Shaving lower control arm

[chrismoore701]

I dropped my truck a few years ago and I noticed my wheel weight is getting shaved by the lower control arm.

Any harm in grinding about 1/4"-3/8" off the lip of the lower control arm?

Thanks
Chris

[Rich84]

No harm at all. I did it about 6 years ago. No issues.

[SCOTI]

How you trim them is where 'harm' can be introduced.

Don't cut the lip w/90° edges. No hard edges helps to minimize stress crack opportunities. You want nice rounded/curved transitions where you decide to start the shaving of the lip.

[87chevy.com]

I don't recall how much was trimmed, but it was trimmed when Beltec lowering spindles were installed and used 15" aluminum wheels... instructions clearly stated use of 16" wheels or something similar.... but... when I was on the freeway, heard/felt something unusual, pulled over to the emergency lane, nothing leaking, nothing abnormal... continued about another 1/4 mile and control arm finally snapped, wheel went into the wheel well, put almost strait into the concern barrier.
New frame, new a lot and back on the road... Id say get bigger wheels, different wheels or different wheel weights but, theirs always success stories... I just happen to have a bad one
clint

[TrailerTrash]

I had the same issue with my 15" wheels and Western Chassis drop spindles.
I went to my regular tire shop and told them about it. They moves the weights to the front lip and I think one wheel needed a stick on weight on the inside of the barrel.

[SCOTI]

Contact interference happens w/any spindle when using a 15" wheel & back-spacing beyond a certain dimension (3.75"?). It's not just one particular brand.

Adding wheel weights to the front or using the tape on weights is another way to combat the issue since the weights clipped to the rear lip is usually the first thing to make contact.