You gonna do a write up on it?
How did the ball joints go btw?
How did the ball joints go btw?
Jolly Green's '97 build
- Thread starter JollyGreen
- Start date
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70stroker
I'm Awesome
jolly has usual nice progress. Thanks again for the fog light mounting idea. I just finally got around to mounting mine, and i followed your mount exactly, works great.
JollyGreen
Metalworking Madman
Ball joints were a breeze. Bushings... not so much. Going to post some pics today and a small advice paragraph. LOL.
Thank you. Hey, glad they worked out!
Sent from my DEERE powered Droid
JollyGreen
Metalworking Madman
Ok. Here are some pics (and maybe some helpful info) of my complete front end rebuild. I have to say that I was a bit nervous before I started. I took pics of most of the parts I was replacing /removing, just in case I had a brain lapse. All in all the removal of all the parts was a breeze. From taking off the hub nut (5 ft cheater bar) to removing the torsion bars from the lower arms, it was very easy.
Removing upper ball joints: As has been said probably multiple times on here, an air hammer with chisel is your BEST friend. I didn't even bother cutting two notches in the top of the rivets. I had a 9x air hammer and I knocked the tops off in about 5 seconds. I also used the air hammer to separate the ball joint from the arm. Put the chisel in between the joint and the arm and gently separate them moving from one side to the other. I basically "cut" the rivets, thus separating the two. Once the arms were out I clamped them onto my work bench and used the air hammer and the smaller punch attachment and blew them outta the holes (worked very well).
Everything removed except upper and lower arms / everything gone:
Idler/Pitman arms: I didn't replace either of these. The idler arm and bracket looked fairly new, and the pitman arm will be replaced when I change the steering gear sometime in the near future. The center link was worn BTW.
Both arms awaiting ball joint/bushing removal: I was feeling pretty good up to this point. Especially since I had a 70 ton hydraulic press.
After removing the ball joints, which took no time, I moved on to the bushings. I have access to a plethora of large tools/machines that make life easier. In this situation it really didn't matter. The bushings couldn't have been any more difficult to remove. Between the torch and a 1/2" impact I finally got them out. Only one pic of the upper bushing.
All together minus the rotor/caliper:
I went ahead and changed the u-joints in both the half shaft and drive shaft while the truck was down. Again, not too difficult with a big press. One problem I ran into was on the rear joint that mounts to the yoke in rear axle. After pressing the caps into the driveshaft I put the slip yoke into the T-case and went to attach the rear, but there was a problem. The caps that fit perfectly (pressed) into the driveshaft side were too small for the retainers to hold them in place on the rear yoke.
After doing a quick measurement I found out that I needed caps that were 1 1/8", not 1 1/16". Come to find out that the caps for the half shaft were the size I needed. Luckily after my dumba$$ friend had cracked one of the caps installing them in the half shaft (and had to get a new u-joint), I had 3 extras laying around that worked.
BTW- I put anti-sieze on everything before install. I doubt most of this stuff will have to be removed, but if it does they should come off with ease. DON'T FORGET TO CLOCK THE TORSION BARS BEFORE REMOVAL!!! I didn't take a ton of pics that were entirely useful, but if you're wondering about something let me know. Maybe I'll have an answer.
Removing upper ball joints: As has been said probably multiple times on here, an air hammer with chisel is your BEST friend. I didn't even bother cutting two notches in the top of the rivets. I had a 9x air hammer and I knocked the tops off in about 5 seconds. I also used the air hammer to separate the ball joint from the arm. Put the chisel in between the joint and the arm and gently separate them moving from one side to the other. I basically "cut" the rivets, thus separating the two. Once the arms were out I clamped them onto my work bench and used the air hammer and the smaller punch attachment and blew them outta the holes (worked very well).
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Everything removed except upper and lower arms / everything gone:
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
Idler/Pitman arms: I didn't replace either of these. The idler arm and bracket looked fairly new, and the pitman arm will be replaced when I change the steering gear sometime in the near future. The center link was worn BTW.
You must be registered for see images attach
Both arms awaiting ball joint/bushing removal: I was feeling pretty good up to this point. Especially since I had a 70 ton hydraulic press.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
After removing the ball joints, which took no time, I moved on to the bushings. I have access to a plethora of large tools/machines that make life easier. In this situation it really didn't matter. The bushings couldn't have been any more difficult to remove. Between the torch and a 1/2" impact I finally got them out. Only one pic of the upper bushing.
You must be registered for see images attach
All together minus the rotor/caliper:
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
I went ahead and changed the u-joints in both the half shaft and drive shaft while the truck was down. Again, not too difficult with a big press. One problem I ran into was on the rear joint that mounts to the yoke in rear axle. After pressing the caps into the driveshaft I put the slip yoke into the T-case and went to attach the rear, but there was a problem. The caps that fit perfectly (pressed) into the driveshaft side were too small for the retainers to hold them in place on the rear yoke.
After doing a quick measurement I found out that I needed caps that were 1 1/8", not 1 1/16". Come to find out that the caps for the half shaft were the size I needed. Luckily after my dumba$$ friend had cracked one of the caps installing them in the half shaft (and had to get a new u-joint), I had 3 extras laying around that worked. BTW- I put anti-sieze on everything before install. I doubt most of this stuff will have to be removed, but if it does they should come off with ease. DON'T FORGET TO CLOCK THE TORSION BARS BEFORE REMOVAL!!! I didn't take a ton of pics that were entirely useful, but if you're wondering about something let me know. Maybe I'll have an answer.
Last edited:
JollyGreen
Metalworking Madman
As requested, here's a pic with the Denali wheels. I have to say after having them on for a couple days, I really like them. Just need some spacers in the rear and it would look even better. Tires are 275/70/17. And....it's also got me thinking about more colormatching 
.
.
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Last edited:
chevyman0191
OBS till I die
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2011
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i think it looks good Josh! One of my favorite gmc wheels. color matching what flares? lol
JollyGreen
Metalworking Madman
Better than w/ the Cepek's?
And maybe the mirrors??? I've already got the ventshades matched.
chevyman0191
OBS till I die
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2011
- Messages
- 3,204
- Reaction score
- 54
Better than w/ the Cepek's?
uve got me torn on that on the flares rather to color match or not haha id def say flares but the black dont look bad either. Mirrors if it were me if prolly leave mirros black but then at same time with everything color matched i believe you truck would pull it off good.
LoudnLifted88
Small Block Grim Reaper
cpecks look better! but it still looks awesome
