Ball Joint Replacement

[jgasca]

I searched and couldn't find any replacement instructions, so excuse me if there is a similar thread somewhere.

I took my 85 k1500 to get the tires aligned and was told I need to replace the upper and lower ball joints on the passenger side.

I got a quote from a couple local auto repair places and the price won't go lower than $260 for the labor.

Is the job really hard or would I be better off coughing up the dough?

I found this

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/re...epairGuideContent.jsp?pageId=0900c1528004c726

Any advice?

 

[HotRodPC]

NO, it's not all that hard, but you'll need to rent/loan the bj took from AZ, O'Reily's or Advance Auto. Usually all 3 of them have a kit to loan for the job. If you are buying the parts local, try O''Reily's. A few of us here are having real good luck with the Master Pro brand and they are the same Part #'s as Moog, so they might just be Generic Moog parts, and a good price with Limited Lifetime warranty.
If you want Mail Order, do RockAuto.com. They have Moog for cheaper than you can get generic at Oreily's then you can use our discount too and that usually covers the shipping.

 

[8T6K5]

I took my 85 k1500 to get the tires aligned and was told I need to replace the upper and lower ball joints on the passenger side.

Any advice?

No offense, but I hope you plan on doing both sides and not just the passenger side.

If the Master Pro parts are doing well and they are avail locally try them. I just bought mine and went through Rock Auto with their discount (see vendor section). Its only 5%, but parts were already the cheapest I could find.

I will be doing mine next weekend Fortunately I have a freind who is willing to do most of the work while I partake in the consumption of some cold beverages

 

[HotRodPC]

No offense, but I hope you plan on doing both sides and not just the passenger side.

If the Master Pro parts are doing well and they are avail locally try them. I just bought mine and went through Rock Auto with their discount (see vendor section). Its only 5%, but parts were already the cheapest I could find.

I will be doing mine next weekend Fortunately I have a freind who is willing to do most of the work while I partake in the consumption of some cold beverages

Good Point. I always do suspension parts in pairs. What you put on new on oneside, go ahead and do the other. It'll also make your alignment last longer. If your current left side is still good, unless they were replaced alone at one time, they're ready to go too and it might be just one more time out wheeling, or one more dip that takes them out of spec.

 

[jgasca]

NO, it's not all that hard, but you'll need to rent/loan the bj took from AZ, O'Reily's or Advance Auto. Usually all 3 of them have a kit to loan for the job. If you are buying the parts local, try O''Reily's. A few of us here are having real good luck with the Master Pro brand and they are the same Part #'s as Moog, so they might just be Generic Moog parts, and a good price with Limited Lifetime warranty.
If you want Mail Order, do RockAuto.com. They have Moog for cheaper than you can get generic at Oreily's then you can use our discount too and that usually covers the shipping.

I notice you didn't mention autozone.... bad parts or past experience?
Locally all we have is an Autozone and O'Reily's, other than that I guess I could order online, but in most cases I need the parts asap to put them on the same or next day.

No offense, but I hope you plan on doing both sides and not just the passenger side.

If the Master Pro parts are doing well and they are avail locally try them. I just bought mine and went through Rock Auto with their discount (see vendor section). Its only 5%, but parts were already the cheapest I could find.

I will be doing mine next weekend Fortunately I have a freind who is willing to do most of the work while I partake in the consumption of some cold beverages

If I manage to do one said with little or no problems, then yeah doing both sides would make sense, I just got intimidated by the high prices to do the job, so I was thinking this would really be difficult. A local shop here said that the job usually took about 5 hours to finish one wheel, I'm sure he said that to make his share of the profit.

So would following the autozone instructions be best or is there an easier way?

 

[HotRodPC]

I did mention Auto Zone, abbreviated AZ but I'd do prefer Moog parts and AZ don't carry them. RockAuto.com is the best place for price if you can wait a few days, if not, you can use those Master Pro brand at O'Reily's.

 

[8T6K5]

A local shop here said that the job usually took about 5 hours to finish one wheel, I'm sure he said that to make his share of the profit.

Sounds like someone was trying to you.

 

[HotRodPC]

Sounds like someone was trying to you.

You mean

Right in the corn hole too !!!

 

[bucket]

I disagree, if the joints on one side are worn and the others are fine, just replace what's worn. Sure the good ones "could" wear out soon, but there's just as good of a chance they last for many more miles.

Besides, good older parts will often outlast the junk they sell now. Even Moog isn't that great anymore.

 

[HotRodPC]

I disagree, if the joints on one side are worn and the others are fine, just replace what's worn. Sure the good ones "could" wear out soon, but there's just as good of a chance they last for many more miles.

Besides, good older parts will often outlast the junk they sell now. Even Moog isn't that great anymore.

ehhhh, I think I'd only agree with that to the point this is a 4x4. It is possible in the past, something got hit on the left side while wheeling and the left side was replaced for that incident, like I just did my left upper control arm shaft on my left side of the C20 for obvious reasons, or maybe something was hit on the right side, but most generally I'd always replace suspension parts in parts. Tie Rods, Idler and Pitman are different of course, but A frame parts, I do in pairs.

 

[jgasca]

Is this pretty similar to what the job will look like?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26105852/Replacing_Ball_Joints.pdf

 

[HotRodPC]

Is this pretty similar to what the job will look like?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/26105852/Replacing_Ball_Joints.pdf

Yeah, very similar. You should be able to loan/rent that tool from the auto parts store, or buy a cheap one at Harbor Freight.

 

[8T6K5]

I disagree, if the joints on one side are worn and the others are fine, just replace what's worn.

Maybe.....on my vehicle and I was the one who put the previous ones in or had a very detailed service history of the vehicle.

Some of the crap that is done, or said to have been done, just to unload a vehicle is scary. $30 (for cheapies) $50 (for better) is cheap insurance in my book.

 

[jgasca]

so I finished installed the ball joints today. Took the truck out for a spin and everything looks fine.

I only have one question, on the lower ball joint, when tightening the nut, the ball joint would start spinning with the nut. The ball joint had a groove for a standard screw driver on the very top, so I used that to tighten the nut as much as I could. When the wheels turns, both the ball joint and the nut turn Does this sound right?

 

[HotRodPC]

so I finished installed the ball joints today. Took the truck out for a spin and everything looks fine.

I only have one question, on the lower ball joint, when tightening the nut, the ball joint would start spinning with the nut. The ball joint had a groove for a standard screw driver on the very top, so I used that to tighten the nut as much as I could. When the wheels turns, both the ball joint and the nut turn Does this sound right?

Yes, if it's tight, it better turn with the spindle assembly. Sounds right. So did you get it to stop spinning? It should have once you got it tight enough and sucked up into the socket.