ball joints

[coolen]

gonna change a couple of ball joints this weekend, and i got a question. for the lower ball joint the autozone site says to disconnect the tie rod end. does this have to be done? any other info would be great as well.

thanks

also, how can i keep the alignment as close as possilbe? i don't have any "special" tools to work with either.

[GEJ]

I would think it helps you get to the joint with a pickle fork easier to seperate the ball from the lower a-frame.Just gives you more room to swing the hammer.

[coolen]

i didn't think that the tie rod end had to be removed. no pickle fork here,,, just a BFH

although, i do have this big c clamp thing for doing universal joints, that i feel will help me out.

[GEJ]

Well if you can get a wack at the spindle lower part where the ball joint goes thru-sometimes it will just fall out and by removing the tie rod you can get a better wack at it because it will turn out more.I would just make sure the nut is still on there alittle so she doesn't get away from you.I try to make sure no one gets hurt on my watch.

[SoCalli V8]

Please Don`t buy your balljoints from autozone unless they sell Quality compomemts like Moog.

Anything else is junk, and will not last. You will be doing this whole job over again in a years time, unless you fit Quality HD Moog components.

[coolen]

i picked 2 up from uap. i'm awaiting the arrival of a set from a asv member. hopefully they're in good shape. should i do the top or bottom first? does it matter when changing both?

thanks

[SoCalli V8]

I hope that they are Moog bro, because this is a son - of - a B_ tch job to have to do again.......!

You will need a spring compressor and air-tools, don`t attempt this without because that compressed spring will take your head off easily......!

Be Careful.

[coolen]

no springs......torsion bars. any better?

[coolen]

i was gonna attempt it yesterday, until i started reading and realized that for the lower ball joint i had to take the wheel bearing off and everything. holy moly!! i'm gonna wait until i can get an extra hand. does anyone know any tricks of the trade for this job?

thaks

[GEJ]

no springs......torsion bars. any better?

Wish I could help you with torsion bars,but I have a limited backround there.

[coolen]

this sounds like a total tear down....unfortunatley

[GEJ]

Going on about 1 1/2 of reading and learning about AWD's.All and all seems like they are a real PITA over all.

Hope your repair goes well.

[BLAZER]

You don't have to remove the wheel bearing, but the nut that holds the axle shaft in needs to come off so you can pull shaft out of the hub to access the lower ball joint, I think it is a 36MM socket, you can rent from Autozone. It's the same set up on my wife's 97 blazer. I never pulled tie rod either, just left it on there and swung spindle unit out of the way. I usually smack the spindle housing where the balljoint shaft goes through to pop it lose. Make sure you have a ball joint press, you'll need it for the bottoms( rent from AZ). Just grind the rivets off the top one and use a punch/air chisel to drive out the rivets.

[coolen]

unfortunatley i don't have an autozone. i'm way up and over. (nova scotia)

should i remove the tie rod end as well? either way it's gonna be a fun job cuz i wanna do both sides when i do it. i also want to do the upper and lower control arm bushings while i'm there. i'm assuming that is where i should unload the torsoin bars? i'm also finding it hard to get a kit with bushings for both sides. maybe it don't exist. i dunno.

[BLAZER]

The uppers will be easy to get off, the lowers will definitely need torsion bars released. I replaced the upper bushings on my RWD astro, they are a bear no way around it. I ended up drilling out the rubber, the used and air chisel to "beat" the outer shells out. The ball joint press was then used to press them back in. If you don't have all the tools, I would recommend taking off the arms and dropping them off at a machine shop and pay them to do it for ya. Parts from one side should fit the other, all my upper bushing parts had the same numbers even though they were listed separately for each side. Hopefully an AWD owner will chime in, I'm going all on my experience with my astro and 79 camaro (almost identical to astros) which I rebuilt complete subframe....even though the AWD aren't much different besides tosion bars and removal of axle nut on hub.