Brakes, balljoints, tierod ends

Spurshot · July 25, 2022

The hunting season is coming up and I'm planning to travel from CA to MT and rent a trailer and tow it a few hundred miles. So, I've been going through the truck. I'm at 95K miles in my 14 GMC 1500. The tires were scalloping the inboard edges. The brakes were getting thin. So, I started taking it apart today.

I want to run the rotors over to a friend's shop where I can turn them on his lathe to see if they'll clean up within the minimum limit. Otherwise it's $500 a piece for Wilwood rotors.

Rock Auto had Moog tierod inner and outers as well as the complete lower A arms and the upper balljoints. Should be here Thursday.

I thought about hubs, but I think they're good for now and who knows when they'll give out? They're easy enough to change when they start to howl.

Any other thoughts on things to do?

el_er1c · July 28, 2022

Struts? Sway bar links? Sway bar bushings? Upper control arm bushings? Aside from this, sounds like you got everything.

I should point out that I'm at about 200k miles on my truck. I haven't replaced any of those parts though I suspect I will need to at some point. Sooner rather than later.

Edited July 28, 2022 by el_er1c
added more text

Spurshot · July 28, 2022

2 hours ago, el_er1c said:

Struts? Sway bar links? Sway bar bushings? Upper control arm bushings? Aside from this, sounds like you got everything.

I should point out that I'm at about 200k miles on my truck. I haven't replaced any of those parts though I suspect I will need to at some point. Sooner rather than later.

It has King's in there, Cognito upper control arms with poly bushings, a Helwig front sway bar. Those look good.

I think my situation is exacerbated by the 305/60R18 tires. I'm guessing the upper balljoints are the crux of the wear problem. But the others are getting there and I figure I'll refresh it all now and not worry about it for another 100k (except the upper balljoints and brakes, which will go much shorter).

Spurshot · July 28, 2022

It looked like this 90k miles ago.

DeePa · August 2, 2022

My stock front wheel bearings made it to 135k. 2017 Sierra with a level and one size larger tires

havent touched any other front end stuff minus the bilstein front level and rear shocks

the sway bar links broke at around 110k

wheel bearings were an easy change. Drivers side was greased from the factory and practically fell off when the bolts were removed. The passenger side needed a few thumps.

backing plates were starting to rust. Cleaned and painted but I’ll end up replacing them someday.

check your rear axle seals. My drivers side was gone at 135k. Passenger was right behind it. I guess they make a bearing / seal repair unit that will move the seal on the axle shaft to an area that isn’t grooved out. I’ll cross that bridge if the new seal doesn’t hold up

Edited August 2, 2022 by DeePa

ftwhite · August 4, 2022

Replaced my hubs because I was replacing upper control arms for failed ball joints. They looked rusty and seemed to be slinging grease. NAPA fleet line are coated and come with a decent warrantee (3y/50k), so I swapped them out.

Spurshot · August 5, 2022

On 8/3/2022 at 11:33 PM, ftwhite said:

Replaced my hubs because I was replacing upper control arms for failed ball joints. They looked rusty and seemed to be slinging grease. NAPA fleet line are coated and come with a decent warrantee (3y/50k), so I swapped them out.

I also decided to replace the hubs. Nothing going wrong at the moment, but if I replace them now (95,000) they should go the rest of my uses for the truck.

I noticed when I was cleaning up the knuckles there was some dried residual grease in the bores of the knuckles where the hubs seat. I'm thinking GM is doing this to prevent water intrusion/rust from seizing the hubs into the knuckles. Did you notice this?

Edited August 5, 2022 by Spurshot

Spurshot · August 13, 2022

So, being retired and having another vehicle to drive, I don't work very fast or hard on these projects anymore. Besides, half the time I was dealing with sending back damaged parts or lost parts in shipping.

Turning the rotors didn't work out. Had to replace them. I found some close-out rotors on Wilwood's website that had the dimensions to fit my application. But they weren't drilled. I actually prefer not to have them drilled anyway. They were more than 40% off the drilled and slotted rotors that came with this set. $518 each is the regular price. So I was thrilled to find the close-out rotors. The sales staff verified fitment and I picked them up at will call in their Camarillo plant.

Anyway, I'm back together except for greasing everything and putting the wheels/tires on, then rotating tires front to back. My fronts had been cupping which led me to this work.

BTW, I just want to give recognition to the folks at Moog Automotive. I either misplaced one of the balljoint nuts or it may have been lost in shipping, since the boxes the lower control arms came in were compromised with holes everywhere. The nut is a high grade, flanged, castle nut, that is not available separately and not common in hardware stores. I called Moog Tech Support and Matt provided me with the thread size and said that this was not sold separately, but he could send one out as a courtesy. I accepted and thanked him. Great service from Moog. They have been my go-to maker for suspension and steering parts for a long time. Now, they are at the top of my list for customer service.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Spurshot

Spurshot · August 16, 2022

On 8/3/2022 at 11:33 PM, ftwhite said:

Replaced my hubs because I was replacing upper control arms for failed ball joints. They looked rusty and seemed to be slinging grease. NAPA fleet line are coated and come with a decent warrantee (3y/50k), so I swapped them out.

That lower pictured hub looks like it may have needed some persuasion to out of the knuckle. When I installed my hubs, I liberally greased the bores of the knuckles, the splines, and also the snout of the wheel side. When I disassembled everything, the brake rotor hats were corroded (aluminum hats of the Wilwood brakes) to the point they were froze on the hub snout. The silicone grease I used is 500F drop point. Hopefully, that helps keep the rust and aluminum corrosion down.