Ball Joints

cmoore74 · November 22, 2006

OK, I posted the below on the small/mid-size forum a few days ago and still no response. I'm surprised at this as the ball-joints on the blazers are a known problem. I figured I'd give it a shot here as like me, I'm sure some of you have upgraded from the smaller trucks to the full size and may have some insight into this.

The upper and lower ball joints were replaced under warranty at 49k on the wife's 4x4 Blazer. Now at 81k they're shot again.

The stealership said they go all the time on these trucks. I had an S-10 4x4, same year, and had almost 90k on it when I traded it in. The ball joints were never done and were still good when I traded it in.

The Blazer rides just fine, is well maintanied, and is not abused. Question is, is there something else that could be causing the ball joints to fail? Could it just be the OEM ball joints suck and are hit or miss in quality?

I have heard the Moog ball joints tend to last longer than OEM, is this true? I'm debating taking the truck elsewhere to get it done as the stealership wants $1100 to replace them (this includes parts, labor, and alignment). Any idea what a going rate would be outside of the dealership?

I especially don't want to have the dealership do the work if the Moog parts are better.

Please let me know your opinions.

Thanks,

Chris

asepgrad98 · November 22, 2006

most likely only the lower ball joints are bad this time as the weight of the truck only goes though them. They should be fairly easy to change since the rivets have been cut and replaced with bolts already.

Moog ball joints are what i would go with.

95Sierra2500 · November 23, 2006

I would recommend Moog to anybody, and get away from OEM. As for why they're wearing so quickly, it could be that your alignment is not right, or perhaps a t-bar crank or some other geometry-altering procedure has been done. This is known to cause premature failure of suspension parts.

cmoore74 · November 23, 2006

I would recommend Moog to anybody, and get away from OEM. As for why they're wearing so quickly, it could be that your alignment is not right, or perhaps a t-bar crank or some other geometry-altering procedure has been done. This is known to cause premature failure of suspension parts.

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We've owned the Blazer since new so I know the torsion bars have not been adjsuted.

They did say the lower's needed to be replace, but recommended doing the uppers at the same time. I think I'm just going to replace the lowers with Moog ball joints. An alignment was done when the ball joints were last replaced at 49k. I'll need to get an alignment again anyhow when the lowers are replaced.

Rolandd · November 25, 2006

Just based on observation, the Blazers always looked like they were sitting higher than the pick-ups. When you have the alignment done, ask them to make sure that the front end height is in spec, and see if there is a different spec for the pick-up. Also, if you have a short (2-door) Blazer, more of the braking load will be put on the front end, which could create the wear differences you are now seeing. The ball joint replacement should be easy if they have been done once already--make sure that whoever does the job knows that they should not have to cheisel the rivets off.

etex211 · November 26, 2006

How often do you grease those balljoints?

nitro882 · November 26, 2006

cmoore74 I have owned 3 s10 sized trucks and 2 s10 blazers 4 of them 4wd and one 2wd. I had to replace the ball joints on every one of the 4wd ones before they had 45k on them. I always replaced them with Moog parts and did the uppers at the same time. After replacing the stock junk with Moog's i never had to replace them again. If you cant find moogs locally try carquest, thier house brand are moog parts in a carquest box.

On my 97 2 door blazer i had over 100k on them when i traded it and they were still good.

I would replace all 4 and never have to worry about it again. Just make sure you keep it greased and aligned and you will be fine.

When you replace them and have it aligned have them check the ride height, as mentioned above if its too high it will ruin ball joints. I had a 2000 sonoma that was too high from the factory and it chewed 4 sets in 15k, once the dealer finally did the proper alignment procedure and adjusted the height to spec they lasted like 40k.

Two more things to check, check the condition of the front half shaft boots. your getting pretty close to the time where they start slinging grease. If there is any sign of dryrot replace them. Actually if you need to change the boots do the whole shaft, carquest sells remans for like 80 bucks a pop. its much easier then a boot kit. If they are at all questionable now is the time to do them since you will already have it apart anyway(you have to remove the steering nuckle off the halfshaft fto get the lowers out). Check the condition of the front hub bearing too, if there is any play in it you are also in there at the right time to change them too. And when you reassemble the whole thing dont overtighten the hanfshaft nut, that will pretty much insure you will be doind bearings soon.....