Lower ball joints.

[greenhornet]

2015 Tahoe LS with 67,000 kilometers due to wear limit .Just replaced my left lower control arm with ball joint as GM does no longer make the aluminum assy. It has been superseded by an all metal assy. I was having trouble finding the proper lower joint for an aluminum control arm so I went back to the dealer and found out they do not use the original anymore.I must admit that replacing the complete control arm is a lot better than trying to re and re a ball joint in aluminum.The price of the ball joint ,tools needed and time spent, it is in the long run cheaper in my estimation.The right side probably next year.

 

[wjburken]

2015 Tahoe LS with 67,000 kilometers due to wear limit .Just replaced my left lower control arm with ball joint as GM does no longer make the aluminum assy. It has been superseded by an all metal assy. I was having trouble finding the proper lower joint for an aluminum control arm so I went back to the dealer and found out they do not use the original anymore.I must admit that replacing the complete control arm is a lot better than trying to re and re a ball joint in aluminum.The price of the ball joint ,tools needed and time spent, it is in the long run cheaper in my estimation.The right side probably next year.

I’ve always been of the understanding that if you just replace the ball joint, you don’t need to get an the vehicle aligned, but if you replace the whole control arm, you should. Am I wrong in this? I ask because I would have gone the route of replacing both sides at the same time and only paid for one alignment job.

 

[greenhornet]

Yes that sounds good but I am not in the habit of replacing a part that is not worn out. When it does I will pay for another alignment as it is done yearly anyhow due to the real rough and patched roads in my area.What I did do was get a grease needle and fill up the right side ball joint after finding out there is next to nothing in them to start with using synthetic grease for suspension .The alignment sheet showed that the alignment was barely off,but good to know it is good now till next time.