Does anyone have pics of the plastic alignment knockouts? I want to remove mine. I'm getting an alignment this week and I don't want to hear about an extra $70 charge for removing the knockouts!

Is it just the white plastic pieces in the slots on the inboard side of the upper control arm?

They are just plastic. There is nothing extra to do except pry them out so there should not be a charge. Just make sure they realize they are there.

Just curious as to why you would want to remove them? http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

Any shop that wants to charge for removing them is not a reputable shop and should be avoided. Very few dealerships will have a good alignment Tech. It takes a few years doing several a day to get a good reputation. There is always someone in every area that has that reputation. Ask around and take your truck to him. Later! Frank

Just curious as to why you would want to remove them? http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Confused.gif

They are installed by the factory to retain factory alignment. If you want to realign because it needs it, you have to pop the things out. Once you move the adjusters, you can't get them back in unless you put it back exactly where it originally was.

To align it, they must be removed and discarded.

Older C/K trucks had steel plugs that forced you to remove the upper control arms entirely to knock them out at a usual cost of $70-$100 per side.

In this picture you see the cresent shaped slot with a pin in it. The plastic plug, also cresent shaped, was in that slot. The plug has a hole in it for the pin and locates the pin in the slot at original assy at the factory. To align, you turn the bolt that the cresent part is welded to. The pin is welded to the control arm. As the slot rotates (it's eccentric), the arm moves in or out. Sorry for the lousy pic. It's a blow up of another picture I had.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/uploads/2F4_tierodcrop.jpgEdited by: hoot

No thats cool thanks for the pic. I know when I had my first truck lifted they did not take those out when it was realigned. Not sure why but the were there. Weird. Thanks for the pic.

No thats cool thanks for the pic. I know when I had my first truck lifted they did not take those out when it was realigned. Not sure why but the were there. Weird. Thanks for the pic.

Yea... when the first guy tried to align my truck he kept trying to turn the cam bolt with a breaker bar, not doing a late model truck like this, he didn't remove the plugs. He ended up breaking the pin off the upper control arm. It's only spot welded on.

If I was you I would be concerned either it didn't need alignment or they didn't align it. If they have to adjust caster and/or camber those things should be gone on the sides that were moved. You cannot reinstall them once you move it.Edited by: hoot

Well I would then guess that once you raise the torsion bars and install larger tires then they will have to be knocked off so that it can be realigned. That only makes sense. Will have to look next time I am working on it..

Thanks Hoot. I figured that was them, I just wanted to be sure.