Bad Ball Joints?

[Dustin Jackson]

Hey guys I have been spending the last few weekends replacing the springs, shocks, and brakes on my Tahoe and I took it for an alignment today and they called and said that they cannot align it because the Ball joints are "completely destroyed". This is news to me as I have been working on the front and everything stable to me.

Moving forward how can I check the ball joints myself and what do you guys recommend to complete this job of doing upper and lower ball joints?

I am a little bummed to hear this, I thought I was done working on the truck for a while.

 

[OR VietVet]

If they are the original ball joints and you are over the 160k miles in your signature, I would just replace the upper and lower arms and do the bushings at the same time. You said everything was stable to you but then you ask how to check them. No way to know if they are good unless inspected properly and it does not sound like you did that.

The way I inspect ball joints is to jack under the lower control arm close to the lower ball joint. Get the tire about 1/2" to 1" off the ground. Use a long pry bar and wedge under the tire at 6 o'clock and lift up and release pressure and watch the play in the joints. You can also grab the tire at 12 and 6 o'clock and see if there is in and out movement on them. If the alignment guy says "completely destroyed" then I would expect a lot of play. Ball is in your court now. Also, when I looked up options at RA it said there could be aluminum or cast arms. It also asks for your suspension RPO #'s.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

If they are the original ball joints and you are over the 160k miles in your signature, I would just replace the upper and lower arms and do the bushings at the same time. You said everything was stable to you but then you ask how to check them. No way to know if they are good unless inspected properly and it does not sound like you did that.

The way I inspect ball joints is to jack under the lower control arm close to the lower ball joint. Get the tire about 1/2" to 1" off the ground. Use a long pry bar and wedge under the tire at 6 o'clock and lift up and release pressure and watch the play in the joints. You can also grab the tire at 12 and 6 o'clock and see if there is in and out movement on them. If the alignment guy says "completely destroyed" then I would expect a lot of play. Ball is in your court now. Also, when I looked up options at RA it said there could be aluminum or cast arms. It also asks for your suspension RPO #'s.

@PNW VietVet I am familiar with checking ball joints on a solid axle Cherokee but jacking up the control arm on the tahoe to relieve stress from the ball joint is a good tip, I always checked my tahoes at full drop which might have caused incorrect results.

 

[OR VietVet]

I can guarantee you that at full drop the pressure is still on both ball joints. Have to unload them by the method I stated. Good luck.

 

[akbrener]

I'd bite the bullet and just get the upper and lower control arms. Go on amazon and look for parts with "used" prices. They arent used, usually damaged boxes. Just replaced my front lowers with AC delco parts and snagged the driver side for 39 and the passenger for 58. both arrived with no damage or signs of use, just packaged in a brown amazon box rather than a white ACdelco box.

Either way replacing the entire control arm, both upper and lower are easier than pressing out a ball joint. with the mileage the bushings are probably not the greatest.

 

[swathdiver]

Hey guys I have been spending the last few weekends replacing the springs, shocks, and brakes on my Tahoe and I took it for an alignment today and they called and said that they cannot align it because the Ball joints are "completely destroyed". This is news to me as I have been working on the front and everything stable to me.

Moving forward how can I check the ball joints myself and what do you guys recommend to complete this job of doing upper and lower ball joints?

I am a little bummed to hear this, I thought I was done working on the truck for a while.

Same thing happened to mine in January. Went to get it aligned and they said the ball joints were shot. Funny, I had checked all but the one they tested with my dial indicator. Anyways, we just kept on driving it while monitoring the tire wear.

GM OE are better quality than ACDelco Professional or Moog's CK series top of the line control arms.

These are the PN# for OE for mine:

Control Arm, Lower, Driver's Side 20869201
Control Arm, Lower, Passenger's Side 20869202
Control Arm, Upper, Driver's Side 25812725
Control Arm, Upper, Passenger's Side 25812726

These are the ACDelco and Moog # for mine:

Control Arm, Lower, Driver's Side, Cast Iron 45D2471 CK620956
Control Arm, Lower, Passenger's Side, Cast Iron 45D2472 CK620955
Control Arm, Upper, Driver's Side, Forged Steel 45D3592 CK80669
Control Arm, Upper, Passenger's Side, Forged Steel 45D3593 CK80670

 

[YukonRog]

I always ask them to show me. The last guys had me hold each one while an associate turned the wheel back and forth between free play with the motor off. I could feel them move with my hand wrapped around them. Vehicle was "loaded" sitting on the rack.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@swathdiver @PNW VietVet For those that have replaced the upper and lower control arms themselves, I am curious If I can be lazy and replace the top and then the bottom control arm one at a time without removing the hub and axle from the knuckle? I just want to keep everything in place, I think that will make the job faster as I don't have a lot of time.

 

[akbrener]

@swathdiver @PNW VietVet For those that have replaced the upper and lower control arms themselves, I am curious If I can be lazy and replace the top and then the bottom control arm one at a time without removing the hub and axle from the knuckle? I just want to keep everything in place, I think that will make the job faster as I don't have a lot of time.

I replaced my uppers 2 years ago and just did the lowers a couple weeks ago. could easily do it together in a day individually. biggest thing with upper control arms is to mark the alignment cams to ensure you get them back in as close as possible. You will need to get it aligned regardless but try to get the new arms aligned as best as possible. all you need is a large hammer/maul to bang on the knuckle to pop the upper and lower ball joint loose. Lower arms are super easy.