Dear all, my Blazer S10 needs TLC.

It is an MY1997 4.3V6 4x4. I would like to replace the lower & upper control arm, shocks, stabilizer bushings & front pads.

I would like to work minimum on the floor & do most thing on the bench.

No lifter available. I would like to remove left & right side as an module.

Here my theory / thoughts how to do it. Please assist when wrong


1) Loosen nut from drive shaft
2) mark torsion bar scew and remove them
3) Then lift the car
4) remove bolt from stabilizer front
5) loosen front brake lines
6) remove upper shocks absorber bolt
7) mark bolt positons &remove lower control arm bolts (frame side)
8) mark bolt position & remove upper control arm bolts (franke side
9) remove torsion bar from lower contol arm.


Then I would like to remove lower & upper control arm shock absorber, brake caliper and hub all at once.


Is this feasable.

Thank you for your comments.

BR
Bob

 

IMO, not really feasable. and not feasible either.

If you've done a full front suspension job a dozen or more times, you might be able to get away with it. But I suspect if you've done it a dozen or more times, you wouldn't think of trying it this way.

The total weight of all those parts together is probably well over 100 lbs. Just handling something that bulky and heavy is going to be almost impossible. I've pulled transmissions from cars without a lift or jack, and I wouldn't try a full corner of one of these trucks the way you are saying.

The best advice I have, follow the factory shop manual or even a Chiltons or Haynes manual for this job.

Your list of what you plan to disconnect is seriously incomplete. If I thought it was a good idea to try, I might add several items to the list, but I'd rather not encourage something that might lead to serious injury.

 

something like that is gonna be super heavy not to mention hard to maneuver when you go to reinstall. if your looking for easier remove caliper, rotor, remove castle nuts/axle nut and pull knuckle with the hub then everything else is open and easy to remove. i strongly suggest you pound everything with PB blaster or something like that especially where torsion bar goes into lower control arm or its all gonna be hell to remove

i had a Dakota 4x4 i had to replace lower control arm and it took 2 days to separate the torsion bar and that was with spraying it down every couple hrs for 2 days and still broke the chisel for my air hammer

 

Do we have a how to post in this forum which describes the steps?

 

i think so, but weather there is a post about this, i dont think so. there are videos all over youtube about suspension work on these trucks, or you can go to autozone.com and get the Chilton/Haynes manuals for free by creating a free account

 

Just out of curiosity, why would you want to remove it as an entire assembly? The parts are easy enough to separate that to me it makes no sense to do it as one assembly.

 

First, let me quickly address this:
Often in a race car, during a race, especially a long endurance race, it's necessary to install a new suspension "corner" as a unit. In these cases, "unit removal" is usually done by the driver, often with "assistance" from a competitor or a fixed obstacle. The crew has to finish removing what the driver didn't, and get things ready for a "corner unit replacement."

There are key differences between sports racing cars and our street driven trucks. The entire suspension units are much lighter in the sports racing cars. Also, if you ever watch a "unit installation" during a race, you'll see at least 6 hands are used to install the new suspension. Two hands guide the lower wishbone into place, two more hands guide the upper wishbone into place, and at least two more hands install the mounting bolts/nuts. I've never seen one person do the entire job quickly and accurately with only two hands. I have fairly extensive experience with racing, and very rarely will an entire corner suspension unit be removed from or installed on the car as a unit during normal maintenance/repair in the race shop. That's only an "emergency situation" at the track, although good teams will practice this when preparing for an endurance race.

For street driven cars, it's possible (though rare) that the assembly line is set up to install complete suspension corner units on the chassis. Usually, the suspension parts are installed gradually on the frame or front sub-frame.
The "MyZone" repair guide at autozone.com that sky_blazer mentioned look pretty good.

Some questions first, then some comments about what's at the autozone "repair guide."

monette999, where are you located? (generally, I don't need an exact address) How rusty are the control arms and frame? Also, is this your only transportation? Or can you get to the parts place or machine shop during the repair?

The procedure shown in the autozone.com repair guide for the upper control arms looks spot on, and well documented. Be sure to mark the cams for alignment. I'm not a fan of "loaded," ready to install control arms, but they are available for these vehicles with good parts installed (I prefer the Moog "problem solver" ball joints and bushings if possible). Normally, I pull the arms and take them to a local machine shop to have old ball joints and bushings pressed out and new ones pressed in, then I reinstall. My machine shop usually bead-blasts them and cleans them as well, and I paint them before reinstalling.

