Ball joints HELP !

[K5Blazer28]

ok guys ive searched and cant find what im looking for... i had my front brakes changed the other day and the guy told me my right upper ball joint is bad... and needed to be dealt with. ive found how to change it out... but i want to know how I can check it myself to determine if it infact is bad. im running stock 10bolts and 33's.

any suggestions ?

_matt

 

[reddog64]

lift the axle up on that side so the tire is off the ground.
Sit with your legs on either side of the tire and see if you can move it up and down... meaning the top and bottom of the tire in and out (toward and away from you)

wont move much unless your ball joint is goin south...

 

[K5Blazer28]

lift the axle up on that side so the tire is off the ground.
Sit with your legs on either side of the tire and see if you can move it up and down... meaning the top and bottom of the tire in and out (toward and away from you)

wont move much unless your ball joint is goin south...

with all my strength... its moves a fraction of an inch.... lol now what. compared to the other side which wont budge....

 

[abig84]

yeah if it moves really at all they should be replaced. you CAN use a hammer and a mix of sockets to beat them out and install them but id go rent the press from autozone. i swapped them around on knuckle the other day but they were recently changed.

 

[roadnotca]

ok guys ive searched and cant find what im looking for... i had my front brakes changed the other day and the guy told me my right upper ball joint is bad... and needed to be dealt with. ive found how to change it out... but i want to know how I can check it myself to determine if it infact is bad. im running stock 10bolts and 33's.

any suggestions ?

_matt

First question is, do you know how many miles are on it? For the short term though, you can adjust it. It does require a special tool, but you can get that tool at PimpBoys, etc. for less than $20. That tool engages the split sleeve in the spindle casting, that the upper ball joint bolts through. I would recommend a pre-soak with PBBlaster, or equivalent. Then it's just a matter of removing the top nut, smack the casting at 5 & 7 o'clock, looking at the passenger side, with a sledge to release the sleeve. With the tool you just bought, torque to XX lb ft (I'd have to go look it up). You need a HAYNE'S Manual for the torques.

 

[K5Blazer28]

First question is, do you know how many miles are on it? For the short term though, you can adjust it. It does require a special tool, but you can get that tool at PimpBoys, etc. for less than $20. That tool engages the split sleeve in the spindle casting, that the upper ball joint bolts through. I would recommend a pre-soak with PBBlaster, or equivalent. Then it's just a matter of removing the top nut, smack the casting at 5 & 7 o'clock, looking at the passenger side, with a sledge to release the sleeve. With the tool you just bought, torque to XX lb ft (I'd have to go look it up). You need a HAYNE'S Manual for the torques.

first.... they are stock... with 120k on them =]

second.... id much rather just swap them if this one needs it... ill probly do all 4 if it can be done within a weekend-ish.

got to love them HAYNE'S books



thanks man

 

[colbystephens]

lift the axle up on that side so the tire is off the ground.
Sit with your legs on either side of the tire and see if you can move it up and down... meaning the top and bottom of the tire in and out (toward and away from you)

wont move much unless your ball joint is goin south...

just to clarify this statement a bit:

place your right hand at the top of the tire and your left hand at the bottom and grab hold of the tread (or viceversa... sake of discussion thing). while pushing in-ward (toward the engine) with your top hand, pull outward with your bottom hand (toward you) while lifting a bit.

movement = bad.

first time i did the ball joint change thing, took 4 hours to do all 4. assuming you have a no-rust california truck, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting it all apart and put back together. you definitely want the press tho - i wouldn't mess with it without. i suppose it could be done with a bench vise and some seriously big ass sockets, but it would suck. if you can, heat up the knuckle during removal/install of the ball joints.

one thing i did that helped keep me organized, is get some cheapo tupperware to put the bolts into... there's alot of little things. DO NOT forget to put the wheel bearing back in with the cone facing inward. i put one in backwards once and it ground up into a metallic paste, ruining my lock out hub and making driving it back to the driveway a dangerous task (country road, 2 miles - middle of nite, no traffic).

you can make the adjusting sleeve tool out of an extra 3/8" deep socket. just pull the new adjusting sleeve out of the box, and grind down the socket to match the new sleeve. that's the only kind i've ever used. it kinda sucks, but i haven't spent the $29 on a nearly-one-time use tool tho (i priced it at a couple places in town... they're kinda hard to find).

