Upper Control Arm & Ball Joint Shot?

[YukonCrazy]

Is this driver side upper control arm & ball joint assembly shot?

2008 GMC Yukon 5.3 Flex
145K miles
2WD

 

[drakon543]

Can't tell with just pictures.
Raise that side up enough to stick a bar under the tire and lift up on the bar and check for movement. Also with that side up grab the top and bottom of the tire and try to wiggle it and again check for movement. When you lift up the ball joint shouldn't have any play. And when you try to wiggle the tire the control arm bushings shouldn't have any play.

 

[YukonCrazy]

So I did do that check and didn't really feel any movement. Been trying to diagnose what feels like an intermittent vibration. Wheels have been rotated and balanced so I know that's not it. Just had the driver side engine mount replaced, but that didn't solve it.

Maybe the trans mount? Doesn't the tail shaft just rest on the trans mount? Running out of ideas on what feels like a random wheel out of balance, but is not that.

 

[t.stimpson]

bearing/hub going bad?

 

[drakon543]

Random intermittent vibration could be a bad hub but you would most likely hear it by that point unless your running an aggressive tire. It could also be a weak shock. Is it during all driving speeds and rpms or does it generally happen during a certain speed? Also this may sound stupid but i could have swore my g6 had an issue before i realized it was only happening during one spot on my drive to work. Realized it was just a bad spot in the road i kept hitting every night.

 

[YukonCrazy]

I took it to my mechanic. Had it aligned. He checked the balance in the wheels. Confirmed that the suspension parts are good. It's a vibration pretty much all the time at all speeds. I am now thinking it's driveshaft/U-joints.

I had new U-Joints and a new slip yoke pressed onto driveshaft at the same time I got the new tires. Couple months ago I had the driveshaft balanced.

I also unplugged the brake booster vacuum sensor because I believe that will disable the AFM.

Done all of that and still have this continual bounce/shudder. Clueless what to do now.

 

[d-alex-l]

I don't have the bounce, or shudder for that matter. What my '07 LTZ 2WD has is a creaking sound from the front left whenever the suspension has travel - it sounds awful in the morning when going down my paved driveway.

I've changes stabilizer links and bushings and sway bar bushings with no reduction in the noise. Genuine GM upper control arm ball joint assembly for both sides arrived today, so I'll be doing the swap tomorrow. I hope that does it.

 

[Bigmac18]

Warped rotors?

 

[d-alex-l]

I don't have the bounce, or shudder for that matter. What my '07 LTZ 2WD has is a creaking sound from the front left whenever the suspension has travel - it sounds awful in the morning when going down my paved driveway.

I've changes stabilizer links and bushings and sway bar bushings with no reduction in the noise. Genuine GM upper control arm ball joint assembly for both sides arrived today, so I'll be doing the swap tomorrow. I hope that does it.

So I did the upper control arms and ball joint assembly swap this past weekend and my creaking problem was not fixed - the truck definitely feels better up front though. I'm leaning towards the coil spring insulators or maybe just a bad shock/spring assembly ($$$). No stores near me had the spring insulators in stock, but replacing them was a last minute thought so it's my fault for not planning to do that repair/swap.

Maybe driver's side engine mount next(?).

 

[93blkongreenpro]

you can get the monroe quick struts for about $100/ each. 2 - 3 hours later, you can have both sides replaced, if you do the work yourself