Ball Joint Replacement

[bmiszuk]

It's time for ball joints. One on each side is bad. Can anyone give me an overview of the disassembly procedure? I know how to get through the brakes and wheel bearings but do not know if the axleshaft has to come out or how to remove it.

Anything else I should replace while I'm in there?

[RoverIIa]

Once you get the brakes and bearings out:

Make sure you have safety glasses and gloves... this procedure is violent!

Remove the (6) nuts holding on the brake backing plate and spindle.

Remove the backing plate.

Make sure the truck is well supported on it's jackstands.

Get a large block of wood or a small block of wood and a large hammer...

Beat the spindle violently from side to side, using the wood to protect from damage.

As the spindle begins to separate, wedge a large screwdriver under the lip, and beat it the other way. Eventually the spindle will come loose and hang on the axle shaft.

Remove the spindle.

Pull out the axleshaft, it may take a little twisting to align properly, and if the dust collar is bent, it might be difficult to remove, but it just slides out.

Remove the Tie Rod Nut. And steering drag link nut if you're on that side.

Pop the tie rod off with a small pickle fork, drag link too.

Remove Both Ball-Joint Nuts, but leave the top one on by a few threads.

Hammer a large pickle fork into the lower ball joint, the knuckle will fall, caught by the top nut.

Remove the nut and you have removed the knuckle.

Remove the snap rings holding in the ball joints.

You can beat them out with a large hammer, but it is well worth your time and effort to beg, borrow, steal, or rent a ball joint press. It will save hours of cursing and hitting things.

Press in the new joints to the knuckle (generally they tap in with a hammer).

There is a collar threaded inside the top hole on the axle. It needs to come out, count the turns, be cleaned, and replaced with the same number of turns before you put in the new joints. Use generous anti-seize on everything, and you will be happier next time.

Lift the knuckle into place and torque the nuts to tighten it.

Generally, you have to grease the joints after torquing them but before installing the axleshaft.

This is a good time to inspect and replace your axle u-joints if needed.
Also, inspect the bearing on the inside of the spindle, and clean,grease, and replace as needed. There is a simple bearing kit with all of the seals and spindle bearings in it available.

Make sure to clean and lubricate all of the parts really well, you will be happier in the long run.

Everything else goes together easily.

After doing this project, you should get your front-end aligned.

Good Luck.

[bmiszuk]

It does not sound like a lot of fun.. but certainly necessary for me at this time. If only I could persuade myself to buy the lower cost Spicer parts! I've always bought Moog in the past and had good luck with them, but in this case they cost 3X the lower cost units. (sigh)

Thanks for the detailed answer. It helps a lot.

[RoverIIa]

There is a point where cost does not equal quality. The last time around, I put NAPA store brand parts in my front axle. That was 2 trucks and about 100k miles ago... (yes, I've moved the axle from truck to truck). Moog is definately top of the line, but unless you are doing extremely challenging 4x4 stuff in deep mud, go with the spicers or the NAPA brand, both are fine. In a world of globalization, there is a good chance they're all made in the same factory anyway! You will get a lot more out of spending money on quality grease, and re-greasing them from time to time, than you will out of extra money into parts. And... if you are really hard-core wheelin' you're going to break it no matter what it is! Maintaining you brakes is important for ball-joint life too. Brake dust will destroy the seals quickly if it gets too be overly hot or thick.

Have fun! The last time I changed ball joints was -20 Deg. F and the truck was too tall for the garage door!

[neo]

Is this pretty much the same process for doing the 3/4 V2500 (4WD) front end ball joints? It sure sounds like a pain, but mine are knocking and cracking like there is no tomorrow.

[NH2112]

Actually, it's really not that bad a job. I'd have to estimate that if you've done some front end work before you should be able to do a side in 2 hours or so. The hardest part is often figuring out how to set up the ball joint press to remove or install the ball joints. Like RoverIIa said, you definitely want the ball joint press! I think every parts store has loaner tools and this is one of the tools they have. You can also get them on eBay for about $80 - OTC OW-7249 is the basic set. You can use them with impact guns, ratchets, or wrenches. I never used a pickle fork to separate the knuckle; rather, I whacked the sides of the upper ear of the axle with a 6lb hammer a few times then came straight down on the knuckle with it.