For the lower control arm, there's some cross references to other sections to remove other parts, and I actually have some questions for the experts here. I haven't done my front suspension on my Oldsmo-Blazer" yet, so I actually have questions about the lower control arm procedure for when I get to this step. I have done other 4wd SUV's with torsion bar suspension, most recently a Dodge Durango (1998 4wd, 5.2L V8).

The questions I have from the repair guide at AutoZone are:

• Is it really necessary to completely remove the stabilizer bar? Or can you just disconnect it from the lower control arm?
• Is it necessary to release the tension on the torsion bar? Generally, I've just put a jack securely under the lower control arm, popped the lower ball joint and gently lowered the jack, lowering the control arm 30-45 degrees and releasing the tension that way. Does that work, and is it relatively safe to do this on these vehicles?

Some other tips for you:

• Have a torch, just in case. If you have any visible rust, definitely have a torch. A MAP gas torch is (barely) adequate, although a oxy-acetylene welding torch set with a big "heating" head is better.
• Hit everything including the joint between the torsion bar and the lower control arm with penetrant a few times before you start. Once a day for 2 or 3 days before you start is best. If you want to buy something, PB Blaster is the best I've found. Lately, I mix my own from ATF and acetone (50/50 mix). If you use that, shake it very well immediately before you squirt the first nut/bolt/joint, and shake it some before every item you hose down after that. The ATF and acetone separate quickly when you set it down.
• You'll need a "ball joint separator" (available as a loaner from AutoZone or Oreilly's) for the upper control arm. You'll need that, plus possibly a torsion bar tension release tool (look for someone to answer my previous question here) to do the lower control arm.
• I usually take the arms to a good local machine shop and let them press the old ball joints and bushings out, and press the new parts in. It's about $30 per arm for cleanup, media blasting, pressing out the old parts and pressing in the new parts. You can rent/borrow a "ball joint press set" for the ball joints and do those yourself. Sometimes that set will even have appropriate tools to do the bushings on the lower arm. I just find it worth the asking price to let that part of the job be "someone else's problem." I usually paint my clean, fresh control arms with black chassis paint when I get them back.
• If you want to use the best parts, but need "loaded" control arms, consider getting a used set of arms from the local "pull it yourself" parts yard. This has the added benefit that you get to "practice" taking them out on someone else's junk car, giving you a bit of experience before you use the tools on your own vehicle.
• If you encounter a torsion bar seized into the pocket on one of the lower control arms, use the torch to heat the lower control arm right at the area where the torsion bar goes in the "socket" on the arm. Do not apply heat to the torsion bar itself. You want to heat up and expand the "socket" to get it unstuck. Or you can break an air chisel on it, like someone on this thread.
• There are three mechanical/structural connections to the steering knuckle/suspension upright (upper ball joint, lower ball joint and tie rod). Normally, I try very hard to keep at least two of those connected at all times. It's much easier to handle things when you're only trying to line up one ball joint, and the other two connections are mostly supporting the weight of the hub/bearing and steering knuckles.
• I never disconnect the brake line unless I'm replacing the flexible line and/or the caliper. I use a very strong hook and some cable/wire to support the caliper. Don't let it hang by the flexible hose, or worse, fall and get "caught" by the flexible hose.
• No matter how careful you are, it's a good idea to get an alignment done after you finish changing all the parts.

BTW, I've been doing suspension work since the 1980's.

 

Dear All,
I am located in Germany and I have banked a lower & upper control arm from Moog in my celler. They have all bushings and ball joints installed. I have a set of shocks as well. They need to go on my truck since we have TÜV in Germany and they don´t allow heavy corrosion on suspension parts.

I have already started the project and dissambled everything except the heavy lower control arm.

What kind of tool in GM using for removing the torsion bar from the lower control arm.

I think you have to remove the stailizer to get clear access to the front lower control arm bolt nut. I will find out tomorrow when I remove lower oil pan protection sheet metal.

Yes indeed I was using my lovely ball joint puller and I have marked the posistion of the upper adjustment bolts.

Now the big challange is the dissambly of the lower arm to tosion bar. I hope it is not stuck. Otherwise I have to cut the lower control arm. All my old parts are good for trash.
So I might mistreat them a bid when they cause me some pain. This is why I was asking for a total unit removal to dump the junk.

Thank you for your hints.

Thanks

 

The GM tool is GM J-36202 or J-36202-A. It's also available from Kent Moore tools. There's at least one alternate source, OTC Tools 7822A.

Some folks have successfully used a heavy duty two jaw puller for the job as well. Check out the BlazerForum discussion started by porkfriedrice, https://blazerforum.com/forum/steeri...ar-tool-68257/