2004 yukon denali 6.0 awd BALL JOINT REPLACEMENT

[talkyukon]

I'm trying to change the ball joints on a 2004 yukon denali awd 6.0


Are the bottom ball joints directional?
It seems like the upper ball joints have marks on the top noting they are directional
The bottom ball joints seemed to move in one direction farther than the other but im not sure but there is no marks. It could have been because it was turned in one direction I thought it was more than the other but I can't be sure because it looks normal after I turned it straight.
Also I got the regular ball joint press at autozone but it seems to be missing a cup for the top of the ball joint to press into.
Is there another kit I can get to add to this regular ball joint press kit to be able to press the ball joint in.

I was thinking this additional kit at autozone would have the cup for the top of the ball joint to press into. ball joint autozone kit
would this work? or do I need a special ball joint kit?

 

[talkyukon]

also I see no marker to set the directional upper ball joints on the upper control arm.
The OEM ball joints just has flat sides on each side of the top of the upper ball joint

I found a website that says your supposed to put the punch mark on the outboard side of the control arm. directional ball joint alignment
Does this sound right?

 

[Fless]

Moved you here from General Discussion for your questions.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

You may like to note the direction old ones were in and compare to new ones. I replaced mine years ago. The big thing will be the grease zert installs in a direction that you can access! If you don't put it in right then you'll never be able to grease the lower ball joint.

FYI ~ I used several brands of ball joints. The two that were best were factory original, and TTX Mevotech. The TTX stuff is AWESOME. I highly recommend it. My truck almost exclusively lives off road and I destroyed some of the top brands off road. The TTX stuff has been on for 30k miles now no issues at all. I also called their tech support and they are VERY helpful and super friendly. I really like that company. Best thing would be to get TTX parts and call Mevotech. They are sooooo helpful!

 

[15burban]

Sorry I can't answer your questions, but just wondering why you wouldn't go ahead and replace the whole control arm(s)? They should come with the ball joint and new bushings. 2 birds with one stone. Might cost a little more but saves the headache of pressing ball joints in and out. Especially if you live where rust is an issue. Or having to rip every thing apart again when you need to replace the control arm bushings.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

@15burban oh gosh, I cannot speak for @talkyukon but I went same route as him rebuilding my own control arms. It was much cheaper, especially when you figure in having to get an alignment because the control arms were swapped out. If you JUST do the upper and lower you can possibly get by w/o alignment. Only hard part is pressing the ball joints out which with right tool & long breaker bar isn't hard. When I upgraded to TTX parts I pulled my entire control arm out, pushed in poly bushings and got it aligned. Rust isn't really an issue with the cast control arms. However, I cleaned mine up and put a THICK coat of rust-oleum on them when they were pulled off the truck. Made for better quality control arm than the rebuilt / new ones they sell. IMO the truck rides and controls much better with the poly bushings and they don't squeak as so many people "claim".