Both Snap-on and OTC make the spanners for removing & installing the collar, but I like Snap-on's better because it has a 3/8" square drive. I have the OTC spanner and you have to drive it with a 7/8" (I think) socket. The extra height seems to make it more likely to cam out of the slots in the collar.

Regularly greasing the joints is the most important thing you can do for longevity. I recommend hitting them at every oil change, along with every other zerk under the truck. By the time you're done greasing, your oil should be drained. Don't forget the release fork pivot ball's zerk, if you have an SM465. Check starter bolt torque while you're under there, too, I think the spec is 40 lb-ft.

[RoverIIa]

All of the straight-axle 1/2 and 3/4 tons are the same. If you get into a full-ton rig, then you are talking kingpins and not ball-joints, that is similar, but different.

I agree with NH2112, having the collar tool is useful, but you can make do without if you drive the collar around with a punch or big screwdriver. Make sure to install the new collars that come with the ball-joint. The tech who does your front-end alignment will appreciate not having a messed up nut in there.

I've had joints so bad that they came out with one whack of the hammer once I took out the snap-ring. Although nice, that is not a good sign, and generally ends up costing a nice set of tires before you get around to replacing them.

With the cost of rubber these days, I don't think I'd waste too much time waiting for my ball-joints to get worse before I changed them out.

[oilburnertoo]

Just my .02 cents I would buy the moog parts, I rebuilt my susp and took in for an alignment and tech showed me the play in my new parts with less than 5 miles them, had to take it back home and replace a few pieces and reschedule my alignment. If I didn't see it with my own eyes I would have thought they were trying to scam me for some $$$. Parts were TRW if I recall, from now on its moog for me at any cost.

[bmiszuk]

I bought Moog from rockauto.com. Bought enough to replace all four ball joints, the two front axle U-joints and the spindle bearings. After comparing prices for various manufacturers locally, the Moog from rockauto ended up being pretty reasonable. Given the hassle factor, I'm just going to tear it apart once and replace everything.

I already have a ball joint press... done enough throughout the years to make it worthwhile. You're right, it saves a ton of hassle.

Looks like my Saturday is going to be busy!

[bmiszuk]

The instructions posted by RoverIIa were right on. Ball joints alone would've taken me a couple hours per side but I had a U-joint that was siezed up and very stuck in the yoke. We spent quite a bit of time getting them pressed out of there with the ball joint/U-joint press. A hydraulic press would have been nice to have. I also replaced the spindle bearing.

I used my trusty $30 HF ball joint press which worked just fine.

All in all, not too bad a job. The passenger side didn't get done because I ran out of time so have that to do yet.

Thanks for the great responses.

[NH2112]

I've found that when you have a seized or frozen U-joint it's quicker and easier to pop out the snaprings, set the free caps on the vise jaws, and pound on the yoke with a hammer. Actually, that's how I do ALL U-joints. The impact shakes things loose and I've never had to spend more than a minute or 2 knocking out a U-joint. Press the new one in using the vise and 2 sockets.

[RoverIIa]

It is common for factory joints to be held in with an epoxy-plastic type of substance that must be melted out in order to press the joints out happily.

I generally heat the joint slightly with propane NOT ACETYLENE. If some goo starts squirting out of the collars almost right away, it is the factory stuff. Then rap each cap sharply toward the middle with a punch and hammer, remove any snap ring, and drive the yoke out the other side with a hammer, or preferably a press. Sometimes a little (20T or less) press gets scary while trying to do this.

In that condition, some more mild heating, PB blaster, and hammering is necessary.

They're not hard to do. It helps if you have someone else to hold and control the shaft.

Another idea... take some paint and a ruler and paint a thin, straight, white line down the long axis of the shaft.

