Ball Joints

2500HD4X · May 3, 2005

Hey there-

Anybody had the experience of replacing the upper and lower ball joints on an 73-87 C10 Chevy Pickup? Mine are toast, 76 C10....Took it in for an alignment and it was pointless. The uppers look like no trouble to do but I am a little worried about doing the lowers myself. In y'alls opinion is it easy enough to do it yourself or is it worth the 3-4 hours labor at the local shop? I have never messed with 2 wheel drive suspensions at all so any advice/experiences appreciated...

Thanks- Lee

snoman · May 4, 2005

Hey there-
Anybody had the experience of replacing the upper and lower ball joints on an 73-87 C10 Chevy Pickup? Mine are toast, 76 C10....Took it in for an alignment and it was pointless. The uppers look like no trouble to do but I am a little worried about doing the lowers myself. In y'alls opinion is it easy enough to do it yourself or is it worth the 3-4 hours labor at the local shop? I have never messed with 2 wheel drive suspensions at all so any advice/experiences appreciated...

Thanks- Lee

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They are really not that bad to do and I have done several vehicals in the past. Depending on the model and year they can be bolted, riveted or pressed in. I consider air tools a must for this as it take a lot of grunt out of it and speeds thing up and if they are riveted in, you can use a air chisel to cut rivet heads off or a hi speed air power die grinder. I guess the answer is that if you have the tools (or are will to buy a few tools) and jacksand are mechanically inclined it is not a big deal but if you are not or lack tools it is.

Friz · May 5, 2005

I can't stress this loud enough - GET A REPAIR MANUAL!!!!!

Ball joints aren't all that complicated to do. The dangerous part is unloading that front spring.

A lot of the lowers are pressed in, so you need a hydraulic press or you have to remove the lower control arm to have someone else press them in.

I knew a guy that simply "tapped" his lower ball joints in, then had to have them replaced again because he beat the crap out of the joint!

2500HD4X · May 5, 2005

I have both the Haynes and Chiltons repair manuals for the truck, and a full set of air tools (air chisel/die grinders/etc.). I bought the new joints last night and I will probably do them this weekend-depends on the weather. I have a covered stall in the barn to work in but if it rains it gets muddy under there quickly. Both of the books pretty much have identical procedures for the ball joints, and Auto-Zone has a loaner ball joint removal/installation press that looks interesting....It looks like a big C-Clamp with some special attachments. Anybody ever used one of these critters? How do they work on that lower joint? Do you still have to remove the lower control arm or is it pretty easy to use a pinch bar to line that spindle back up? Anyway, one way or the other, it will be done by this weekend. Hopefully not too much of this will be involved.

snoman · May 5, 2005

I can't stress this loud enough - GET A REPAIR MANUAL!!!!!
Ball joints aren't all that complicated to do. The dangerous part is unloading that front spring.

A lot of the lowers are pressed in, so you need a hydraulic press or you have to remove the lower control arm to have someone else press them in.

I knew a guy that simply "tapped" his lower ball joints in, then had to have them replaced again because he beat the crap out of the joint!

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There is no need to unload springs or tbars unless you are removing the lower control arm itself. THere are hand held presses that are designed to press joints out and in when need be that a screw driven and used with a air wrench they will zip in or out a joint double quick.

asilverblazer · May 5, 2005

I can't stress this loud enough - GET A REPAIR MANUAL!!!!!
Ball joints aren't all that complicated to do. The dangerous part is unloading that front spring.

A lot of the lowers are pressed in, so you need a hydraulic press or you have to remove the lower control arm to have someone else press them in.

I knew a guy that simply "tapped" his lower ball joints in, then had to have them replaced again because he beat the crap out of the joint!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There is no need to unload springs or tbars unless you are removing the lower control arm itself. THere are hand held presses that are designed to press joints out and in when need be that a screw driven and used with a air wrench they will zip in or out a joint double quick.

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With the lower control arm no longer connected to the spindle it can be shot to the ground from the compressed spring with a helluva lotta force. I don't want my face under it when it comes off the spindle, or I'd be blowin boogers out my butt for awhile.

snoman · May 5, 2005

With the lower control arm no longer connected to the spindle it can be shot to the ground from the compressed spring with a helluva lotta force. I don't want my face under it when it comes off the spindle, or I'd be blowin boogers out my butt for awhile.

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And how pray tell will that happen if you have a jack stand under the lower control arm supporting it???

Friz · May 6, 2005

That's why I stressed having a MANUAL!

If you disconnect the ball joints, that spring will have nothing to hold it.

Listen up, snoman - you need to be careful giving mechanical advice. You never said anything about putting a jackstand under the control arm. You simply said that there was no need to release the spring. Now if this guy took your advice on how to remove a ball joint, he'd likely pop a ball joint fork in there, start wailing on it with a BFH, and there's a good chance that he'd be hurt right now.

That's why I tell people to get a manual that shows every step. I'll help them if they don't understand something, but I never give them instructions from here.

snoman · May 6, 2005

That's why I stressed having a MANUAL!
If you disconnect the ball joints, that spring will have nothing to hold it.

Listen up, snoman - you need to be careful giving mechanical advice. You never said anything about putting a jackstand under the control arm. You simply said that there was no need to release the spring. Now if this guy took your advice on how to remove a ball joint, he'd likely pop a ball joint fork in there, start wailing on it with a BFH, and there's a good chance that he'd be hurt right now.

That's why I tell people to get a manual that shows every step. I'll help them if they don't understand something, but I never give them instructions from here.

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I think you need to be careful because I have been doing this for over 30 years and saftey has always been first with me. You ALWAYS place a jack stand under the control arm to support it for ball joint servicing. What you seem to forget is that your "manual" assumes that the vehical is on a lift in the air above you in a shop in which case a jack under cotrol arm is not pratical or feasable but 99% or self mech's do it on the ground on jacks so my method is preferable and quicker and safer too (actually a lot safer than yours because unloading a spring or a Tbar is something to be avoided if possible as serious injury is possible there if you are not VERY carefull doing it).

Friz · May 6, 2005

That's why I stressed having a MANUAL!
If you disconnect the ball joints, that spring will have nothing to hold it.

Listen up, snoman - you need to be careful giving mechanical advice. You never said anything about putting a jackstand under the control arm. You simply said that there was no need to release the spring. Now if this guy took your advice on how to remove a ball joint, he'd likely pop a ball joint fork in there, start wailing on it with a BFH, and there's a good chance that he'd be hurt right now.

That's why I tell people to get a manual that shows every step. I'll help them if they don't understand something, but I never give them instructions from here.

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I think you need to be careful because I have been doing this for over 30 years and saftey has always been first with me. You ALWAYS place a jack stand under the control arm to support it for ball joint servicing. What you seem to forget is that your "manual" assumes that the vehical is on a lift in the air above you in a shop in which case a jack under cotrol arm is not pratical or feasable but 99% or self mech's do it on the ground on jacks so my method is preferable and quicker and safer too (actually a lot safer than yours because unloading a spring or a Tbar is something to be avoided if possible as serious injury is possible there if you are not VERY carefull doing it).

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Snoman, check your messages. We can discuss this in private.