KRYPTONITE UPPER CONTROL ARM KIT 1/2 TON TRUCK 6 LUG INFORMATION
Stamped Steel, Aluminum, and Forged Steel Control Arms For the 2014-2016 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra 1500 trucks, GM offered three different upper control arms: stamped steel, aluminum, and forged steel. Additionally, in 2014-2016 GM truck had two different knuckles—aluminum and steel—each with different ball joint hole sizes. Stamped steel and aluminum arms have a larger ball joint that fit the same knuckle. Steel knuckles with forged steel control arms had smaller ball joint holes that match the cast steel arms only. This is the same setup found on 2007-2014 models. Forged steel and forged aluminum arms have retention clips on the ball joint so if the ball joint cup becomes distorted, it does not fail. New Stamped Steel Arm Design The NEW stamped steel arms have a ball joint that is sandwiched between the upper and lower pieces of the arm with a relatively small surface area for ball joint retention with no supporting clips. If these cups distort, the ball joint fails and falls out. GM 1500 trucks built after April 1, 2016 are stamped steel arms mated to smaller steel knuckles with the larger of the two ball joints. Basically, they are using the larger ball joint from the aluminum arm and putting it in a stamped arm and mating it to a smaller steel knuckle. For the 2014-2017 GM 1500 trucks, ReadyLIFT offers two versions of our 4” SST lift kit. This is determined by which upper control arm that your truck currently has. 69-3414 – Aluminum and Stamped Steel UCA trucks. 69-3416 – Black forged steel UCA trucks. To safely level your GM 1500 with stamped steel control arms, you can use our 66-3085 leveling kit. However, we recommend that you augment the installation with a set of aftermarket upper control arms to prevent factory ball joint failure. Bottom Line If your truck has stamped steel upper control arms and you want to level or 6″ lift your truck—you will need to install either an aftermarket upper control arm OR purchase the factory aluminum upper control arms to replace your stamped control arms. There is no failure issue with the factory aluminum control arms, the ball joints are the same. Alternative If your truck has stamped steel control arms, you can install our ReadyLIFT 4″ SST Lift Kits which replaces the upper control arms and all problems are solved. Stamped Steel Control Arm Forged Steel Control Arm Forged Aluminum Control Arm (stamped steel control arm) Stamped Steel Upper Control Arm – AVV code (forged aluminum control arm) Forged Aluminum Upper Control Arm (forged steel control arm) Forged Steel Upper Control Arm – 2007-up version Stock Control Arms This kit requires you to select whether your vehicle has aluminum, stamped, or steel factory control arms. To ensure proper fitment, please check your factory components and select the appropriate option before adding this product to your cart. Steel Cast Control Arms Steel control arms are offered on 2007-up models and have a BLACK finish. A magnet will stick to steel arms. Aluminum Cast Control Arms Aluminum control arms are offered on 2014-up models and have a GRAY finish. A magnet will NOT stick to aluminum arms. Stamped Steel Control Arms Stamped Control Arms are offered on 2016-up models and feature welded seams, a rounded steel construction, and a concave sway bar pocket. They have a BLACK finish and a magnet will also stick to stamped arms.