opinion on frt end rebuild

[joeq]

Looking to rebuild the front end of my 83 C-30 2WD dually. Knuckles are worn, along with some bushings.
1-I've got a spring compressor for automotive use, but was wondering if the 1 ton springs require something beefier?
2-Also any advice on brand name components? I always liked Moog, but cost is also an issue. I see some "off brand" stuff called Mevotec w/ cheaper prices. Don't know of the quality tho.
Any other advice is appreciated. Thanx

[trbankii]

I've been using Moog, but had a TRE fail again after only a couple years and less than 25K miles. My thought is to save the money by doing the work myself and put that into buying better quality parts. If you have someone else do it, you'll pay at least twice as much and you'll get stuck with the cheapest parts they can find.

[joeq]

I hear ya on the "get what you pay for", but was wondering if there was anything "new" on the market that could compete with the old reliables. When you say TRE, are you referring to tie-rod ends? That sucks if it's wiped in only a couple yrs. Must've been made of pot metal. How about the spring compressors? Do 1 tons need something beefier?

[Yukon6.2]

Hi joeq
All the 2WD GM's i have done have been like this
Jack up under the coil spring with a floor jack and remove the tire.Remove brake caliper and tie away safe to not stress brake line.Remove upper and lower cotter pins.Loosen the nuts holding the ball joints through the spindle.Place a jack stand under the frame and lower the truck on jack stand.Make sure you are high enough that you have at lest 10" under the spindle.With the pressure off the jack and the ball joint nuts still threaded on but with space between the nut and spindle,take two heavy hammers one to hold on one side of the spindle beside where the ball joint goes through,and hit the other side with the other hammer.Do the top and bottom ball joint.You will hear a pop when the taper releases.Once both ball joints are free jack back up till you can remove the nuts,then slowly release the jack and it will all come apart.
Replace the ball joints,if the old are original you will need a grinder to remove the rivets that hold in the old top ball joint.The bottom one you drive out the bottom of the control arm.Get everything lined up and start jacking back up till you can thread on new nuts and tighten.Sometimes you have to put pressure on the taper so you can tighten the nuts.Install new cotter pins.
The tie rods are easiest with a pickle fork,one on a air hammer is icing on the cake.
Like trbankii says,do the work yourself and buy good parts.
Thomas

[joeq]

Thanx for the guidance. I've done automotive frt ends the way you've explained with the floor jack, and use a conventional spring compressor up inside the spring to hold it in place, and take some of the strain off. But I've never experienced the power of a 1 ton, and was hoping the weight of the truck will keep it from shoving the lower A frame down, and/or the frt end up,once the ball joint is busted loose.
I once did the frt end of my 69 Firebird W/ no motor, and had a heck of a time on assy trying to compress the spring to catch the castlated nut on the upper joint.(Even with the compressor) Had to stand on the frame, (no nose, or eng. installed), and bounce up and down, and catch the nut on the down stroke. Was probably comical to watch. (Hey Moe, Hey Larry):D
Anyway, I need to start accumulating some parts to do the overhaul. Will probably do everything, including bushings. Plan on keeping this truck another 20 yrs, if I make it that long.

[joeq]

Done some pricing, some on-line and yesterday at Auto-zone. Haven't found too many full kits. Looking for upper and lower balls, inner and outer T/Rs, upper and lower control arm bushings, and an idler arm. seen ball joint prices as low as $12, and high as $50. The pieces above by Dura-last, will run me about $300, and is probably the way I'll be going. Altho my truck sits most of it's life, I'm not going cheapest, but have a hard time putting $600, when I'm hoping the "middle of the road" will suffice. Finishing up some wood working project right now, and will get to the truck in I'm hoping a couple of weeks. Will post a few pics, (for your listening pleasure)

[trbankii]

I typically go with RockAuto.com unless I need something immediately or it is small enough that the shipping kills any savings.

[joeq]

I bought my 1st purchase from them a couple months ago, because of an educational video they provided on line, which helped me swap out a turn signal sw on the wifes 95 G/Prix. I felt obligated, and didn't mind the purchase. The sw lasted less than a month, and I still haven't got any response from them concerning it.Ended up buying a Dura-last from the Zone, and so far no probs. kinda ticked me off.

[trbankii]

I've been buying from them for years - never a problem and even very smooth to return items when I've had to (wrong part number or such).

[joeq]

Must be one of those things. guess I'll give them a second chance.

[trbankii]

Typically, they have better prices than anything I can get local. As I said, though, sometimes the shipping negates any savings and I just buy it local anyway - or if I need it immediately, although RA ships pretty quickly.

The downsides that I've run into is that sometimes things come from multiple warehouses and sometimes it is hard to tell whether you're getting the part you want just from the pictures and descriptions.

The multiple warehouse thing can run up the shipping costs quickly - particularly annoying if what you're ordering is small lightweight items. Throw a half dozen items in one box and ship it and it is cheap. Send them individually from four different warehouses and it isn't worth it.

For the most part, their parts breakdown is pretty good. Plus, I have the service manuals, so I can usually track down the part I need.

But I tried to order brakes for a friend's truck recently. I wasn't familiar with the truck and even though I spent a fair time with a VIN decoder and RPO listings, I still managed to select the wrong rear brakes. They had the section broken down into economy, daily driver, and high performance/heavy duty. There were a bazillion options with RPO codes and weight ratings and other information. But whereas my '93 breaks it down between C2500 and K2500 - for '06 her 1500 is just a Silverado. So they have the 2WD and 4WD stuff together - plus the 1500 has a bunch of options - HD, SS, LS, LT, etc that affect weight class.

So all of that was not RA's fault - more Chevy's fault. But I think that RA could divided their catalog up a bit better - ask the questions about whether 2WD or 4WD and weight rating and then narrow down your choices so there is less chance of confusion. I did have to pay shipping to return the items, but otherwise it was pretty easy to get the RMA labels from them to send it all back.

[joeq]

Cool beans. A buddy just sent me an ad for suspension stuff. The Co. was A1, and now (brain fart), I'm wondering if that was the Co. that sent me a piece of crap Sw, and won't respond to me. Like previously mentioned, the Co. has video training on line, and promotes their products after the video. That's what lured me in. I need to go look at the packaging.
yep, just checked and the Co. is A1 and not RA. So I'll give them another look. Thanx again for the tips.