Control Arm Replacement - Questions (08 Silverado 1500)

Ghstface · February 15, 2012

Hello,

I recently went to do an alignment and was told that my upper and lower ball joints are bad. Unfortunately GM doesn't make replacement ball joints for the stock control arms do I'll have to purchase new ones. The shop quoted me $900 for the full job but I feel I can have this done cheaper... Anybody have any recommendation's for control arms (upper & lower) which are good but not too steep. If possible provide me with a site, brand or locations as to where I can purchase. Want to get this taken care of ASAP, wouldn't want my front suspension giving out on me considering I tow my boat around almost every weekend.

It's an 08 Silverado Crew Cab LT 5.3L V8. Not flex fuel.

Thank you,

redjewel2ss · February 15, 2012

go to rockauto.com

the lower ball joint can be replaced without replacing the arm. the upper, you will need to replace the control arm. AC Delco upper arms are $98 each, and the lower ball joints are $50 each. you most likely have the cast iron lower arms, to double check that, simply use a magnet. IIRC, the ball joints have to be pressed out. if you have another vehicle, you can do most the work yourself and just pay to have the ball joints removed/installed in the lower arms and for an alignment after your done.

just a tip, when you lube the ball joints, only use enough grease to make the rubber firm, anymore and the seal will break, ruining all the work you just did.

if you plan to keep the truck a long time, you could get some aftermarket upper arms with servicable ball joints/uni-balls like cognito, camburg, total chaos, to name a few.

Ghstface · February 16, 2012

Are the AC Delco upper arms able to be lubed, I know that's the problem with the factory ones. I honestly think I'll keep the truck for another 5yrs or so, so I want to make sure everything runs with no problems. With that vein said you think aftermarket is the way to go or AC Delco. Do you think I should replace the lower arms, or it's pointless and I should just do the ball joints?

Sorry for so many questions, kinda new to suspensions.

Ghstface · February 16, 2012

I was just told moog made some pretty good control arms, any thoughts on those, actually found them for about $97.

Ghstface · February 16, 2012

BTW- who makes the lower control arm for the 08 silverado 1500, I can't seem to find one anywhere. All i find are upper control arms.

stealthxl · February 19, 2012

I just replaced the upper control arms and lower ball joints. The control arms are just a remove/replace procedure. Make sure you mark the location of the alignment markers before removing them so they are in the original location when you bolt them back up.

You'll need a BJ press for the removal/replacement of the lower balljoints. I bought one from Harbor Freight a few years ago and it works great. You'll need a hammer and chisel to bend in the tabs at the top of the balljoints so you can remove them from the LCA. A breaker bar for leverage and strong vise (mine snapped in half from the pressure) are needed.

Here are the numbers for the Moog parts from Rock Auto:

K80670 Control Arm $88.79

K80669 Control Arm $96.79

K80964 Ball Joint $63.79 ea. = $127.58

Shipping was about $23.00

GPSilverado · February 19, 2012

I also just completed mine about a month ago. I used Raybestos lower ball joints (they have grease fittings) along with dorman products upper control arms (also have grease fittings), all from Rock Auto for less than 200 shipped to my house. Moog may be better quality though, and the price isn't much more.

I went to Autozone and rented a ball joint press to remove and install the lower ball joints, but had to make my own adapter to finish the install of the ball joints. The tool was missing one of the pieces. I had to pay 104.00 to rent the tool, but they refund the entire price when you bring it back in.