idlers and ball joints

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gerrbear
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
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Location: calgary ab

idlers and ball joints

Post by gerrbear »

just bought a 95 astro LT digital dash all the bells and whistles....1000$ 240k..kms....shop says i need idlers and upper ball joints...will install for 1002$......parts should only run me 2-300....and i'll do it myself ...any suggestions on doing the work?
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CaptSquid
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Re: idlers and ball joints

Post by CaptSquid »

1. Get Moog components, they'll last longer.
2. Brush up on turning the air blue with epithets.
Mike, Billings, MT, 'MERICA!
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98 AWD Stro LS
93 Suburban Silverado 4x4

Look for the MISSING Alien in the Right Seat. AL, PHONE HOME!!!

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1Gary
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Re: idlers and ball joints

Post by 1Gary »

Because they explain better than I do-Autozone on line repair section.
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


Rochester,NY

brokenwrench
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Re: idlers and ball joints

Post by brokenwrench »

gerrbear wrote:just bought a 95 astro LT digital dash all the bells and whistles....1000$ 240k..kms....shop says i need idlers and upper ball joints...will install for 1002$......parts should only run me 2-300....and i'll do it myself ...any suggestions on doing the work?

do you have an impact gun?

once you safely suspend the vehicle and removed the wheel, remove the cotter pin and castellated nut on the upper ball joint.if you have a air hammer and pickle fork for it, slide it in and pop it apart, otherwise acquire a pickle fork and small mallet, at least 2 pounds, and whack it until it separates, may take once or fifty times. unbolt the ABS and Brake flex line brackets and tie out of your work zone. they are two of the four attachments for the upper ball joint. grind or torch off the rivet heads, curse GM for using rivets, center punch the rivets and get a cobalt 1/4 inch drill and drill a hole, not all the way through, if you have an air hammer, get a punch bit, drill to punch bit diameter, and air hammer the rivets out, if not, drill successive bigger holes until you get to almost drilled out in the O.D of the metric river. get the biggest blunt punch you can get in there and the biggest hammer and lay a beating on it, hold the punch with a pair of channel lock pliers, wear safety glasses,

expect about 20 minutes of drilling, each , if you have a cobalt bit and an excellent drive, use oil to cool it, expect one hour each if you have shiit quality drill bits.

you will note that the ball joint manufacturer gives you bolts that are too short, washers do nothing in this situation, if you do not have longer metric bolts, (who does), what i do is drill them out to 5/16 and put in grade 8 hardware.

remember to grease the joint ( after you put the zerk fittiing in!) it will take at least 20 pumps from a standard grease gun. and check it every few days and top it up.

Safari specific trick, note that the ball joint impinges on the spindle casting (forging) when it is suspended, jack the lower a-arm up and slide your pickle fork into the space, whack it in, then let the jack down, this will often pop them apart, at least it will trap the fork and then it is easier to lambaste.

after you are done, remember that the lower ball joint has 4 bigger rivets and the back two take grinder contorsions to remove the rivet heads and promise yourself to judiciously grease them.

idler arms, less than five minutes each with an impact gun, watch that you do not destroy the tie rod boots when you drop them, you can do it without dropping them but you have to pick away with a box wrench. tie rods can be split by taking the nut off, reversing it our using a non-castellated nut, spin it back on till flush, and whack the top of the nut.
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1Gary
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Re: idlers and ball joints

Post by 1Gary »

Don't know about 95's and up or awd's.The bottom B/J is a press fit on the earlier stuff.

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Notice the safety cable on the coil spring keeping it from taking off.
1979 Malibu drag race only car
1999 Sonoma 4.3 5 speed-Rufus
1989 Astro-Ole Yellar cancelled-still selling off parts
1985 Astro-shop van R.I.P. my friend
1994 Astro LT RWD W4.3 rod knock RIP
1982 Winnebago single rear wheel-Chevy 350 Scraped 1/28/13-broken dreams......


Rochester,NY

photo_van
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Re: idlers and ball joints

Post by photo_van »

I just did the idlers, upper and lower ball joints and control arm bushings. The tie rod ends came right off the steering knuckle with a few sharp blows on the inverted castle nut. Since I was doing the bushings, I pulled the knuckle, upper and lower control arms off as one assembly. This allowed removal of the ball joints from the steering knuckle easily, again using a sledge in the inverted nuts.

If your doing both ball joints it may be worth removing the control arms as a matter of course: grinding and drilling the rivets was a pita with a good drill press, I can only imagine how it would be with a hand drill.

***it is good to note that if you are planing to put new ball joints under the upper control arm for better articulation on a lifted van, you will need to have the front end aligned as it will be way out of camber***

I had to find a pickle iron to remove the ball joints from the idlers, they were quite stubborn. The idler bolts are (and should be) also tight, a long braker bar was good there. Also, while you have the idlers out, take a good look at the sway bar bushings. For ~$20, it's much easier to replace them now!
1998 AWD/4WD
4" lift, 31x10.50's, NP 242j/c hybrid, 4.10 gears, S10 front disconnect, rack & pinion steering, trans cooler, rock sliders, ARB fridge, house battery and 100w solar, swing out rear rack with foldout camp table, bed and passenger swivel chair
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