ball joints.. one side done, one to go

[jonathon]

Today was the start day for ball joints, wheel bearings, and brakes in my '89 Suburban. Went great, got one side done with no issues at all, even got the spindle nuts torqued properly.

What I did find scared me big time

The spindle nuts were not even finger tight. The ball joints were literally shot and barely in the socket. No wonder it went all over the place. It still wonders a bit, but I'll blame that on the worn out drag link ends(I'll replace them soon). Still planning to do the passenger side on Friday, but I figured it was safe to drive it home tonight since it wasn't as bad as the drivers side.

Worst part was getting the knuckle off.. no idea why.

Overall... not too hard. I'm pretty sure I can tackle a lift now

 

[LargeMouthFeaver]

i just did my passenger side balljoints and wheelbearings on my k5 in the snow this week. I goofed didnt tighten the bearings enuf had to pull the hub back apart and retighting the bearing lash. did u remember to grease the ubber balljoint befor u slid the axle bac in and did u put the plug in the upper balljoint after greaseing it. If not when the axle shafts rotat they will suposedl rip off the upper grease fitting.,

 

[jonathon]

Yup sure did. I think I got the bearings seated okay too.. torqued the spindle nut to 50 ft pounds while spinning the hub, and then backed it off and retorqued to 35 ft pounds while spinning the hub. Even torqueing the outer spindle nut was easy.. got it to 170 ft pounds(my book said 160 to 210), figured that would be enough.

I'm going to pick up some drag link ends tomorrow and I'll do the other side on Saturday.

Realistically.. not a hard job, just labor intensive.

 

[colbystephens]

nicely done, jonathon. glad to hear those suckers didn't scare you off. pulling apart a hub will really teach you ALOT about how your truck works.

 

[LargeMouthFeaver]

i did it the hillbilly way i used a long flat end screw driver and a hammer and taped the spindle nuts to tighten and losen them

 

[colbystephens]

that is beyond stupid and you shouldn't be proud of it. you have successfully created a ticking time bomb that could possibly kill yourself and others.

 

[Avery4jc]

that is beyond stupid and you shouldn't be proud of it. you have successfully created a ticking time bomb that could possibly kill yourself and others.

X2... it's just a matter of time until they back off...



Nice job Jon! At least you did the hard side first... the passenger side will be a piece of cake!
Getting the knuckle off is a PITA so you're not alone. My passenger side came off after a couple of minutes but my driver's side took a good 1.5+ hours!

It's a crappy job but well worth it once you're done.

 

[jonathon]

Thanks guys

I picked up the drag link ends as well as a new adjusting sleeve at Napa today.. $80 out the door didn't seem bad. Mine just looked fubar and the ends were toast. I'm thinking that is at least half the problem with the steering wheel being crooked, the wheels are not visibly misaligned but I have yet to measure toe.

The procedure to center the box is turn the wheel lock to lock, counting the turns, and then turn to center, right?

 

[jonathon]

Just about finished the passenger side tonight.. went better for the most part. The knuckle came off just smacking the pickle fork a few times with a 5 pound sledge.

Some idiot really boogered this side. The bad I did find is the threads on the spindle are kinda focked up I think they will work since I can spin the new nuts on fine. It looked like he used two outer nuts as well(no nub on the inner to hold the washer). The adjusting sleeve for the upper ball joint had to come out from underneath since the upper side the threads were damaged(looked like a hammer and screw driver job). At least the spindle nuts were tight

The ball joints on the passenger side were in slightly better shape. They were tighter but on their way out since they were bone dry and full of rusty material. The seals gave up the ghost a long time ago..

Anyways.. time for pics!

Took a better pic of the rig in the day light.. those are Wild Country TXR 32's

housing with knuckle stripped.. I got the idea for the wood under the jackstand from someone here. Worked so much better than having the stand sitting in the dirt and gravel.

joints installed in the passenger knuckle

harbor freight press rigged up

loading up the ball joints so they can be torqued

I was loving the fact that this was only the 2nd time I've ever had an axle shaft out.. first being when I did the drivers side

The harbor press tool worked pretty good.. especially for $32.99. I'm sure a professional tool would be easier to use, but on a limited budget this worked great. It still fit in the case when I was done too I had to use a 4 foot cheater to get the lower joint to pop out too.

I used an impact for the first time today too.. that was pretty dang helpful.

I'll post a tool list tomorrow incase anyone in the future ever wonders what's needed(like I did a couple weeks ago). Pretty basic stuff...

 

[colbystephens]

well done! you tackled what can be one of the most frustrating jobs and it looks like you did a great job!!

 

[Avery4jc]

Hmm, I don't remember having to load up the lower ball-joint to torque the nuts down.
Anyhoo nice job! It's good piece of mind knowing everything is fresh in the front end.

 

[colbystephens]

sometimes it helps to seat the ball joint so that it doesn't spin when you put the nut on. i had this problem.

 

[jonathon]

Hmm, I don't remember having to load up the lower ball-joint to torque the nuts down.
Anyhoo nice job! It's good piece of mind knowing everything is fresh in the front end.

I thought loading them up sucked.. without doing it they'd spin. The Haynes book said just pull up on the knuckle but I couldn't get enough upward pressure that way apparently.

 

[jonathon]

sometimes it helps to seat the ball joint so that it doesn't spin when you put the nut on. i had this problem.

How do you seat the ball joint for future reference? My Haynes manual was very sparse on info.. part of why I bought a factory service manual on Ebay(which should be here in a few days).

 

[colbystephens]

the exact way you did it - put a jack under the knucke and lift it up a bit with the weight of the truck on it, then tighten the nut.

 

[jonathon]

Ahh okay, maybe it wasn't so redneck then

Btw, your truck is looking pretty awesome.. I gotta get down that way one of these days. Love southern Oregon.

 

[colbystephens]

ah, i went back and looked. perhaps you've not finished yet? anyway, put the jack under the knuckle, like you've done, lift it up a bit and tighten the nut. this should prevent it from spinning while you torque it down. make sure you don't have the adjuster sleeve in the top yet, as this can prevent it from seating all the way.

before you get too far into this process tho (i.e. after you've torqued down the bottom joint.) make sure that adjuster sleeve will thread in - you said the threads were damaged. it would suck to do a bunch of work getting it all in there and then have to pull it all apart to repair or replace the knuckle due to that.

you're welcome any time. we've got a bed for you and plenty of mountains to go exploring. i've got the third weekend in january booked, and one in the process of being taken, but at this point, my schedule is pretty open.

 

[jonathon]

Actually have the ball joints done.. just need to do the wheel bearings tomorrow. The top thread or two were boogered.. had the run the adjusting sleeve up from the bottom, but it seemed to work. I had to figure out the adjusting sleeve the hard way on the drivers side last week since the Haynes manual didn't really give much detail on how to set it up .

 

[tacoma]

Hey , you didn't get that Burb from a guy named Tim in Port Orchard, did you? Looks JUST like his.