3/11: today's task is to replace both upper control arms due to the rubber bushings are falling out in pieces. Purchased the Moog control arms with ball joint already installed. Hopefully no problems today....will update with progress or problems.

Later.

 

Good luck, should be fun.

 

Uppers are a piece of cake. Jack stands under the frame. No need to disassemble the caliper & rotor. Loosen the ball joint nut so the stud is flush with the nut. Use a pickle fork to seperate the stud from the knuckle, then remove the nut. Be aware that the upper arm will jump up, and the lower arm will drop an inch or so when you remove the nut. Mark the cams so you can install them in the same position when you reassemble. That will keep camber & caster as close as possible. It will still need an alignment when you're done though. When reassembling, use a jack under the lower ball joint to raise the knuckle up so you can engage the upper ball joint stud back into the knuckle. Nuttin' to it

 

I hope there's nuthin' to it, planning to do the same to my '98 Blazer tomorrow. I was wondering whether there's enough room to get at the UCA shaft nuts without removing the steering shaft; since nobody mentioned that, I spose there is. At any rate, I'll be looking at it tomorrow... Maybe, while I have the left UCA out, I'll also replace the plugs; they outta be easier to get to without the UCA shafts in the way??

 

4WD is a piece of cake, 2WD is a little more of a challenge. Replacement involves a totally different procedure. Best to consult a GM factory shop manual.

 

Got the right side done, took ALOT longer than I thought it would...mainly due to having to make a run to O'Reilly's to get a Ball Joint Press tool.

As I mentioned I purchased the Moog control arms with ball joint installed.....I needed the large C clamp/press to press the bushings in a tad bit more as the bushing shells were hitting the frame and would not go into place.

Hell....if I had known I was going to have to get the press for the bushings...I could have saved half of what I spent and just bought new bushings and ball joints and reused the OEM control arms. Of course there is quite a bit of time difference as well.

Another thing...the MOOG control arms do not have a stud for the ABS sensor cable hanger. Not sure what I am going to do yet....may end-up drilling a small hole in the control arm so I can secure the ABS sensor cable.

Had to remove the sway bar links so I could get the lower shock bolt out. And of course removed the front shock so I could get the control arm bolts out. I also lost the alignment...but going to have to get one anyways so did not worry too much about trying to mark the position of the adjusters.

Now that I have all the wrench sizes for the various bolts/nuts, the right side should go much quicker.

Also this is a good time to grease the steering joints....and they sure needed it.

 

As expected right side was alot quicker.

Lessons learned:
1. Put a block of wood and small floor jack under lower ball joint, raise lower control arm a few inches to keep axle more level. Also aids in shock removal.
2. Leave the upper ball joint nut on the stud at the end even after separating the ball joint from the spindle. Remove the upper control arm nuts, bolts, cams, pull control arm away from frame and then remove the upper ball joint nut.
3. Clean the areas where the upper control arm bushings and cam are.
4. Spray silicon onto the rubber bushings...makes them slide into the frame easily.

Now off to get an alignment.

Since I had the ball joint press tool I went ahead and removed the bushings from the OEM control arms....WOW! that took an hour to get all four out....no idea what I am going to do with the OEM arms now......but at least they are ready for new bushings.

 

Do you have the wrench sizes? I am doing all 4 of mine next week after I removed the engine (another story). I figure it would be easier to do now with the engine out

 

Wrench sizes....no not now as I have just recently replaced wheel bearings on another vehicle and those sizes are what I remember at this time.

The sizes were not anything special though. The lower control arm bolts are going to be larger and if you have 4wd then you get to deal with the T bars.

Good Luck with your project.

 

I was thinking of buying aftermarket control arms because my bushings are shot. Do the MOOG arms seem to be good? I was also thinking of getting another set of stock arms and putting urethane bushings in.