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Front end parts advice needed

J

jrsavoie

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Rural Clifton, Illinois
I just got an estimate for an alignment.
Parts needed:
Lower Right Front Ball Joint
Pitman arm
Idler arm

I can not afford their price right now. I've never messed with front end parts much.
How hard are the parts to swap?
Special tools needed?
Where can step by step instructions be found?
Where is the best place to buy these parts?
Are OEM parts best for this or are aftermarket parts better?
 
Hardest is the ball joints. You need a cframe press to press them in and out. most autoparts store have something you can rent. Pitman are is the next hardest just getting access. again you need a pitman tool but should be able to rent. I'd just buy the premium parts at the autoparts store.
 
Let me know how it goes... I have 240k on my 'burban and front end popping like she needs new ball joints....PM me if u dont mind with results/thoughts on doing it myself):h
 
Also don't forget to do the idler pivot assembly as chances are it will be bad and is removed while doing the idler and pitman. As for the ball joint, go check and see if yours are press in or riveted in(or even better, bolted in). Most of the diesels all got the bolt or riveted in ones in them so replacement isn't that hard.
 
Thanks for all the help so far. I'm not sure when I will start on it. Sometime after I get parts and my wife brings the garage door opener home. It's a pain to manually open the 14' doors. I have to get a ladder just to pull the trip rope.
Does anybody know a way to rig the trip rope to make it reachable?
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
Also don't forget to do the idler pivot assembly as chances are it will be bad and is removed while doing the idler and pitman. As for the ball joint, go check and see if yours are press in or riveted in(or even better, bolted in). Most of the diesels all got the bolt or riveted in ones in them so replacement isn't that hard.
Click to expand...

Mine are pressed
 
jrsavoie said:
Thanks for all the help so far. I'm not sure when I will start on it. Sometime after I get parts and my wife brings the garage door opener home. It's a pain to manually open the 14' doors. I have to get a ladder just to pull the trip rope.
Does anybody know a way to rig the trip rope to make it reachable?
Click to expand...

hook a claw hammer on a pole or stick use the claws to pull the rope
 
not to discourage you, but the pressed in ball joints are a pita. I bought a NON-harbor freight C-clamp kit to remove the ball joints on my cherokee. I bent the C-clamp removing the 3rd one.

If you do this yourself put your new ball joints in the freezer overnight. Helps shrink them down a tad, makes it a little easier getting them pressed in.
 
trouttrooper said:
not to discourage you, but the pressed in ball joints are a pita. I bought a NON-harbor freight C-clamp kit to remove the ball joints on my cherokee. I bent the C-clamp removing the 3rd one.

If you do this yourself put your new ball joints in the freezer overnight. Helps shrink them down a tad, makes it a little easier getting them pressed in.
Click to expand...



I got to where I just take a big hammer and beat them out and then clean up the bores and antisieze the new one. Save the press for install
 
Ok, so in reading the answers it appears I'm a bit of an old school mechanic. So I'll give you my .2 cents and let you decide:

1. If you have air tools, you life will be alot easier doing these jobs. Buy yourself an impact gun and an air hammer. You don't need air tools, but this stuff is soooo much easier with them.

2. Lower ball joints.
-If your lower arms are stamped/welded sheet metal, the ball joints should be riveted in (or bolted if they've been replaced before). Use and angle grinder to cut the rivet heads off and then drive them out (air hammer is great for this). If bolts, I just cut them. They'll be rusty and not worth the trouble. Trust me, just cut them with the grinder and don't look back. I prefer the grinder to a "smoke wrench" because the rubber and grease doesn't smoke or burn as badly (or at all).
- if your lower arms are forged, the ball joints are pressed in. The proper press adapter and/or C clamp will work the best (well, taking the arm off and using a bench press is best), but I usually use the air hammer to drive them out (after I've unloaded the suspension of course!) by keeping them square to the bore and moving the hammer around. Clean the bore in the arm. Then, I find a proper sized piece of pipe, pipe fitting or large socket (yup, I've got 'em that big!) and use the floor jack and the weight of the truck to press them back in to the bore on the control arm. A little tap on the perimeter of the arm at teh ball joint bore is usually required to get it all the way home. This can be a little tricky if you don't get it right and the ball joint housing gets cocked and stuck. Slow and sure is the way to go here. The freezer trick mentioned above is a good one. If you also warm the arm, you may be able to get it all the way home before it all locks together (you have to work veeerryy fast and will only get one shot!). Not guarantees though, I've used it before while building jet aircraft engines for split bearing and such, but never ball joints. Principle is the same though...

3. Pitman arm.
All I can say is get ready to curse and swear if it's a 4x4. If I wasn't so cheap/poor, this is the job I would pay someone to do!
But, I have to do it myself so - Pull ALL the skidplating off right away or your life is going to be miserable beyond belief. Then there's lots of crossmembers and bracing in the way, they're welding in so just get used to working everything around them. I swear, If I have 5 minutes and a baseball bat in a room with the guy who designed this dogs breakfast.......well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.
You will also need to disconnect the steering column at the box, unbolt the box from the frame rail and then maneuver it to where you can get the pitman arm puller on the arm. Nothing else will get the pitman arm off but a pitman arm puller. Save yourself the frustration and broken tools and just go buy one now. You also need a pickle fork to get the arm off the center link. My advice is to NOT try and beat it out. You're only going to be hammering on the sector shaft for the steering box and there's going to be so much play it's just futile. Lots of people have done it and will say they've done it, but you're taking your chances and I always just end up pissed off when I try. Long pickle fork is the way to go...3, maybe 4 whacks and it's off.
You need to remove the nut on the sector shaft holding the pitman arm on. I can't remember the exact size right now, but it's somewhere around 34 MM. If you're going to "strong arm" it off, do it before you unbolt the box from the frame rails. If you have air tools, Impact gun will take it off in short order, anywhere at any angle. I use the impact on the pitman arm puller also, I can imagine doing it with a socket and ratchet but it can be done (lots of swearing).

