Road noise

Kamyoon · April 6, 2005

I was getting a lot of noise from the front end around the wheel area, after did a few days of off-roading...Can Actually feel the rough ride throught the steering wheel, specially at turns...Checked under neath and saw both upper and lower ball-joint boots on both sides are torn. Its got 98,000 miles on it, with 285 tires and Ranch 9000 shocks set to 9 setting for stiffest. This together with having almost the whole wheel in clay-mud leads me to believe that bearings are shot or at leats need re-packing.

I know the ball-joint change is a lot of fun and might have to make few trips to a shop to get them knocked out or drilled out. But how about the bearings??

Need info on what it takes to change the bearings or re-pack them. What tools do I need? What should I watch out for? And how long does it take per side (a weekend job)?

Also I had changed the outer tie-rod ends to an aftermarket ones from Autozone, which do not have sealed boots, sometime ago. They are full of mud, even though I grease them at every 3K oil change. The unsealed boots were not a good idea. They had a warranty on them so Autozone will refund.

Other than GMDirect, where do you recommand to get ball-joints, bearings, and tie-rod ends from that can take a beating????

Sorry for all the questions but can't go Turkey hunting without the truck...Need any help I can get....

citydriver · April 6, 2005

The front wheel bearings are sold as HUB assemblies, and are not serviceable, but are not that hard to change, but a service manual like Haynes or Chiltons would come in handy for the step by step procedure, and be sure to torque the hub nut to manufacturers spec...

As far as front end parts go, I usually pick mine up from NAPA, but thats just my preferance. I've found that alot of their parts are just repackaged OEM, just cheaper than the dealer(usually). Just be sure that the new joints have grease fittings wherever you decide to buy them.

As far as time needed to do the job, that will depend on your skill level and tool availabilty, the hub bearings can be done in about an hour a side,but you may as well do the ball joints while you have it apart so figure about 2 hours a side....

You may want to take a look at a repair manual and review the procedures before tearing it down to make sure you want to do the work yourself....just a suggestion

Sorry for the long post, hope this helps.

Kamyoon · April 7, 2005

The front wheel bearings are sold as HUB assemblies, and are not serviceable, but are not that hard to change, but a service manual like Haynes or Chiltons would come in handy for the step by step procedure, and be sure to torque the hub nut to manufacturers spec...
As far as front end parts go, I usually pick mine up from NAPA, but thats just my preferance. I've found that alot of their parts are just repackaged OEM, just cheaper than the dealer(usually). Just be sure that the new joints have grease fittings wherever you decide to buy them.

As far as time needed to do the job, that will depend on your skill level and tool availabilty, the hub bearings can be done in about an hour a side,but you may as well do the ball joints while you have it apart so figure about 2 hours a side....

You may want to take a look at a repair manual and review the procedures before tearing it down to make sure you want to do the work yourself....just a suggestion

Sorry for the long post, hope this helps.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks a bunch for the post. I did pick up a Haye's manual today and it doesn't look to bad. Checked with the dealerships and got the ball joint and bearings for both sides quoted with labor and alignment to be around $1600. Then got the whole controll arm assembly cost and part numbers. For example the lower controller arm and ball joint on one side was $285. GMDirect cost is around $150 plus shipping. That is at least $80 to $100 savings. So I ordered all parts from GMDirect. Now have to wait for them to arrive. Getting the whole controller arm assembly should make it a bit easier to install I hope.