the stock control arms were on the truck. The new arms were moog. When i put the truck on the ground the front end was like a pogo stick. I loosened the Torsion bolts a bit. That barley helped and its been like that ever since. Now today i'm starting to hear a creaking noise coming from the front end. I think its coming from the suspension. I only hear the creaking when the truck is turning. Does anyone think its possible that the keyway on the new control arms were off? its the only thing I can think of. Also all the ball joints, upper and lower on the arms, all have torn boots and look like sh$t. I was thinking since the boots are torn the ball joints have probably dried out and inside the joints its metal on metal with no grease. Maybe thats causing the creaking noise? I'm trying to figure out if I should order new control arms (all 4) or if maybe its something else that I missed. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

If you have greaseable joints, hit 'em with some grease, see if that reduces/eliminates the noise.

You shouldn't be adjusting your torsion bars with weight on the front suspension, that WILL cause you to break the bolts. How are the shocks?

 

hi there, none of the joints have zerks. Is loosening them on the ground not good? that's what i did awhile ago.

 

Loosening is ok, tightening isn't a good idea.

 

any other ideas?

 

The new torsion bars are going to be stiffer.... Is ride height correct? Are your shocks in decent condition?

 

The torsion bars are stock. never changed those. The shocks are ranchos and they seem fine. The ride height is a little higher than it used to be.

 

You only changed the control arms?

Ride height a bit higher is normal with new springs. It will settle some over time. The harsh ride though...... Might be tempted to investigate how much suspension travel you got. If it's bouncing off the bump stops, either droop, or compression, that does make for a rather uncomfortable ride.

 

Did you install your upper control arms level to the ground? They will creak if not installed correctly.

 

I only changed both upper and lower control arms. I didn't change anything else.