Here you can find information regarding the assembly of the Chevy Express front end. In this guide we will cover the
essential repairs for the front end of this vehicle. Included within these repairs
is the inner and outer tie rod removal and change, the front wheel hubs installation, ball joint removal and
installation, the upper and lower control arms, and the front shock installation. Along
with the repair procedures we also include the corresponding bolt torque specs for each fastener involved. These
guides are intended to assist in each procedure to help diyers with the job.
Chevy Express Tie Rod Change/Removal
To install a new tie rod on a Chevy Express you must first remove the old one from the vehicle. This can be
done by raising the vehicle up by either the use of a floor jack or a vehicle hoist.
Once the vehicle is in the air you can remove the corresponding tire for the side that you want to change the
tie rod on. Once the tire is off you can now access the old tie rod and remove it for replacement. On this vehicle the
tie rod is apart of an entire rod system which controls the steering of the vehicle. If any of the steering rods are loose
be sure to replace them appropiately. The outer tie rod itself connects with another inner portion of the rod through the use
of an adjuster sleeve. This sleeve uses 2 fasteners to tighten down onto the rods and keep them together along with threads that
are used to adjust the distance between the two. Be sure to inspect and measure your old tie rods so that the new ones can be installed
correctly. Whenever steering components are changed I recommend having an alignment done after the job to ensure the vehicle is in good
functional condition. Once you have the new tie rod ends screwed into the adjuster the right amount you can torque the adjuster bolts
to 14 ft-lbs. When putting the tie rod onto the vehicle the tie rod end nuts get tightened down to 40 ft-lbs. Be sure to install new
cotter pins to ensure that vehicle safety is maintained.
Chevy Express Tie Rod Ends Torque Spec : 40 ft-lbs
Chevy Express Tie Rod Adjuster Sleeve Torque Spec : 14 ft-lbs
Front Wheel Hub Installation
The front wheel hub on the Chevy Express van is different depending on whether the vehicle is AWD or RWD. On rear wheel drive models the
front wheel bearing goes into the front brake rotor and gets replaced together as a system. The AWD van uses a heavier designed system which
uses a cv axle that goes through a wheel hub that bolts onto the steering knuckle directly rather than being built into the rotor. If you are replacing
the bearing on a RWD model you will want to start with jacking up your vehicle and removing the tire on the side you wish to replace. From here we can
pop off the center dust cover from the rotor and gain access to the nut behind it. Remove the nut and then move to the braking system and remove the caliper
so that the rotor can then be taken off of the vehicle. With the rotor removed we can then begin to replace the angled bearings and clean the part up.
Be sure to install all new or good conditioned bearings in the same way they were when you took off the rotor. The bearings will only go one way so
do not force anything on. When installing be sure to pre lube the bearings with grease otherwise they will not last very long. Once all bearings have been
installed be sure to clean the shaft that the rotor goes onto and then install the rotor with the bearings inside of it. From here the nut can be tightened
onto the shaft to hold the rotor. The procedure for tightening this is to hand tighten the nut until the rotor is entirely pushed onto the spindle and then
back it out a 1/4 turn and install the cotter pin. There should only be a little amount of force used when packing the bearings before backing it off.
If your van is an AWD model then you will need to remove the center axle nut from the cv axle and then the 3 bolts which hold the wheel hub into the vehicle.
From here the old part should come off the knuckle and the new part can go on. Be sure the cv axle shaft fits into the new hub nicely. The wheel hub bolts
can be tightened down to 66 ft-lbs and the center axle nut can be torqued down to 147 ft-lbs.
Chevy Express Front Axle Nut Torque Spec (RWD): 5 ft-lbs
Chevy Express Front Axle Nut Torque Spec (AWD): 147 ft-lbs
The Chevy Express has two sets of front ball joints being the upper and lower ball joints. The most common one
for replacement is the lower ball joint which on this vehicle is different depending on whether or not the vehicle is RWD or AWD. If RWD the ball joint
will be attached to the lower control arm itself and will need to be pressed out or replaced
together. To press out the old ball joint you will need to remove the entire steering knuckle or lower arm so that you can access the joint and press it.
