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So what am I looking at here? (youtube clips uploaded)

Avery4jc

Avery4jc

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All out rebuild or can they be tightened up? I've never dealt with ball joints before so I'm not sure how much play can be adjusted out.
The weird thing is both sides are loose, I give everything a once over every time it's up in the air (at least once a month) and I've never noticed any play at all in the ball joints but out of nowhere they're both messed up.




Anyways, here's the driver's side...
[youtube]IE4A-NHXt7c[/youtube]


And here's the passenger side...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hmmm, that's what I was afraid of... unless you have spare D60's laying around I'll have to rebuild this front end... it should hold up a little while longer since I'm on 35's now. Plus I just put some coin into it when I put all new bearings/seals/u-joints in it a few months ago...

I'll make friends with the search button tonight and see if there's any good threads on changing them... is it a hard deal to change them and get them setup properly?


Oh, I got kyle's cell number if you want it... I'll PM it to you.
 
Weeeelllll, I do have one laying around from a dually. I'm not sure what to do with it just yet.
I can't watch the clips with my slow computer but, I would just tear into them and you'll figure it out. It can't be that hard. Especially if your going to replace them, so no worries of destroying them on the way out.
 
I'm never worried about getting stuff out... it's getting the new parts back in and adjusted properly that can be a challenge from time to time :)

I'll upload the movies to youtube and embed the movies in the first post... I didn't realize how slow photobucket was...
 
those are wasted....and baad.


if you can move them by hand they're not safe anymore. usually check balljoints with a big bar and no load on the suspension. lift up on the outter C while prying against usually the axle shaft.

balljoints are basically just a big TRE.
 
DEMON44 said:
those are wasted....and baad.


if you can move them by hand they're not safe anymore. usually check balljoints with a big bar and no load on the suspension. lift up on the outter C while prying against usually the axle shaft.

balljoints are basically just a big TRE.
Click to expand...

:doah:
 
last time I changed ball joints it was to help a friend. 25lb hammer to get them out and a giant c-clamp to get the new ones in.:D

oh and those look worse then the ones we changed and when the truck had tires on it they would lean a little to one side or the other and had some pretty bad death wobble
 
big dan said:
last time I changed ball joints it was to help a friend. 25lb hammer to get them out and a giant c-clamp to get the new ones in.:D

oh and those look worse then the ones we changed and when the truck had tires on it they would lean a little to one side or the other and had some pretty bad death wobble
Click to expand...

That's the thing that's weird... the truck drives great (well I should say drove since I haven't hit the road with it since I got the new tires)... so I'm not really sure what happened...
If they were this bad I would have noticed long before now, it's almost like they were wearing out and then finally completely bit the dust in one shot.

Anyways, I'll save up some money and order a set of ball joints and dive into the project hopefully in the next week or two.
 
So I looked up the parts on rockauto...

Untitled6.jpg


So it looks like it'll be about $100 for all four.

So the upper ones use an adjuster... so I'm assuming I need to order that little tool at the same time.
 
I wouldn't order the tool, just take it to a competent alignment shop and they will make sure they are adjusted and setup correctly.
 
do your self a favor and get the moogs or a similar quality, do not go with the cheapys!

its not to bad of a job, can be done in an evening with plenty of extra time for greasing and packing bearing or a brake job while your at it.
 
supersize75k5 said:
do your self a favor and get the moogs or a similar quality, do not go with the cheapys!

its not to bad of a job, can be done in an evening with plenty of extra time for greasing and packing bearing or a brake job while your at it.
Click to expand...

I don't plan on keeping this front end for too much longer so I don't think I need to go all out. Is it a fit/finish difference or just how long they last?




I found this article while searching...

http://nashvillek5.freeservers.com/balljoints.htm

I read through it and it looks pretty straight forward, especially since I just had it all apart not too long ago.
In the article he says to have the auto parts store press them in for ya'. So I guess that'll save me from having to buy/rent the little clamp to press them in.

So you guys say just install everything and get it adjusted close then take it to an alignment shop and have them fine tune it?
 
As far as the alignment shop, yes get it close and then have them make sure it is all adjusted and aligned correctly.

As to the clamp, get the Harbor Freight ball joint press. It is fairly cheap and it is so useful. Want to change a u-joint, grab the press, ball joint fails grab the press. Those things are so handy for u-joints that I would have one just for that purpose.
 
supersize75k5 said:
do your self a favor and get the moogs or a similar quality, do not go with the cheapys!

its not to bad of a job, can be done in an evening with plenty of extra time for greasing and packing bearing or a brake job while your at it.
Click to expand...

lectric80 said:
As far as the alignment shop, yes get it close and then have them make sure it is all adjusted and aligned correctly.

As to the clamp, get the Harbor Freight ball joint press. It is fairly cheap and it is so useful. Want to change a u-joint, grab the press, ball joint fails grab the press. Those things are so handy for u-joints that I would have one just for that purpose.
Click to expand...

X2 I helped a friend change some out, he bougt the cheap ones, granted he runs 38's and wheels hard but by the end of the summer we had to replace them again. The ball joint press made it faster to change them than it was to get to them. IIRC this will be year 4 on the moogs. Goes to show if you spend enough money on a D44 it can handle 38's for the most part.
 
Ok so where is the best place to get moog ball joints?



I did a quick search and found some here...
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/search/?D=ball+joint&Ntt=ball+joint&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Main&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&N=1588+4294965773+9929&Nty=1&V=1588+4294965773&Vh=1978%20Chevrolet

So it'd be about $200 for all four if I go that route...

EDIT: Looks like Summit has them and they're quite a bit cheaper through them too...

http://store.summitracing.com/egnse...925060+4294907043+115+4294908181&autoview=sku
 
I did the ball joints on my 10 bolt last summer and I just rented the tool from a parts place basically had to give em the $250 the tool was worth and got it all back when i returned it. I went all out also and did everything including axle joints, hubs, bearings. Defiantly get the Moog Premiums i think i paid something like under $40 a piece for em. I just installed it all then took it in for a front end alignment. I really don't think that there's much to adjust on em pretty much jsut replace em then get an alignment.
 
Any autoparts store carries moogs. Kragen, Napa, carquest.

The other advantage of moogs is the grease nipple is pointed correctly so you don't have to add a 90 degree adaptor when you grease them and then put the standard one back on.
 
Ok, thanks for all the help guys...

Once I save up some extra cash I'll change them out... I need to get a weekend job :)
 
do you drive this truck everyday???if not id put the money towards a 60...there is a set on here that b454rat is willing to ship for 600 bucks...seems alot more sencible to me
 
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