4. Idler arm.
Pickle fork is pretty much the only way you will get it off the center link. Or a press/c clamp press. I've seen lots of guys beat on these things for an hour only to go buy the fork. Then, its just bolts on the frame rail.

5. Alignment.
Not really required after doing this type of work, but highly recommended. Your choice.

that's about all I can think of off the top of my head.

It can all be done at home but it's mostly PITA, grunting, swearing, greasy, lying on your back work. On a diesel, it's even more of a PITA because there's almost always sooty greasy oil EVERYWHERE.

But, if you're low on cash, it's economical to do it yourself on a Saturday. But get up early and plan to spend the day if you haven't done it before. Maybe more if the truck is old and rusty.

But as a plus, you have all those neat tools for the next time (unless you rented/borrowed them from the parts store) when you're done!

I love tools.......that's how I justify doing my own work. The money I'd be giving someone to do the job goes into tools I can keep and use next time.

Good luck.

PS. by the way, they can line the truck up with a bad pitman and idler arm. You're steering may be loose and they can't guarantee the wheel will be centered, but it has no real effect on the camber/caster/toe which is what wears your tires and has the truck tracking weird down the road. I used to see it all the time in the garage before I moved into the aerospace industry (par tof the reason I left automotive). Someone would come in, the tech would write up everything he could possibly find related to the problem in any remote way. Most customers just don't know the difference and front end work is expensive by the shop rate manual (we used mitchell at the time, not sure about now) and easy as pie to actually do.. However, the ball joint does need to be done to do an alignment.
 
Last edited:
I have the tools.
It's just me that's a little worse for wear. LOL
Might be missing my fork. I can't remember the last time I saw it. I'm sure the Snap-on man will be happy to sell me another if it's MIA.
I never thought of the freezer trick for this application. I've done similar stuff many times. I have an oven with a 3/4" plate over the burners that I used for stuff like that and for welding preheat stuff that would fit on top. Beats the heck out of a rosebud and it's constant.
 
jrsavoie said:
I have an oven with a 3/4" plate over the burners that I used for stuff like that and for welding preheat stuff that would fit on top. Beats the heck out of a rosebud and it's constant.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good idea. I have an old oven/range top in the garage for heating parts and eventually powdercoating small pieces fro my 62 tbird project, but never thought of using it fro preheating for welding. Thanks for the idea.

:thumbsup:

ak diesel driver said:
be careful heating parts alot of the new ball joints have a plastic like wear assy inside.
Click to expand...

Ball joints go in the freezer....control arm gets heat.

):h
 
jrsavoie said:
I have the tools.
It's just me that's a little worse for wear. LOL
Might be missing my fork. I can't remember the last time I saw it. I'm sure the Snap-on man will be happy to sell me another if it's MIA.
I never thought of the freezer trick for this application. I've done similar stuff many times. I have an oven with a 3/4" plate over the burners that I used for stuff like that and for welding preheat stuff that would fit on top. Beats the heck out of a rosebud and it's constant.
Click to expand...

Great White couldn't have said it better. I say ditto to what he said.

Ball joints are "easy" if you have a grinder and air hammer. I paid to have a pitman changed out. Idler is easy. Go aftermarket, but not China aftermarket. Heavy duty parts can be found sometimes on the aftermarket side, at least it was that way back when I did my K3500 years back.
 
ak diesel driver said:
yes but if you get it too hot the heat will transfer to the ball joint
Click to expand...

Not enough in this application to make any difference...you only want the arm warm, not red hot. Red hot can alter the properties of the metal and must be avoided, especially when referring to forged components.

Plus, the joint is cold from the freezer in this discussion.

SnowDrift said:
Great White couldn't have said it better. I say ditto to what he said.

Ball joints are "easy" if you have a grinder and air hammer. I paid to have a pitman changed out. Idler is easy. Go aftermarket, but not China aftermarket. Heavy duty parts can be found sometimes on the aftermarket side, at least it was that way back when I did my K3500 years back.
Click to expand...

I've had good experiences with MOOG replacements....
 
I've heard of guys using a whizzer to carefully gash the pitman arm and then using a light chisel tap, splitting it enough to easily get it off.
 
To set toe in you can use a couple of 3 foot long 1x1 in square tube bars taped to each of the front wheels and run a tape measure on the front side of the tire and another on the rear side of the front tire.

To get your starting point on getting the left front wheel straight- tie a string to the left rear leaf spring and pull the string around the rear of the lt rear tire and stretch it all the way past the lt front tire- you can line the string up straight across the lt rear wheel and use it to reference getting the lt front wheel straight.

Edit: Because I will not be paying $100 to sit around and wait for some monkey to align my truck



.
 
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