Start with remove the tire and the braking system and then remove the upper and lower ball joint nuts as well as the tie rod and center axle nut. With all
of these removed the knuckle can be moved out of the way and you can begin to press out the old joint. Using a ball joint pressing tool torque down on
the old ball joint and slowly press it out of place and press the new ball joint onto the vehicle. I recommend using some penetrating oil to make this job
easier. With the new joint in place you can reinstall the steering knuckle and tighten down the bolts to their corresponding torque specs which can be
found collectively at the beginning of this page. If your vehicle is AWD you simply just need to remove the lower ball joint nut and the 4 bolts which hold
the ball joint to the lower control arm. When reinstalling the ball joint be sure to tighten up the 4 bolts to 22 ft-lbs and the lower ball joint nut to
95 ft-lbs. The upper ball joint is also bolted down to the upper control arm and can be removed simply by removing the bolts and then installing a new part
and torqueing the upper ball joint bolts to 22 ft-lbs and the upper ball joint nut to 65 ft-lbs. Sometimes Chevy used rivets to install the upper ball joint.
If this is your case then you will need to cut or drill these rivets out in order to remove the old part.
Chevy Express Upper Ball Joint to Arm Torque Spec (AWD): 22 ft-lbs
Front Control arms Installation
Lower Control Arm
On the Chevy Express there are two control arms being the upper and lower control arms. Both of which have 3 fasteners that
hold the part onto the vehicle. There are 2 bolts with nuts that hold the control arms to the vehicle frame. There is also a ball joint which
fastens the control arms to the steering knuckle. On the upper control arm the frame bolts need to be tightened up to 87 ft-lbs. The ball joint nut
gets tightened down to 65 ft-lbs. On the lower control arm the frame bolts get tightened down to 80 ft-lbs. The lower ball joint nut gets tightened down
to 95 ft-lbs. When tightening up the lower control arm fasteners be sure to set the wheel height to a level that it would be at during riding or when on the
ground. This is best done with a bottle jack under the suspension.
To replace the front shocks on the Chevy Express you will need to lift the vehicle up into the air and start by removing the tire on the side you want to replace.
With that removed we can now remove the bolts and nuts
that hold the shock to the vehicle frame and lower control arm. Starting with the lower bolts we simply remove the nut from one side and then
lightly guide the bolt through the hole on the control arm. Be sure not to ruin any of the bolts threads if you end up using a hammer to
tap it out. With the bottom bolt removed we can move to the upper attachments which hold the shock to the frame. These can be accessed with either a
wrench or socket depending on how much room you have. As these are removed the shock will separate from the vehicle and
can be moved out of the way. To install the new shock simply line up the upper and lower holes for the fasteners and begin tightening them. Once
hand tightened you can line up the bottom bolt hole and install the bolt and hand tighten its nut. From here if your vehicle is an AWD you can fasten both
the upper and lower fasteners to 46 ft-lbs. If you happen to have a RWD vehicle you will need to tighten both sets of fasteners to 16 ft-lbs. As these
numbers are vastly different make sure to know which type of vehicle you are working on.
The front swaybar on the Chevy Express consists of a series of brackets that hold it to the frame of the
vehicle and a couple of endlink nuts that fasten it the the outer side of the car. To remove
the swaybar you will need to jack up the front of the vehicle and remove both the endlink nuts as well as the
brackets. To install the new swaybar you will need to move it back into the place as the old one
and torque the endlink nuts to 13 ft-lbs and then torque the bracket bolts to 30 ft-lbs as well.
Chevy Express Front Swaybar Bracket Torque Spec : 30 ft-lbs
Chevy Express Front Swaybar Endlinks Torque Spec : 13 ft-lbs