Next time you service the front end, check the line. If it is twisting into a spiral around the shaft, your shaft is beginning to fail. This is useful for anyone running a 4x4 with lift and meats, as you have more shaft failures. It also works on the rears.

If your paint is gone, it was dissolved in oil. Try different paint.

[NH2112]

If you torch out the injected plastic retainers, it's a good idea to remove any grease fittings to allow pressure to relieve, and you may want to remove external snaprings too. One time I was replacing lifetime lubed factory U-joints, using a torch to melt the plastic out, and the faces of the bearing caps all blew out - those must have been some good seals! So be careful that the piece you're working on isn't facing you, because those caps really fly when they come apart.

[darkroad]

Hi I've worked on chevy axles for about 25 years now. The upper ball joint with the threaded insert has been in use since about 1967 by several brand truck companies. With your ball joint pressed into place torque your lower ball joint to about 30 lbs then torque the threaded insert to 50 lbs, then torque the larger castulated nut on the upper ball joint to about 100 lbs. Follow up by retorquing the lower ball joint to about 70 lbs. Everything will have about the same amount of pressure pushing down into the ball joint seats. This should give you a nice but firm movement side to side. About 20 to 30 lbs of force to move the knuckle.

But always figure Murphys law when it comes to trucks. I recently replaced the ball joints on my 1990 V2500 Suburban. It had been ordered with extra HD suspension and all towing options. Well low and behold when I popped the upper ball joints they did not have the threaded bushing but instead had adjustable ball joints installed from the factory. Large offset hex bushing with an excentric type hole in the bushing so you could adjust the camber. Checked the local stores online and nobody showed this ball joint, a few had optional ones listed but no description nor picture. Finally sized up new one with old one and slid the adjuster onto the new one and the old one and they came to about the same place on th taper so I just used those without the threaded bushing. This is the first one that I have run into like this in 25+ years of working on chevy front ends. Had to have come from the factory as the hole for the adjuster was smaller than the threaded insert. I had thought that maybe somewhere down the line they had installed a kit of some sort but the hole would have had to be larger than the insert. Must have been part of the HD package that the original owner ordered. The truck came from upper NY state and had the dealer installed Banks turbo kit on it. Owner ordered almost every option available. Three leaf front springs, extra HD rear springs, custom factory interior. I have always had suburbans even before the SUV craze. I have 4 right now.


Darkroad

[Subzilla]

One other thing is to make sure you get the upper grease fitting in the right place before you press in the upper ball joint. I learned the hard way to make sure it is in a location where you can access it when everything is back together.

I agree to buy the Moog stuff. Again, another lesson learned here. I Ebayed ball joints that were described as Moog brand. When I received them, they were in Carquest boxes. I called Carquest and they confirmed that Moog did make their ball joints. I was still a little hesitant to accept this but I installed them on the Suburban and 30k miles later, they were worn out with much play. Yes, I torqued them just as described by "darkroad". I wondered if they were really Moog but obviously, they were of lesser quality. Just replaced them with Moog 2 months ago. As I remember, one of the Ebayed ball joints actually wasn't machined correctly and could not be installed in the knuckle. Carquest did graciously replace this one.

On the Blazer, I installed another brand, can't remember which one, and I seem to have very stiff, uncomfortable steering. I re-adjusted the ball joints but I'm still getting a lot more than the 25 pounds of force to move the knuckles indepently. This one still has me stumped but I think I will replace them with Moog to see if indeed that is the problem. I've checked and replaced absolutely everything else in the front the truck.

[bmiszuk]

then torque the threaded insert to 50 lbs
Okay, pardon the stupid question, but how do you torque that insert? I've seen a spanner and have a torque wrench. Do they make a tool that goes on the torque wrench for that? I carefully used a punch to set mine the same number of turns in as it took to remove it.

[Subzilla]

My spanner wrench came from Snap-on, I believe, and has a 6 sided top made for a socket. Throw on the torque wrench and you're good.

[RoverIIa]

My spanner is OTC. I got it at a local parts store (Auto Value -- maybe). It also has a hex top. I think these are common, you can probably even get one at a pep boys or autozone.