The carbonitriding of plain carbon steels has become a widely accepted method of heat treatment used to improve the surface characteristics of powertrain components for automotive applications. Despite the advantages of an improved wear resistant case, this heat treatment process often results in size and shape distortion. If uncorrected, these distortions can give rise to performance issues in powertrain components. This study compares the distortion and residual stresses in a 1010 plain carbon steel automotive component between the carbonitriding and nitrocarburizing processes. A Navy C-Ring specimen was used to evaluate distortion. Additional testing was performed to study the growth direction of the compound layer in the nitrocarburized samples. Overall testing results have indicated that the nitrocarburizing process gives rise to smaller dimensional changes than carbonitriding.