 

[K5Blazer28]

just to clarify this statement a bit:

place your right hand at the top of the tire and your left hand at the bottom and grab hold of the tread (or viceversa... sake of discussion thing). while pushing in-ward (toward the engine) with your top hand, pull outward with your bottom hand (toward you) while lifting a bit.

movement = bad.

first time i did the ball joint change thing, took 4 hours to do all 4. assuming you have a no-rust california truck, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting it all apart and put back together. you definitely want the press tho - i wouldn't mess with it without. i suppose it could be done with a bench vise and some seriously big ass sockets, but it would suck. if you can, heat up the knuckle during removal/install of the ball joints.

one thing i did that helped keep me organized, is get some cheapo tupperware to put the bolts into... there's alot of little things. DO NOT forget to put the wheel bearing back in with the cone facing inward. i put one in backwards once and it ground up into a metallic paste, ruining my lock out hub and making driving it back to the driveway a dangerous task (country road, 2 miles - middle of nite, no traffic).

you can make the adjusting sleeve tool out of an extra 3/8" deep socket. just pull the new adjusting sleeve out of the box, and grind down the socket to match the new sleeve. that's the only kind i've ever used. it kinda sucks, but i haven't spent the $29 on a nearly-one-time use tool tho (i priced it at a couple places in town... they're kinda hard to find).

thanks , that helps alot... its moves a fraction of an inch. so i think ill do a little more research on all the parts and do a weekend job and replace them all.

 

[barneybasher1010]

If you change the ball joints you might as well change the axle u joints too, since they are probably stock and old too.

 

[K5Blazer28]

If you change the ball joints you might as well change the axle u joints too, since they are probably stock and old too.

ya over the next few weeks im gunna collect parts. figured id do the u joints and get rid of my old auto-lock hubs for some nice new manual hubs.

 

[colbystephens]

a cool tip i stole from someone else on ck5 (can't remember who), get a piece of pvc tube large enough to just fit inside your axle tube. cut it in half length wise and put it into your axle tube so that when you reinstall your axle shafts, they slide along the clean piece of pvc instead of getting all kinds of crap into your axle splines. obviously, you just leave it in there after the fact and it's no big deal. works like a charm. the other benefit is that if you break a shaft, you'll have an easier way to extract the little bit thats left inside the tube.

 

[NV_K5]

Have you actually done this PVC thing? I have and it will bind on the axle, explode into little peices and push those little pieces into your seals, requiring you to pull the carrier and everything else just to get to two $10 seals.

 

[Blue85]

If the joint itself is bad, turning the adjuster won't really help. That is more of a preload thing.

You can take the knuckle off with a pickle fork, but you will need that balljoint press anyway for swapping the joints and you can also use it to remove the knuckle. It doesn't even cost you anything and it can be dangerous swinging a 10lb hammer at a vehicle on jack stands. Also get a puller or two to disconnect the tie rod and drag link. If you pickle-fork them off you will ruin the seals, which is only OK if you are already replacing them.

Try to get good joints. The lifetime warranty isn't that helpful because the labor is worth more than the joints.

 

[colbystephens]

Have you actually done this PVC thing? I have and it will bind on the axle, explode into little peices and push those little pieces into your seals, requiring you to pull the carrier and everything else just to get to two $10 seals.

Yeah - I've been running it this way for a year no problem. Perhaps we have different sizes of tubing? Mine is the biggest that would fit into the axle tube... Dunno. Weird.

 

[roadnotca]

I posted this a long time ago, when I was rebuilding. Get the widest measuring tape you can find, and cut off the "L" tip. extend the tape down the tube and over the lip seal. Push in your axle shaft until it's passed the inboard seal. You could even grease the end of the measuring tape. Then pull the tape.

 

[K5Blazer28]

a cool tip i stole from someone else on ck5 (can't remember who), get a piece of pvc tube large enough to just fit inside your axle tube. cut it in half length wise and put it into your axle tube so that when you reinstall your axle shafts, they slide along the clean piece of pvc instead of getting all kinds of crap into your axle splines. obviously, you just leave it in there after the fact and it's no big deal. works like a charm. the other benefit is that if you break a shaft, you'll have an easier way to extract the little bit thats left inside the tube.

ya i read about that.. its posted some where on ere... they did a write up on it.

thans for all the info guys.

 

[ssped]

I just did mine(again). They wore out in 2 years. Moog joints are around 35 to 40 each. I also picked up a set of Yukon chromo shafts with spicer ujointsfor 336$ from Randys ring n pinion. It is easy to change them out. I know I am not next door but if you need help bring it here and we can kick it out.