When Did You Replace Your Ball Joints and Control Arms?

[ls1frc]

Absolutely. It's a very easy design to work on. I install the strut with the top three nuts barely finger-tight, then raise the vehicle up so the arms are hanging at full droop. Then I use a scissor jack to push the bottom of the strut up until I can tap it with a rubber mallet to knock it off the jack and onto the ears that it sits on. I use a spike to align the holes so I can run the bolts in. Lower it down so it all has the full weight on it and tighten up all the control arm bolts and upper strut mount nuts.


Oh- If you ever wanted to lift it a little in the front, like 1"-2", now would be the perfect time to slip in a strut spacer kit. You can get some billet aluminum ones for around $25 on Amazon. I had mine lifted 2" front, 1" rear for about a year before I lowered it. Cheap, easy and harmless mod.

Great to know, I am gonna get to work on it later this week. Will update thread once done. Rear is already riding much better, I imagine the front is gonna be a huge difference.

 

[ls1frc]

What size socket is the inner tierod? I want to rent an inner tierod tool so I can actually torque it down vs just guessing.

 

[ls1frc]

To anyone reading this thread looking to do this job, do not even attempt it without a torch and a good rust penetrant. I used an entire can of kroil and nearly all of my propane on my torch. Took me 6 hours to get both sides fully torn down.

I really took my time with the torch and kroil because I figured taking my time was going to be faster than dealing with a broken bolt. Every bolt was completely stuck.

 

[Warriorpluto]

To anyone reading this thread looking to do this job, do not even attempt it without a torch and a good rust penetrant. I used an entire can of kroil and nearly all of my propane on my torch. Took me 6 hours to get both sides fully torn down.

I really took my time with the torch and kroil because I figured taking my time was going to be faster than dealing with a broken bolt. Every bolt was completely stuck.

Even on the sway bar bushings?

 

[ls1frc]

I didn't do the swaybar bushings

Did:

Upper/Lower control arms
Inner/Outer tierods
Wheel Hub assemblies
New electronic struts

The biggest problem were the inner tierods. I had to wipe away all the grease and go to town with a torch for a good 20 minutes.

Pretty much every bolt was spray, soak, heat. Break loose. But as they were turning, there was so much rust, I had to constantly screw them back in and repeat the process.

Very time consuming job. With all the new parts, I bet I could have it apart and together again in an hour or less.

 

[ls1frc]

Very happy I went with the American made moog stuff as well as factory replacement struts/shocks. Think drives like a cloud now. Feels great!

Anything else I should replace? On the rear I just did shocks and air compressor. The only rear control arms from Moog were the chinese cheap stuff, so I didn't bother replacing them. Not sure what else to check back there.

Other than the suspension, I am replacing my cracked radiator with a Mishimoto and all new hoses, including the prone to cracking heater T fittings.

Trying to get this thing ready to go on road trips with the family and not have to worry too much.

Fuel pump was other thing I thought of, but it hasn't shown any issues so I am not going to mess with it.

 

[Koop]

Very happy I went with the American made moog stuff as well as factory replacement struts/shocks. Think drives like a cloud now. Feels great!

Anything else I should replace? On the rear I just did shocks and air compressor. The only rear control arms from Moog were the chinese cheap stuff, so I didn't bother replacing them. Not sure what else to check back there.

Other than the suspension, I am replacing my cracked radiator with a Mishimoto and all new hoses, including the prone to cracking heater T fittings.

Trying to get this thing ready to go on road trips with the family and not have to worry too much.

Fuel pump was other thing I thought of, but it hasn't shown any issues so I am not going to mess with it.

Go ahead and do you sway bar links and bushings fam. Those are 'easy' but annoying. You think your tie rod was a doozy... try those links on rust mode. I helped a friend with his and he never kept the maintenance. So trying to lock grip to go opposite directions to get them to break loose... ugh. His situation was my lesson.

Definitely do ALL hoses also. I had my first 'well damn' situation cause I assumed the hoses were fine with no signs of about to break. Thank goodness I was literally a block away from home and could float in my driveway.

Maybe later but check those manifold bolts...

 

[jz57]

Even on the sway bar bushings?

Go ahead and do you sway bar links and bushings fam. Those are 'easy' but annoying. You think your tie rod was a doozy... try those links on rust mode. I helped a friend with his and he never kept the maintenance. So trying to lock grip to go opposite directions to get them to break loose... ugh. His situation was my lesson.

.........

Comparing front end bolts removal is like telling a list of children story. To remove front sway bar bushing bolts could be the last exciting story.

Removing sever rusty front sway bar end link bolt is NOT bad, the effective tool is a cutting wheel or a hack saw in the worst scenario. For the front sway bar bushing bolt removal, it could be a nightmare.

The bolt on front sway bar bushing clamp and bolt on front strut bottom side are located very closely, they are all open to weather condition. But the experience of those bolts removal is totally different. Please see the following link:

https://www.silveradosierra.com/sus...hing-bolts-how-do-i-get-these-out-t40305.html

The reason having difficulty to remove the front sway bar bushing bolt is the structure of the bolt. If you pay the attention to the bold thread section, you will find that the thread cross section is a round-corner triangle, so-called self-taping thread, there is NO thread in the weld-on nut on the bracket before assembling. After self-taping bolt and weld-on nut are tighten, they become locking nut/bolt. Then, plus corrosion, the nut and bolt are more like wedded together.

9 of 10 times, that bolt will be broken when removing.

 

[ls1frc]

Go ahead and do you sway bar links and bushings fam. Those are 'easy' but annoying. You think your tie rod was a doozy... try those links on rust mode. I helped a friend with his and he never kept the maintenance. So trying to lock grip to go opposite directions to get them to break loose... ugh. His situation was my lesson.

Definitely do ALL hoses also. I had my first 'well damn' situation cause I assumed the hoses were fine with no signs of about to break. Thank goodness I was literally a block away from home and could float in my driveway.

Maybe later but check those manifold bolts...

My swaybar links were already broken off so adding new ones was easy lo .

I am doing a dod delete and possibly headers as well next week so. Will take my time on the manifold bolts with heat and kroil.

I didn't think about the swaybar bushings. Probably could use replacement to .

 

[ls1frc]

Just did a 600 mile road trip with the new suspension. Drove like a dream.

Does not feel like a 140k mile truck at all. The annoying rattle in my door went away too because of how smooth it rides now.