Lifted 98 Z71 front end shakes when braking
 

I am new to this forum!! This is not my first chevy but it is the nicest one i have owned.. I love it. I like this forum too.. you all are very helpful and informative!!

Ok, I have a 98 K1500 Z71 extended cab shortbed. It is lifted 6" all suspension running 33X12.50X15's right now. Ok, a little background.. I just bought the truck. to make a long story short.. the previous owner had cranked the torsion bar bolts all the way in which in turn maxxed out the front suspension at all times. It did not shake when it was like this but it rode really harsh as you can imagine... The tops of the front tires were pointed in towards the truck (the camber was way out) because the torsion bars making the front suspension maxed out. Well, I backed the torsion bar bolts out about .500 to .750 of an inch. This lowered the front end just a tad, pointed the tires straight up and down, and made the front suspension not be maxed out. It rides sooo much smoother now.. but when i brake from like 60mph the whole truck and dash etc. starts shaking really bad. I am going to jack up the front end this weekend and check steering components, wheel bearings, and ball joints.. im sure i will find something. Just wanted to see if anyone has had this before or any ideas/info I am all ears!! Thanks

bet its ball joints

it might be!! lol I took a look under there yesterday while it was sitting in the driveway and noticed the cv axle boot had a small crack in it on the drivers side, so i need to take care of that sometime soon too. I was talking to my uncle who has had lifted chevys like the one i have and he said it could be the pitman or idler arm. What goes bad about a pitman arm?

Is it only when braking? If so could be warped rotors

i agree. but also think it's a combo. idler arm, warped rotors. just went thru all this with the 'hoe. brand new rotors solved most of the shakin while brakin, but found idler arm was worn too. replaced, alignenment, all is good.

yea, the rotors are just barely warped. I mean just a little bit. not enough to be making this truck shake this bad. i know there is something else going on here too. but also, when it shakes when braking (yes it only shakes when it is braking) is this.. it shakes all around not like warped rotors to where the steering wheel shakes in a circular motion left and right, no.. the steering wheel, dash, cab, whole front end shakes all directions. just feels like it is going to fly apart. Going to put new rotors on it while I have it in the air too.

idler arm, pitman arm, worn tie rods, ball joints, worn a-arm bushings

sounds like balljoints.. thats exactly what my truck was doing and my dads truck is doing right now. but you can feel which side is doing it..

well, i bought new rotors and put them on today, while i was under there i had someone jack the steering wheel back and forth and i saw that the pitman arm has a little movement so I will be replacing that sometime in the future, and the drivers side lower ball joint boot has a small crack in it but it looks OK. , but everything else seems OK. took it down the road and it does not shake anymore!! it brakes nice and smooth. one more question.. i noticed on of the boots on the drivers side CV axle is cracked real bad and it has slung grease all over the fender well and caliper, i looked online for a replacement but a lot of places don't verify with or w/o 4 wheel abs.. mine has the abs ring on it, where is a good place to get one for a good price? thanks everyone. you have helped me out a lot.

probably just about as cheap to replace the whole cv