Lower Control Arms

[Chevy 97]

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

I have everything on the left side, I messed up the lower ball joint on the right side.
It will be here in the morning.

 

[Chevy 97]

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

The main reason why I had to repair my front suspension, I hit a deer, the truck was wrote off due to the cost of damages
and the value of the truck. Even though I had just put in a 383, it didn't matter. We bought the truck back. The truck has to
get a salvage inspection once it is repaired. So I have to go through the truck and fix the things that don't work or was in
need of repair. I had to replace the hood, both fenders, the grill, center filler, left side filler, front bumper and left side brackets,
the rear bumper, the suspension. I have to make sure the MIL light works, I have to check the mirrors since I got a new circuit
breaker, I have to change the multi function switch. So far, I have painted up the frame on the front, where I could, the front
suspension, both inner fenders. I am painting the hinges and bolts for the hood, I am also painting the bolts for the outer
fenders and the inner fenders. I have everything with the suspension on the left side, I have to wait for the backing plate to dry
before putting that on. I am going to paint the caliper once the inspection is done. I am going to check with CAPS to see if they
can mix up some high temp paint to match the color of my truck. For the calipers. Then they can look nice till the brake dust covers them.

 

[Chevy 97]

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

I managed to get a lot done today. It snowed last night so if you noticed on some of my pictures the quad with the blade is pinned in by the truck. I need to adjust the tow in, the camber a little and my ride height. then torque my suspension bolts. Then get the fenders in place. It is getting closer to paint. I wish I could do the whole truck but not at this time.

 

[TurtleTruck]

Hello,
Nice work on your truck.
I am working on my 94 1500, and have to remove the lower control arm so I can drill out the rivets on my ball joint.
What did you use to remove the torsion bar? and you can remove the lower control without removing the torsion bar?
Thanks

 

[evilunclegrimace]

Hello,
Nice work on your truck.
I am working on my 94 1500, and have to remove the lower control arm so I can drill out the rivets on my ball joint.
What did you use to remove the torsion bar? and you can remove the lower control without removing the torsion bar?
Thanks

You can drill out the BJ rivets on the truck, there is no need to remove the LCA. You need to remove the TB to remove the LCA.

 

[alpinecrick]

Hello,
Nice work on your truck.
I am working on my 94 1500, and have to remove the lower control arm so I can drill out the rivets on my ball joint.
What did you use to remove the torsion bar? and you can remove the lower control without removing the torsion bar?
Thanks

The lower arm ball joint is pressed in. The upper arm ball joint is riveted. I'm pretty sure the rivets are made of Kryptonite. You don't need to remove the A-arms. For me. backing off the torsion bar tension 2 turns of the bolt has been sufficient to release the tension on the lower control arms.

Buy some cobalt drill bits, use lots of cutting oil, go slow and be patient--it's gonna take a while.

 

[evilunclegrimace]

The lower arm ball joint is pressed in. The upper arm ball joint is riveted. I'm pretty sure the rivets are made of Kryptonite. You don't need to remove the A-arms. For me. backing off the torsion bar tension 2 turns of the bolt has been sufficient to release the tension on the lower control arms.

Buy some cobalt drill bits, use lots of cutting oil, go slow and be patient--it's gonna take a while.

The lower arm ball joint is pressed in. The upper arm ball joint is riveted. I'm pretty sure the rivets are made of Kryptonite. You don't need to remove the A-arms. For me. backing off the torsion bar tension 2 turns of the bolt has been sufficient to release the tension on the lower control arms.

Buy some cobalt drill bits, use lots of cutting oil, go slow and be patient--it's gonna take a while.

The guy already stated that he has a riveted BJ. 1995 was the first year that press in Ball joints were installed on these trucks. Any truck that is older than 1995 and has press in Ball joint has had the lower control arms replaced. I have replaced more of these riveted in ball joints at the dealership than I care to remember.

GM and Ford both come out with non-greaseable front end components in the late '80's and both Company's had TSB's for replacement of front end components under warranty. There was a couple of years that went buy and every truck that was under the mileage for bumper to bumper that got free ball joints, There was even a secondary TSB for the upper BJ's due to the fact that there were 2 different length bolts in the replacement BJ's and some techs installed the longer bolts with the threaded portion of the bolt sticking up and causing interference issues on trucks equipped with Aluminum wheels.

 

[alpinecrick]

The guy already stated that he has a riveted BJ. 1995 was the first year that press in Ball joints were installed on these trucks. Any truck that is older than 1995 and has press in Ball joint has had the lower control arms replaced. I have replaced more of these riveted in ball joints at the dealership than I care to remember.

GM and Ford both come out with non-greaseable front end components in the late '80's and both Company's had TSB's for replacement of front end components under warranty. There was a couple of years that went buy and every truck that was under the mileage for bumper to bumper that got free ball joints, There was even a secondary TSB for the upper BJ's due to the fact that there were 2 different length bolts in the replacement BJ's and some techs installed the longer bolts with the threaded portion of the bolt sticking up and causing interference issues on trucks equipped with Aluminum wheels.

My 1991 K2500 Light Duty I bought brand new had pressed in lowers and riveted uppers and all four were greaseable. I remember well when I replaced all four ball joints in that truck 15+ years ago, it was quite the learning curve.

I don't recall ever seeing a K1500 or K2500 LD GMT 400 pickup with riveted lowers. Maybe it's a 2wd thing.

 

[evilunclegrimace]

My 1991 K2500 Light Duty I bought brand new had pressed in lowers and riveted uppers and all four were greaseable. I remember well when I replaced all four ball joints in that truck 15+ years ago, it was quite the learning curve.

I don't recall ever seeing a K1500 or K2500 LD GMT 400 pickup with riveted lowers. Maybe it's a 2wd thing.

I worked on these trucks when they came out new in '88 at a GMC dealership and have seen thousands of them, I bought my '88 K3500 in august of that year and never saw a early truck with pressed in BJ on the LCA's. I can't find a listing for a Press fit BJ before '95. ALL 2wd LCA's had press fit Ball joints.

 

[alpinecrick]

I can definitely find lower BJ that are obvious replacements for riveted lowers. Maybe I haven't looked at enough pre 95 trucks.