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Today started out brilliantly! The passenger side upper control arm came out without a hitch. One bolt had surface rust, but they slid out by hand. The bushings and the ball joint were in bad shape. Maybe 45 minutes including gathering the tools and getting the wheel off.
So, the new one goes in easily, the buttoning up everything and decide to check for torque values. I often use my internal torque wrench, but know that often the suspension bolts, especially the ball joint, need to be seated well. I looked up the torque values on my phone and apparently I read out the wrong value. MIT was ft/lbs, but must have been another bolt. Along about 125 ft/lbs, there is that sickening snap followed immediately but the desire to back a second or two in time.
Anyway, long story short; I borrowed a ball joint press tool kit from O’Reilly’s, popped the good joint out of the new driver’s side arm and pressed it into the passenger side. That didn’t take long. Odd thing was the original ball joint was larger than the 2 1/2 inch tube. The newer ones fit nicely inside the tube!
I ended up ordering a new ball joint while at O’Reilly’s with a lifetime warranty for $25. So, not a terribly costly mistake. Instead of getting both done today, I’ll finish up tomorrow.
Test drive: right side feels nice and tight, but the clunking is clearly coming from the left now. Seems more pronounced than before, but I feel that I’m on the right track and nearly done with this truck. Only thing left on my list is try to stop the rattling of the sunroof!
Looking back, I’ve really gotten to know this truck inside and out in the last 6 months (bought in August with a blown motor).
The ball joints are stupid easy to get out on these, when you look up torque values they are nm newton meters and must be converted to ft lbs, think i snapped a ball joint also lol
Ball joints are cheap, lowers are held into are with snap ring and come out by hand iirc
I put never sieze on the a arm bolt shafts since im in the salt belt
Had a couple of hours to replace the driver’s side upper control arm this morning. Second one is always easier! While I had the wheel off, I took a look at the sway bushings and the bolt that everyone says is a pain to get off. I ordered OEM rubber front and rear sway bushings and they’ll be here tomorrow. Will save that for next weekend!
I checked the torque values twice! It wasn’t the Nm conversion that got me last time on the ball joint, as the table was in Ft lbs, I just looked at the wrong line. I think it is worth writing down the values ahead of time. The bolts on the top are not keyed, only the bottom have a grove and oblong washer for camber adjustment. Very little surface rust on the original bolts. The new nuts have a welded tab that makes it really easy to get everything assembled and tightened. Instead of bolts going front to rear, I assembled with bolts pointing outwards. It’s near impossible to get a torque wrench on the bolts however....so, those are as tight as I can get them.
While it was apart, I cleaned and greased both ends of the sway link.
After a quick drive, I couldn’t get the clunk to occur and the truck drove nice and straight. Feels like it should! After things settle a bit, I’ll go get the alignment checked. Good thing I paid for lifetime alignment when I did the lower control arms!
I suppose I’ll start considering the rear control arms now, seems like about $500-$600 in parts for the back. I’ll do the top and bottom this time. Kinda tired of suspension work, so the sway bushings and rear arms might be saved for another time. It is a heck of a lot cooler outside now though....summer will be here before you know it.
Here’s the bushing starting to deteriorate. It had a couple of millimeters of play. Last pictures is of the bolts I removed...anyone want these? I think they’re serviceable.
The clunking going into driveways and driving on our crummy roads here in San Diego is getting worse. I think I am getting ready for at least the lower and perhaps lower and upper front control arms. I see that Atlantic british has a green poly set as well as the standard set (I will do news arms). Any thoughts, this is mainly used on-road. Not sure if I am going to try to tackle this or not. Seems like a ton of work and ripe with pitfalls if things are rusty. The lowers were changed ar 80k mi,es. Now at 135k. All so cal driving. Very little surface rust. Thanks. What is typical labor cost? Phil
By the way. Is there a way to tell which sets af arms is the problem. I put a jack under the lowers and lifted it a bit to check for play. I didn’t see anything. Thanks. Phil
I would bite the bullet, do both upper and lower in the front and get it aligned once....my upper ball joints were sloppy loose at 140k miles. I would suggest rubber, but that’s an open debate. My poly bushings are a little noisy when cold.
