Ball joint advice - 95 Tahoe

[arveetek]

Looks like it's time for ball joints on my Tahoe. As far as I can tell, these might be original equipment joints! I bought the Tahoe with 174K miles on the clock, and it was a one-owner vehicle before that and had an easy life. I've put an additional 100K miles on her, and haven't had to touch anything on the front end. (And people say that IFS is weak and should be tossed out!)

I have one joint that is starting to get a little loose, but all 4 have torn boots, so they don't have much life left now. They are the pressed-on joints in the welded A-arms.

I know there are a few options for replacement. I've never had to do this on this style of GM before. Any advice?

Thanks,

Casey

[CoyleJR]

Casey,

Look on line at Amazon under auto/truck parts. You can buy a new control arm with bushings and ball joint for less than a ball joint at NAPA. I believe it is $60. for a upper control assembly for my 06 Silverado. It should also qualify for free shipping.

Good luck
John

[HH]

Looks like it's time for ball joints on my Tahoe. As far as I can tell, these might be original equipment joints! I bought the Tahoe with 174K miles on the clock, and it was a one-owner vehicle before that and had an easy life. I've put an additional 100K miles on her, and haven't had to touch anything on the front end. (And people say that IFS is weak and should be tossed out!)

I have one joint that is starting to get a little loose, but all 4 have torn boots, so they don't have much life left now. They are the pressed-on joints in the welded A-arms.

I know there are a few options for replacement. I've never had to do this on this style of GM before. Any advice?

Thanks,

Casey

Uppers are riveted, you will have to cut/grind the rivets. New ball joints come with nuts and bolts to replace the rivets. Uppers are easy to do.

Are you sure the lowers are bad, is there play in the joint? I have 380,000 miles on my lowers. You can buy just the rubber boot. IIRC, if replacing the lowers you will need a ball joint press to put back in, most auto parts stores have them. Make sure joint is square when pressing in.

[More Power]

Like most things automotive, you can buy the cheap stuff or go with OEM type parts. The OEM parts, aside from just having better steel, also come with better rubber boots, which do a superior job keeping out water and dirt.

We did a story some years ago that showed how to replace the ball joints in a 1994 K2500. Both upper and lower (as I recall) were replaced using the same techniques (grind off the rivets, bolt on the new). Jim

[trbankii]

I was looking at the Raybestos upper arms: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3282597&cc=1052514

But it looks like the only option for the lower arms is to grind out the rivets and bolt the new ones in as others have mentioned.

But even the Raybestos ones look like they rivet them into the arms so you'd have to grind them out and bolt in when it comes time to replace them, so I'm not sure if it is worth getting the whole arm anyway or just the bolt on ball joints: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1033373&cc=1052514

RockAuto has ACDelco, MOOG, and Raybestos for about $25 to $35 and a bunch of "economy" options for around $15.

[arveetek]

Are you sure the lowers are bad, is there play in the joint? I have 380,000 miles on my lowers. .


Yep. Front lower right actually moves up and down when greasing the joint!! That's how I discovered it's wearing out. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I greased it again on Saturday, and sure enough, squeezing the grease in makes the joint separate a little.

Casey

[arveetek]

But it looks like the only option for the lower arms is to grind out the rivets and bolt the new ones in as others have mentioned.

Actually, it looks like the lower joints are just pressed in, and requires a sturdy press to get them replaced.

After watching several "how to" videos on youtube, I think I will order up all new Moog ball joints, and grind out the rivets on the top arm, and install new bushings and ball joints. Then I'll press the old lower joints out and press in new ones. My budget is extremely tight these days... I have more time than money, so every dollar counts.

I might as well go ahead and replace the tie rod ends and idler arm while I'm at it. Shocks are getting old too..... uh oh, this could get expensive! :D

Casey

[arveetek]

Here's a quick vid that shows some of the steps to replacing these ball joints:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2dL6vWOXBQ

Casey