Advice on rebuilding control arms

[TravisB]

Be sure to keep all receipts for your purchases,it helps for warranty purposes. Good luck!! YMMV

If they're using that heat tape receipt junk, scan copies of the receipts or snap a pic with your phone. Those things will fade with time and you have a blank slip of paper and no evidence at all when it's warranty time.

 

[C10MixMaster]

Do you think its a bad idea to go with cheap parts if I get a lifetime warranty? I'm on a tight budget and its my first car so I understand its better to suck it up and buy more quality parts, but will the autozone or advance parts do for now? The warranty guarantees I get at least one free replacement on each part I buy. I was thinking if I just bought the cheap shaft kit and ball joints, at least I'd still have quality OEM control arms instead of cheap autozone ones.

how much do you value your time? that's what it boils down to. if you dont mind spending time redoing previous repairs go for the cheep lifetime warranty stuff. now with that said not all house brand stuff is junk alot of it is relabeled brand name items. and to further F$%* things up even oem replacement parts now come in different quality levels.You might buy oem brand but not get oem quality.. I was warranting an axle for my sierra the other day ( orileys house brand ) i was kidding with the guy behind the counter that there going to loose money on this because i keep my cars for more than five years. he replied back to me, they expect most people to only keep there cars 3 years and thats why they offer lifetime warranties on so much stuff... now the axle in my sierra take about 20 minutes to change including the beer break so i dont mind using the cheep part. now if i go to replace the a/c air diverted actuator buried 6 hours deep in the dash im going to get the best part money can buy!!! because i value my time.. and do keep receipts they loose and cant find things in there computer alot

 

[thecantaloupeman]

Hard Question to answer. How much are you gonna drive it, how hard are you gonna drive it? How old are you, do you wanna do this again and how soon? The other thing is any part can go bad whether it is an expensive part or not. I have used "good" parts and cheaper parts, with equal success. I don't have a problem with Autozone stuff. Kinda depends on how you get along with the guy behind the counter selling you the parts. Be sure to keep all receipts for your purchases,it helps for warranty purposes. Good luck!! YMMV

Well I'm not entirely sure how much I'll drive it yet, but I figure if I buy a cheap part now, and it fails later on down the road I most likely will have more money and can go for the good stuff. I also wanted to ask if there are any good resources explaining how to replace control arms on my truck. Its really hard to find a video of something that's exactly like my truck. And when I do it's usually crap quality.

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[DBarre]

I also wanted to ask if there are any good resources explaining how to replace control arms on my truck. Its really hard to find a video of something that's exactly like my truck. And when I do it's usually crap quality.

I've been watching EricTheCarGuy on Youtube and recently he did a series of videos replacing the suspension on a GMT400 ('88-'98) Chevy. He really goes into detail and explains things well. There are some differences between the older and newer trucks, but the basics are the same. If you're replacing the bushings, watching him do it might give you an idea of what to expect.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

I've been watching EricTheCarGuy on Youtube and recently he did a series of videos replacing the suspension on a GMT400 ('88-'98) Chevy. He really goes into detail and explains things well. There are some differences between the older and newer trucks, but the basics are the same. If you're replacing the bushings, watching him do it might give you an idea of what to expect.

I mean am I crazy to try replacing bushings and ball joints only, or should I just buy all new duralast control arms? I thought by doing the shaft and ball joints, it would be cheaper and save more oem parts rather than replacing with a cheaper quality part, so is that a decent idea or should I just get all new arms?

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[DBarre]

It depends on if you want to spend more time or money. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it either way. I'm planning on rebuilding the control arms on my C10 soon with some poly bushings. You should be able to do it if you have the time and patience.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

It depends on if you want to spend more time or money. I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it either way. I'm planning on rebuilding the control arms on my C10 soon with some poly bushings. You should be able to do it if you have the time and patience.

Well the main thing I'm worried about is if I have to leave it apart for more than a few days. I have nowhere to leave it. My HOA won't let me work on it in the street meaning I need to do it in the garage. But this means if it takes more than a day I have nowhere to leave it.

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[1985c20]

Have you checked out rock auto prices? You can get their cheapest brand control arms with new shafts, bushings, and ball joints for $50 for the lowers and $20 for the uppers. That's only $140 both sides all brand new. I don't think they would last 50,000 miles but for that price I wouldn't expect them too and I wouldn't even bother trying to rebuild what you have now. Changing the complete control arms will take you less time then rebuilding your old ones. I was debating going that route with my C20 as I plan on converting it over to 4x4 by the fall so I don't want to spend big bucks redoing the front end but its getting quite loose to be driving on the road.

 

[RangRayy]

It took me a week to do my lowers. With that said, I sand blasted and detailed them. Doing the bushings on the lower probably would’ve been about half a days work. If you have a press and air tools that defiantly speeds up the process. I bought new upper control arms from Summit since no where has the complete lowers for half tons.

 

[Doc_Ellis]

I bought new upper control arms from Summit since no where has the complete lowers for half tons.

Yeah, what’s the deal with that? I read somewhere that you can run c20 lower arms on a c10 but there’s some modification that needs to be done. Anyone know?

 

[4WDKC]

Right now I need two major repairs done before I can drive my truck again as a daily. The gas tank filler hose is leaking on both tanks, and my front control arms and bushings are bad and need rebuilt. The shop wants 522 for upper and 733 for lower control arm rebuild. I really trust this shop and enjoy giving them business, but I have very limited funds and can't help but wonder if it is better to learn to do it myself. Is control arm rebuilding a difficult feat? Is it more wise to spend money to get the fuel leak checked out? Should I fix the fuel leak myself and have them do the control arms? I just dont want to do something wrong which could put me in danger while driving especially since I have no experience and if the control arms and bushings were put on wrong by myself I could put myself in danger. What is your advice? Thanks.

For those prices you could buy aftermarket upgrades to make the truck handle like a sports car.

 

[RangRayy]

Yeah, what’s the deal with that? I read somewhere that you can run c20 lower arms on a c10 but there’s some modification that needs to be done. Anyone know?

The ball joints are different sizes. Believe you can get a sleeve to weld into it to accompany a 1/2t ball joint. I bought a pair that I was told were for 1/2 tons and realized when I tried to put the spindle on it that it would not work. Too much work imo so I just rebuilt my stock ones.

 

[Doc_Ellis]

The ball joints are different sizes. Believe you can get a sleeve to weld into it to accompany a 1/2t ball joint. I bought a pair that I was told were for 1/2 tons and realized when I tried to put the spindle on it that it would not work. Too much work imo so I just rebuilt my stock ones.

Ah, thanks. Yeah I did seem to remember it had something to do with the ball joint but wasn’t sure what exactly.
Yeah that sucks, almost fell into the same trap myself. I ran into 1t arms falsely listed as 1/2t in multiple places.
Good to know what’s involved in making them work if I go that route though